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2011.06.07 UPDATED


<br/>Timber has been Malaysia's "second largest export earner after petroleum since the early eighties" <sup>1</sup> and exceeds palm oil and rubber. In 1985 alone, 270,000 or 40% of the 670,000 hectares logged throughout Malaysia were in Sarawak, "which accounted for 39% of total Malaysian log production." <sup>2</sup> According to Lisa Curran, professor of tropical ecology and director of the Tropical Resources Institute at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, "more wood was extracted from Borneo between 1985 and 2000 than Africa and the Amazon combined." <sup>3</sup> <br/><br/>Logging Cargo Ship image source - www.nigeldickinson.com/ <br/><sup>1,2 </sup>INSAN and Authors, Logging Against the Natives of Sarawak, INSAN, the Institute of Social Analysis, 1989 <br/><sup>3 </sup>http://www.mongabay.com/borneo/borneo_logging.html <br/>The Iban people, among other indigenous tribes who share an intimate relationship with the forest, are most threatened by the indiscriminate destruction that is caused by logging. Subsistence agriculture, part of the Iban tradition is no longer viable in many parts of the forest interior. Hunting and fishing has also been disrupted along with the loss of natural habitats for wildlife and the pollution of rivers. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has openly blamed "shifting cultivation for the damage to Sarawak's forest environment." <sup>1</sup> <br/><br/>Old Postcard of Giant Tree in Borneo Forest image source - http://www.northborneostamps.blogspot.com/<br/><sup>1 </sup>Heather A. Wolf, Comment: Deforestation in Cambodia and Malaysia: The Case for an International Legal Solution, Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal, 1996 <br/>Logging in Borneo in the late 1980s and 1990s was some of the "most intensive the world has ever seen, with 60-240 cubic meters of wood being harvested per hectare versus 23 cubic meters per hectare in the Amazon." <sup>1</sup> Based on interpretation from digital Landsat satellite imagery, only 32.6% of forest cover in Borneo will remain in 2020.<br/><br/>Extend of Deforestation in Borneo image source - http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/extent-of-deforestation-in-borneo-1950-2005-and-projection-towards-2020<br/><sup>1 </sup>http://www.mongabay.com/borneo.html <br/>Borneo's lucrative natural resource amounts to a multi billion industry yielding over 30 million cubic meters of logs yearly, "half of which goes to Japan and the rest to other countries including Korea, Singapore and Taiwan". <sup>1</sup> The logs are then re-processed and re-exported by these latter countries to North America, Africa, and the Middle East. The insatiable logging of timber, especially as it is practiced in Sarawak constitutes one of the greatest crises facing the world today. Deforestation results in "massive soil erosion, widespread flooding, climactic changes, disruption to agriculture, loss of wildlife and the displacement of native peoples." <sup>2</sup><br/><br/>Sarawak 1 cent 1955 Queen Elizabeth II image source - http://numistamp.com/000062.php<br/><sup>1,2 </sup>Heather A. Wolf, Comment: Deforestation in Cambodia and Malaysia: The Case for an International Legal Solution, Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal, 1996 <br/>For the Iban, head-hunting is a very old tradition that carries various significances. In the past, head-hunting offers a soultion for expansion of territories or the need to prove a young man's bravery. The practice has been banned during Charles Brooke's rule and "seemingly forgotten after conversion to Christianity." <sup>1</sup> However, indigenous groups in Sarawak are still fighting for their homeland. Tan Sri Haji Abdul Taib bin Mahmud is the fourth and current Chief Minister of Sarawak and also the state Financial Minister and Planning and Resource Management Minister.<br/>Informally known as "white hair" in reference to the British Brooke family that ruled Sarawak as White Rajahs in the 19th and early 20th century, Taib has been holding the post of Chief Minister since 1981. Allegations and accusations of corrupt practices and blatant abuse of power by Taib have been widely reported in the media, notably by Sarawak Report, the Bruno Manser Fonds <sup>2</sup> and other whistleblowers. Today, the 75 year old billionaire is still under investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).<br/><br/>Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud image source - http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/newsandevents/conferences/OGIBMF/Pages/Speakers.aspx<br/><sup>1 </sup>Hugo Steiner, Sarawak, People of the Longhouse and Jungle, Opus Publications Sdn. Bhd., 2007.<br/><sup>2 </sup>http://www.bmf.ch/en/?lang=en <br/>Bruno Manser is famous for his "public activism for rainforest preservation and the protection of indigenous people." <sup>1</sup> The environmental activist from Switzerland is perhaps best known for the "six years he spent living with a group of nomadic Penan people from 1984 to 1990" <sup>2</sup> during which he was accused by the Malaysian government of arranging numerous blockades of logging roads. He was last seen on 25th May 2000, in the Borneo rainforest.<br/><br/>Bruno Manser image source - http://word.world-citizenship.org/wp-archive/date/2008/04<br/><sup>1 </sup>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Manser<br/><sup>2 </sup>http://www.bmf.ch/en/?lang=en <br/>Sarawak, one of two Malaysian provinces on the island of Borneo, has been home to the nomadic group of indigenous people, the Iban. Since ancient time, the Iban people have depended on the forest and its rivers for their resources and livelihood. Today, the fight remains in continuing this ancient way of life. The insatiable logging of timber, especially as it is practiced in Sarawak constitutes one of the greatest crises facing the world today. Deforestation results in "massive soil erosion, widespread flooding, climactic changes, disruption to agriculture, loss of wildlife and the displacement of native peoples." <sup>1</sup><br/><br/>Logger image source - www.nigeldickinson.com/<br/><sup>1 </sup>Heather A. Wolf, Comment: Deforestation in Cambodia and Malaysia: The Case for an International Legal Solution, Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal, 1996 <br/>Oil palm plantations are another major cause of deforestation in Sarawak which accounts for "86% of deforestation in Malaysia from 1995 to 2000." <sup>1</sup> Studies have also found a "80% for plants and 80-90% for mammals, birds and reptiles" <sup>2</sup> reduction in biological diversity following forest conversion to oil palm plantations. Amongst other problems, land-clearing fires set by plantation owners were also the "single largest cause of massive 1997-1998 fires in Borneo." <sup>3</sup><br/><br/>Oil Palm Products image source - http://www.palmoilaction.org.au/pages/shopping-guide.html<br/><sup>1,2,3 </sup>http://www.mongabay.com/borneo/borneo_oil_palm.html
 
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