The news archive until 2019 is currently located on the old webpage of the Bruno Manser Fonds.
New report reveals Ukrainian oligarch’s links to Carpathian land grab scheme
IKEA claims to be people and planet positive, yet it is complicit in the degradation and destruction of Romania's forests. A new report by Agent Green and Bruno Manser Fonds documents this destruction and presents clear requests to the furniture giant.
After various complaints from civil society, PEFC International is asked to demonstrate accountability and to prove that the Malaysian certification scheme MTCS complies with its own standards and, thereby, with the Dutch timber procurement policy.
“The forest is gone – where is the money?” – Malaysian indigenous leaders, anti-corruption activists and international experts cover alleged corruption and environmental crimes under the late Malaysian politician Abdul Taib Mahmud in an explosive new film
BMF calls on Malaysia’s political leadership and judiciary to freeze Taib’s assets and reopen investigations into the origin of Taib’s enormous wealth
Certification body SIRIM uses Penan rejection of logging as a reason to reinstate certificate - Penan ask Samling representatives and SIRIM auditors to leave
At today's European SLAPP Contest 2024, the Canadian real estate group SAKTO won the "International Bully of the Year" award and the People's Choice Award - SAKTO is run by former Sarawak Governor Taib Mahmud's daughter Jamilah Taib and her husband Sean Murray
Bruno Manser Fonds welcomes appointment of new Sarawak Governor, calls for review of land leases and forest concessions granted by his predecessor in Malaysian Borneo
Penan communities are dismayed that Samling’s forest certificate was reinstated even though serious problems remain unresolved. They demand a no-logging zone in their territories.
Analysis reveals critical cracks in logging operations managed by timber giant Samling and certified by MTCS, a program endorsed by PEFC
UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders Michel Forst criticises Switzerland for not protecting NGO Bruno Manser Fonds from a lawsuit by Sarawak Governor Taib Mahmud's daughter.
A newly published report reveals large-scale mining in two different locations within the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary (PLWS). The Bruno Manser Fonds calls on the Cambodian government to ban gold mining within protected areas.
Samling bows to intense international pressure, withdrawing defamation suit against Indigenous CSO SAVE Rivers — communities celebrate victory of their #StopTheChop and #StopTheSLAPP campaigns
An association of NGOs and media professionals wants to make the Swiss public aware that in Switzerland, too, companies are lauching more and more intimidation. The newly founded association also advocates better legislation to stop such legal proceedings at an early stage.
Certification body SIRIM quietly withdraws forest certificate for logging concession in Northern Sarawak, after Samling failed to address non-conformities found in audit, while SIRIM itself is under investigation for Samling case
International solidarity letter condemns the Taib-Murrays and their Sakto Group for filing a SLAPP against the Bruno Manser Fonds
The Penan of Ba Jawi reject logging and forest certification and want to continue their lives as nomads
Amid new official reports that confirm community claims, civil society calls for SIRIM to cancel Samling’s MTCS certificate for the Gerenai Forest Management Unit in Baram
Representatives of the Penan people from Sarawak (Borneo) and other leading experts will come to Basel, Switzerland in August for an event to bear witness to the destruction of Borneo’s forests: The Rainforest Tribunal. The aim of the Tribunal is to take stock after decades of deforestation and ruthless exploitation of the rainforest: What are the consequences for people and the environment?
SAVE Rivers shocked as timber company uses its chairman’s name on webpage about community engagement in apparent attempt to enhance its image
The Penan villages of Long Lamai and Ba Lai refuse to participate in the ongoing forest certification process and ask timber giant Samling to respect their territories
Indigenous communities hold peaceful demonstration and global civil society stands in solidarity with SAVE Rivers as they face a defamation lawsuit
While international experts and civil society discuss best practices for impact assessments at the ongoing IAIA conference in Kuching, FSC launches investigation into Samling’s “unacceptable activities” in Sarawak
160 groups and local communities rally behind grassroots NGO SAVE Rivers through letters and an email petition demanding timber company Samling withdraw its abusive lawsuit, which goes to trial in May at the Miri High Court.
Communities from Upper Baram Forest Area welcome steps taken to realize the project, and hand over declaration to Forest Department Sarawak and International Tropical Timber Organization ITTO
Mulu community leader Ukau Lupung targeted by Sarawak government over Penan resistance against controversial township plans at UNESCO World Heritage site.
Penan from Ba Abang village set up a blockade against logging in their area and demand a community-elected headman.
Indigenous communities from Sarawak have made an impassioned plea to King Charles III asking for the head of the Commonwealth to lend his support to their campaign to end rainforest destruction.
Indigenous delegates from Sarawak, Malaysia visit the United Kingdom this week to talk about Britain’s part in the destruction of rainforests in Borneo. The UK is the third largest importer of MTCS certified timber in the world.
