Two Penan villages refuse to participate in timber audit

Two Penan villages in the upper Baram region are refusing to participate in the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) auditing processes for the Tama Abu Forest Management Unit (FMU).

This was expressed by the headpersons for Long Lamai and Ba Lai villages in their respective letters to Samling Timber Malaysia, which is undergoing auditing for sustainable forest management certification within this FMU.

In a joint statement by Keruan, Bruno Manser Fund and The Borneo Project, the three groups said the communities of Long Lamai and Ba Lai reserve their rights to their forest and land and do not agree to delegate control to any other party.

They explained that the MTCS standard guarantees free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) to communities and that these villages demand these principles be upheld.

MTCS has been compulsory for all natural forests in Sarawak since the end of 2022.

"The villagers of Long Lamai and Ba Lai refuse to receive the auditors during their field visit.

“Along with their letters rejecting the logging and certification process, the villagers shared maps marking the boundaries of their territories.

"They stress that their boundaries are outlined to prevent timber extraction, not to exclude other native groups in the area or deny their rights to the forest," said the groups.

In their letters to Samling, headpersons Bian Belare (Long Lamai) and Aran Tuan Lajan (Ba Lai) stated that their non-participation in the audit process was not consent.

"It is the opposite, it is the expression of our rejection of the whole timber business. Samling is not welcome in our village, forest or land," wrote the duo.

Komeok Joe, head of the Penan organisation Keruan, said the Penan community had long suffered from the problems brought by logging.

"We do not want to participate in this destruction, whether it is called sustainable or not.

“The other Penan villages within the Upper Baram Forest Area (UBFA) feel the same way as Long Lamai and Ba Lai and see too many dangers in participating in sustainable forest management certification," he said. - Mkini