Shin Yang - Logging and oil palm, Malaysia

This page was created in 2019 and may contain language which is now outdated.

The Penan have been fighting for many years to keep logging companies off their land. Oil palm companies are now starting to move into areas where the valuable timber has been taken.

Shin Yang has established large-scale oil palm plantations on Penan land, often without consulting the Penan. It is also one of the biggest timber firms in Sarawak and is licensed to operate on major tracts of Penan land. The company is owned by the Ling family and is based in Miri, Sarawak. h2. Denying the Penan’s existence Shin Yang has faced repeated blockades by Penan trying to protect their land. The Penan are still fighting against continued encroachment by the company and have received little or no compensation for the loss of the forests they rely on. The company operates on Penan land without the tribe’s consent, and has even claimed in an ‘Environmental Impact Assessment’ report that an area where the tribe live contained ‘no permanent local settlements’ and that there was ‘no legal claim of NCR [native customary rights] land within the land’. In fact, the area contained at least six Penan settlements. Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the consultants involved in preparing the report was also a Shin Yang employee. Shin Yang started planting oil palm in this area in 2001, clearing large areas of the Penan’s forest.h2. From Survival's website   "*'Government report confirms Penan girls were raped by loggers'*":/news/4940   "*'Logging protests spread in Borneo as nomads block roads'*":/news/4889   "*The Penan*":/tribes/penan   "*Progress Can Kill report*":/progresscankill h2. From the web "*Shin Yang website*":https://www.shinyang.com.my/

Sign up to the mailing list

Our amazing network of supporters and activists have played a pivotal role in everything we’ve achieved over the past 50 years. Sign up now for updates and actions.

If you are a human, ignore this field