Coalition submits complaint to FSC during General Assembly, calling on the body to withdraw Samling’s certificates
Penan, Berawan and Tering communities celebrate historic win against palm oil development and thank Sarawak’s Premier. New infrastructure projects in the immediate vicinity of the UNESCO World Heritage Site are seen as a threat to the communities and the Gunung Mulu National Park
In a recently published decision, the OECD Investment Committee faults the Canadian government for its handling of a complaint brought by Swiss NGO Bruno Manser Fonds before Canada’s National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises (Guidelines). The complaint handled by Canada concerned Canadian-based Sakto, a real estate group of the daughter of Sarawak Governor Abdul Taib Mahmud.
Sarawak Governor’s daughter, Jamilah Taib Murray, faces criminal proceedings for false accusation against Swiss NGO, the Bruno Manser Fonds
Samling withdraws from the Upper Baram Forest Area as Penan increase pressure with police report and blockade
Logging company Samling extracts timber near culturally important site - Penan communities outraged
Indigenous delegates from Malaysia visit the Netherlands, top importer of MTCS certified timber, to raise concerns about the certification scheme
In conjunction with MTCC’s participation at PEFC International’s members meeting in Dublin, civil society organisations argue MTCC is unable to uphold timber certification standards.
As companies increasingly rely on legal intimidation around the world, Samling is identified as one company in Malaysia allegedly using legal action to silence public participation
After Samling denied claims that it entered the Penan territory of Long Pakan late last year, the community has released proof from the ground of a clear intention to extract timber: satellite images of a logging road built by the company on their land.
New community signature campaign condemns selective consultations and requests a stop work order for timber giant Samling in Sarawak’s interior
Lack of infrastructure and the impact on protected areas are not in line with the IOC's sustainability requirements – Environmental NGOs score major victory in bid to protect the Carpathians from controversial huge ski resort.
Concern for Carpathians is at the center of a letter to Prince Albert II of Monaco, president of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Sustainability Committee
Civil society organisations argue MTCC dispute resolution process is faulty, standards not met for Gerenai Forest Management Unit under timber giant Samling
Penan elders from Long Pakan set up blockade against timber extraction from their forest – the second blockade against Samling in the Baram region within a month
Timber giant Samling’s operations in Upper Baram blocked by joint community action – Penan communities denounce logging on their ancestral lands
Samling Group is suing civil society organisation SAVE Rivers and its directors in a SLAPP suit
Samling Group is suing local Sarawak civil society organisation and its directors in a SLAPP suit
Basel mayor Beat Jans announces a $200,000 contribution to the International Tropical Timber Organization's (ITTO) Upper Baram Forest Management Area – 24 indigenous communities in Malaysian Borneo are to benefit from the conservation and sustainable development of their forest lands.
New investigation identifies unjustified "sanitary logging" as key mechanism behind destructive logging in Ukraine – First in-depth local case study details abusive practices in two State Forestry Enterprises in the Ukrainian Carpathians that are exporting large amounts of timber to the European Union
Civil society groups call for a moratorium on logging in affected areas until the dispute can be resolved, and for environmental and social impact assessments to be released immediately.
One of Malaysia's largest timber conglomerates is threatening to silence civil society with legal action. Meanwhile, the current floods impressively demonstrate the environmental costs of deforestation
The area around the Mulu National Park could soon be completely protected from deforestation.
Sarawak communities criticize flawed certification of logging operations
Samling is encroaching into the territory of Long Ajeng, even though the Penan community is within the Upper Baram Forest Area/Baram Peace Park supported by the Sarawak Government and the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)
On 11 February, the European Parliament adopted the annual report on the implementation of the EU Association Agreement with Ukraine. The report contains a clear criticism of the planned mega ski resort project in Svydovets and illegal logging in the Ukrainian Carpathians. The support of the European Parliament is a great success for the Free Svydovets movement which campaigns for the protection of a unique natural landscape.
The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) officially endorses the Baram Peace Park/Upper Baram Forest Area to protect the forest and support community livelihoods in Sarawak — at the same time, the timber company Samling continues to log the area.
While communities continue to express concern about certificates granted under the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme, a petition with 6,629 signatures from around the world now calls on the international certification body PEFC to step in.
Furniture giant refuses to provide precise information on the origin of wood from high-risk countries
Investigation commissioned by IKEA found no evidence of illegal wood in its supply chain
Penan communities from the Limbang area only learnt about the issuance of a timber certificate affecting their area two years after the fact – they now demand respect of Free, Prior and Informed Consent
Failure to comply with Swiss consumer laws indicates furniture giant's problem with its supply chains in Eastern Europe
The Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) talked to Kinari Webb, physician and founder of Health in Harmony, about how environmental destruction affects human health and allows for diseases like COVID-19 to spread.
Organizers called on to learn from & fix procurement failures linked to rainforest destruction in light of the Olympics postponement
Oil palm and timber companies received permits to continue work in Sarawak despite national lockdown – indigenous leaders criticise the government’s decision
Major Swiss movie production honours missing rainforest advocate Bruno Manser.
Indigenous Penan and Berawan communities file lawsuit against palm oil development destroying rainforests near the UNESCO-protected Gunung Mulu National Park
A planned mega ski resort in the Ukrainian Carpathians threatens some of Europe’s last primeval beech forests.