Landmark court ruling could help tribes stop deforestation and oil palm plantations

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A landmark ruling made by the Malaysian courts this week could allow tribes on the island of Borneo to stop logging and oil palm plantations destroying their forests.

The Malaysian Federal Court ruled on Tuesday that Indigenous people in Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of Borneo, have rights to land they use for hunting and gathering as well as land they use for growing food. Previously, the Sarawak government did not recognise tribal peoples' rights over their traditional land unless they could show that they had grown crops there.

The Penan and other tribes in Sarawak are desperately trying to stop logging and oil palm companies razing the forests they rely on for their survival.

The Sarawak government has, until now, required Indigenous people to provide evidence that they have cultivated their land for many years before it will recognize their rights. This has made it impossible for the Penan, who are hunter-gatherers and grow very little of their food, to protect their land.

The Sarawak state government has leased the Penan’s land out to logging and oil palm companies without consulting the tribe. The destruction of their forests scares away the animals they hunt, pollutes the rivers and kills the fish, so that many Penan have real difficulty finding food.

Tribes in Sarawak have filed around 200 land rights cases, but most are facing long delays in the court system.

Survival campaigner Miriam Ross has recently visited the Penan, and is available for interview.

For more information and images please contact Miriam Ross on (44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (44) (0)7504 543 367 or email [email protected]