Compiled by Bruno Manser
- Long Sepigen, December 1, 1995 (BMF). Thirty members of the paramilitary
Police Field Force illegally forced their way into th e huts of twelve villagers.
Contrary to all custom and tradition, they did not remove their shoes, they
walked on the mats and even over an elderly man who was lying on the floor.
They claimed they were looking for sugar which had allegedly been stolen in
a logging camp.
- Ulu Baram, March 29, 1996 (BMF). Paramilitary members frightened
women and children by aiming their machine guns at them. They handcuffed Stanley
Lajo and beat him. Two days later, when the Penan demanded that a bulldozer
withdraw from a part of their forest area which it had crossed into, they
were again threatened by members of the paramilitary. Shortly afterwards,
Lieutenant Anthony Besar arrived on the scene and ordered his men not to be
hostile toward the Penan. But when he drove away, the paramilitary shouted
to the Penan that if they had any courage, they should come out and fight.
They fired thirteen shots at the Penan. Fortunately, no one was injured.
- Long Sayan, August 9, 1996 (BMF) - Five Penan men and a Penan woman
were arrested while participating in a blockade against logging. "You
have bulldozed our land, our forests and our cultivated fields. Talking with
you is like t alking with a stone. Until now, it is only the blockades which
have prevented the destruction of our lebensraum", declared chieftain
Ajeng Kiew.
- Rumah Bungah, October 19, 1996 (SAM) - Seven Iban men were arrested
because they offered resistance to the Limbang Trading Co. They were released
after a week of arrest. The logging company belongs to Minister Datuk James
Wong.
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by Bruno Manser
Conditions for the Penan are still desperate. Even though it would be in the interest
of Malaysia to protect its natural resources and biodiversity, the Penan area
remains unprotected. The following are quotations from a Penan and from a government
official.
"I see the forest and my fields smashed by the companies. My heart is crying.
I am worried about my children. Unknown people come into my hut and molest my
two daughters. They want to employ me as a coo k - no thank you! Come quickly
and demarcate our land. I think of the forest as I think of people who are already
dead. My husband was murdered because he defended the forest. I do not want our
enemy to work above the graves of my husband, my grandparents and my father! The
graves of my father and my brother have already been destroyed. Come quickly because
our situation in this devestated land is critical."
Dayang Oho, Long Kerameu (June 1996)
Photo: Bruno Manser
"The usual form of sustained-yield timber production should be exchanged
for a new system of sustainable multi-resource production. Thus various products
needed by the community, such as drinking water, rattan, bamboo, medicinal plants,
and resin w ould be processed simultaneously and the forest could serve for recreational
and other purposes. In order to preserve biodiversity, considerable attention
must be given to the protection of the forests through the maintenance of national
parks , the Virgin Jungle Reserve, and reserves for the protection of animals."
Datuk Ismail Awang, Forestry Director General (New Straits Times, September 6,
1996)
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by Roger Graf
The Malaysian Timber Council (MTC), has commissioned Shandwick, the world's
largest advertising agency, to promote timber which has been cut in over-exploited
areas of Malaysia. Its efforts are being directed in Europe at politicians, schools
and the public in general. The television film "Tropical Wood Boycotters
on the Logging Path", produced by WDR (the West German Broadcasting Company),
is just one blatant example.
The film tries to imply that there is an extensive sustainable forestry industry
in Malaysia which European consumers should support by buying tropical wood. It
is true that such wood exists, but not in Europe. The film shows an "eco"
label on doors made of tropical wood in a building center in England. But i t
relates to the wood of rubber plants from a plantation and not, as the viewer
is led to believe, from "sustainable forestry". Although 700 people
have been jailed since the 1980's because of their resistance, the 45 minute film
makes no mention of the problems to which the local population has been subjected
by the logging industry.
The film is meant to unjustly ease the conscience of consumers when they buy tropical
wood. The tropical wood lobby now wants to pr oduce a short version for use in
German schools. MTC is contributing DM 30,000 to its revision. The Shandwick advertising
agency is helping with the structuring of the contents and FWU (Institute for
Film and Photo in Science and Teaching ) will distribute the film to German schools.
The film is also receiving massive political support. Its authors, Thomas Weidenbach
and Uwe Kersken, were both awarded the DM 4,000 Journalism Prize from the BMZ
(Federal Ministry for Scientific Cooperation) on October 22, 1996 in Berlin. Although
WWF Germany supported the film, all other German rain forest organizations and
BMF vehemently and unsuccessfully objected until the end to this journalistic
provocation.
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BMF Internal Affairs
The following changes have been made in the Executive Committee and in the
administrative office.
Barbara Nathan-Neher has resigned from the Executive Committee. We would like
to express our deep gratitude to Barbara for her commitment to BMF and for her
generous financial support.
Jean-Claude Bourgnon has newly joined the Executive Committee. He will serve
as treasurer and oversee the accounting.
John Künzli succeeded Roger Graf in mid September, and is now in charge
of the office in Basel.
