Logging and oil palm destroying tribe’s forest home
The hunter-gatherer Penan in Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of Borneo, are battling to stop the destruction of their last remaining forests, and their way of life.
The Penan’s land rights are not recognized, and their forests are being cleared for logging, oil palm plantations and hydroelectric dams, robbing them of their means of survival.
The Malaysian government claims that Sarawak is being logged sustainably – but in fact its forests are being destroyed at one of the fastest rates in the world.
As the forests are logged, the rivers are silted up, killing the fish. The game is being scared deeper into the few remaining forests, and Penan hunters return home empty-handed.
When the forests start to grow back, it is with thick scrub. The trails the Penan have walked for generations are gone.
The Malaysian logging companies, which include Samling, Interhill and Shin Yang, operate with the full backing of the state government.
Some company workers have threatened the Penan with death if they continue to resist, and others are accused of raping Penan girls and women.
In areas where the big, old trees have all been taken, companies, particularly Shin Yang, are clearing the remaining forest to make way for oil palm plantations (palm oil is used for biofuel and in many foods and cosmetics).
The plantations spell even greater problems for the Penan than the logging, because once the land is covered in oil palm, there is nothing left for them.
With the loss of their forests, the Penan are being forced into poverty, and are suffering from ill health due to poor diet and polluted water.
