Penan tribe protest at logging

Hundreds of Penan hunter-gatherers have signed a letter of protest about a logging permit awarded to a notorious timber company. The company, Samling Plywood, has a long history of destroying the Penan's rainforest home. The Penan have taken their protest to the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC), the body which certifies that timber has been logged ’sustainably'. The letter was signed by 16 Penan headmen, and carried the thumbprints of more than 600 others. The area being logged by Samling is one of the last remaining primary rainforest areas in the province of Sarawak and is therefore essential for the survival of the Penan as a people, who have already witnessed the destruction of much of their forest.