Catherine Nicola is also working in the office and is, in part, responsible
for French correspondence. She will leave for Southern France at the end of
the year. We are thankful for all of her help and wish her well in the future.
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Indigenous and Protected Areas in Sarawak (Malaysia)
by Roger Graf
With a surface area of 124,658 square kilometers, Sarawak is the largest state
in the Malaysian Federation. It is located in the northwest of the island of Borneo
and, in questions pertaining to immigration policy, land rights, and forest and
environmentally protected areas, it is largely independent of the central government
in Kuala Lumpur. Of Sarawak's 1.7 million inhabitants, 29% are ethnic Chinese
and 21% are Muslim Malay's. About half of the population belongs to one of the
26 indigenous groups including Iban, Bidayuh, Melanau, Kayan, Kelabit, Penan and
so forth. The Dajaks, as the indigenous in Sarawak are traditionally known, are
settled. Only the 9,000 Penan are a nomadic people. Several hundred still live
today as nomads in the jungles of the upper Baram and Limbang rivers. All of the
other Penan are predominantly semi-nomadic. They live in established settlements.
But from time to time they return to the forest in search of secondary products
such as fruit, sago palms and wild animals. There are other Dajak peoples who
are also dependent on an intact rain forest for their survival. Most of them live
from hunting, from fishing, and from the gathering of fruits and many other jungle
products. The settled Dajak practice shifting cultivation. This ha s never been
a significant problem for the survival of the rain forest and its biodiversity
due to the low population density and the small-size of the clearings.
Diminishing rain forests
According to official figures from 1988, the forest surface of Sarawak amounted
to about 84,000 square kilometers. This included not only primary (primeval) forests
but also forests which were already being used by the lumber industry and for
tree plantations. Since then, the stand of primary forest has rapidly decreased.
Unfortunately no official figures are available. Roughly 83% of the forests have
been classified as lowland dipterocarpan forests, 15% as swamp forests and 2%
as ma ngo groves. The Kerangas forests growing in extremely barren soil and the
world famous cave systems which are a geological anomaly, should also be mentioned.
Typical mammals include the Malay Bear, Clouded Leopard, Sambar Deer, Muntjak
Deer, Mouse Deer, Bearded Pig, orangutan, Borneo Gibbon, Proboscis Monkey, and
various langur and macaque monkeys. The Sumatra rhinoceros and the Banteng are
probably extinct.
In all likelihood, the Sumatra rhinoceros has already become extinct in Sarawak.
Until now, efforts to breed captive animals in the zoo of the Malaysian environmental
protection authorities in Melakka (West Malaysia) have been unsuccessful.
Photo: Markus Frei
Largest reservation for orangutans
Only about 2% of Sarawak's area is listed as nature reserves. Lanjak Entimau,
with 1,687 Km² the largest animal reserve, was established for the protection
of the sub-species of the Borneo orangutan, the Gunung Mulu National Park (529
Km²) for its important network of caves, and the Batang Ai National Park
(270 Km²) as a water protection area for the dam of the same name. All other
national parks and reserves are smaller than 70 Km² and serve to protect
the Kerangas fo rests (Bako, Samunsam), cave systems (Niah), Rafflesia flowers
(Gunung Gading) and the Proboscis Monkey (Bako). Lamir Hills National Park (69
Km²) is considered to have the greatest variety of trees in Sarawak.
Forestry laws discriminate against the indigenous peoples
According to the 1953 forestry law, forests which should be preserved were to
be united under the name of "Permanent Forest Estates" (PFE). It is
important to emphasize that the classification said nothing of the condition of
the forests . It could include untouched primeval forests as well as secondary
forests and plantations. 51% of Sarawak's surface is included in PFE. In this,
one differentiates between "forest reserves", "protected forests"
and "communal forests". The Dajak are not allowed access to the "forest
reserves" because these forests have been set aside exclusively for lumbering.
The "protected forests" are also primarily for the use of the wood industry.
But secondary products may be gathered as long as it is not done on a commercial
basis. Only the "communal forests" deserve the name of a true protected
area because commercial logging is prohibited in them. In this case, the indigenous
people have the right to cut wood and gather secondary products for their own
needs. But according to a government decree, the total area of the "communal
forests" in all of Sarawak has been reduced from 303 Km² in 1968 to
53 Km² at present!
Protected areas in Sarawak (Malaysia)
existing protected areas
areas proposed for protection
protected areas for the Penan which are not demarcated
It is only in the Gunung Mulu National Park that there are still about 140 nomadic
Penan. They may remain there as along as they do not become settled. The possibilities
for hunting, however, are limited to boar and deer. There are no indigenous
living in any of Sarawak's other protected areas. The Dajak who live immediately
outside of the reservation boundaries are allowed to gather secondary products
and to hunt in the buffer zones (Lantjak Entimau). There are large amounts of
guano (excrement of bats and swallows) in the caves of the Niah National Park.
The Iban collect the guano and use it as fertilizer.
Empty Promises
Sarawak's policy on protected areas is in arrears. Already in November of 1989,
a study undertaken by WWF Malaysia proposed an increase to 8% of the country's
area in order to provide protection for eco systems such as mangr oves and marshes
which until then had received fully insufficient protection. The WWF suggestion
to declare the Pulong Tau (1,645 Km²) and Usun Apau (1,130 Km²) national
parks as largely intact rain forests would have been important f or the Penan.
Even the Magoh (526 Km²), Melana (220 Km²), Adang (156 Km²), Sepayang
(80 Km²), Tutoh (22 Km²) and Seridan (14 Km²) Reserves, which the
Sarawak government has declared as protected areas for the Penan, have never been
demarcated. In addition, the status of legal protection is unclear, and the Magoh
and Melana areas have already been destroyed by the logging industry. The Penan
people are totally at the mercy of the arbitrariness of officials. In order to
claim title to land, they must prove that they have lived on it prior to January
1, 1958. And this they are unable to do because t hey have never cleared the land
and the traces of their presence in the rain forest have long disappeared. Thus
today they have become disenfranchised and are being increasingly repelled by
the bulldozers of the logging companies.
Difficulties with Regard to Policy on Protected Areas
The hesitancy with regard to policy on protected areas in Sarawak has its reasons.
All "untouched" forests were claimed by the state in 1958. Secondary
forests of the settled Dajak were excluded if they could show official title.
Current government members, their relatives and business associates own the lumbering
licenses for which they receive payment. This corrupt system has been continuously
criticized in international campaigns against logging and has provoked officials
in Sarawak. The restrained policy on protected areas certainly also has something
to do with a certain defiance on the part of officials who by now, a priori, are
refusing to demarcate any new protected areas. Even for WWF Malaysia, which has
close contacts to the government, the situation has become bogged down. Aside
from the Batang Ai National Park (enlargement of Lanjak Entimau), no new protected
area has been established within the last ten years.
The tourism industry has primarily requested the use of the Gunung Mulu National
Park (with its own airport, hotel and golf course), the Niah National Park (guest
house) and the Bako National Park (guest house and an extensive system of walking
paths). Freedom for visitors to move about in the Gunung Mulu Park is very restricted
because officials want to prevent the uncontrolled contract between foreigners
and the local population. This is not to protect traditional culture but rather
to prevent infor mation on logging, problems of land rights, and human rights
violations from reaching the public.
Bibliography
Anderson, J. & Jeremy, A.C., Gunung Mulu National Park , A Management
and Development Plan, Royal Geographic Society, London, 1982
Kavanagh, M, & Hails, Ch.J., Rainforest Conservation in Sarawak ,
An International Policy for WWF, WWF Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 1989
Chai, P.K., Development of the Lanjak-Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary as a Totally
Protected Area , ITTO Procet PD 106/90, ITTO Yokohama and Forest Department
Sarawak, Kuching, 1996
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Activities
"Eleventh Hour" Campaign
by Bruno Manser
The village of Zermatt In Switzerland has taken action and, as the 37th community
in Switzerland, decided to renounce the use of tropical woods. Bravo!
The idea of plunging at a speed of 140 km per hour to promote this message might
seem somewhat crazy. But the desperate need to act and to protect the last primary
forests which provide the Penan and other indigenous groups with their lebensraum
leaves no time for procrastination and the postponement of important decisions.
In spite of the spectacle's explosive nature, response from the side of the
media was rather modest (five newspaper articles, three film contributions).
Once again we w ould like to thank the community of Zermatt, the Kleinmatterhorn
Railways, the "Speleo" friends, Jacques Christinet and all of the
other participants for their cooperation.
"Eleventh Hour" press conference with some of the well-known people
who were present in Zermatt (from left to right): Dr. Heinz Kronig (energy advisor),
Peter Zahnd (Director of the Kleinmatterhorn Railways) Leo Jörger (district
forestry official ), Robert Guntern (mayor of Zermatt), Maurice Egger (city
of Fribourg climate alliance), and Dr. Hans-Rudolf Keusen (geologist, Zollikofen).
The Japanese banner is inviting a city in Japan to follow the example of Zermatt.
Japan, with 2.5 % of the world's population, is consuming 1/3 of the world's
production of tropical wood.
Photos of the "Eleventh Hour":
René Rohner
Newsletter appears trimestrially in May, September and December.
Subscriptions to the Newsletter are FREE OF CHARGE (but help us to save paper,
read it on the WWW). Voluntary contribution are always welcome
For more information:
Bruno-Manser-Fonds (BMF), Association for the People of the Rainforest
Heuberg 25, CH-4051 Basel, Switzerland
Phone: +41 61 261 9474 Fax: +41 61 261 9473
email: info@bmf.ch
Donations:
Coop-Bank, CH-4002 Basel, Acct No. 421329.29.00.00-5
La Poste (France), Strasbourg, Numéro CCP 2.604.59T
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