This publication is the outcome of our research on the socio-environmental impacts of large pulp and paper, timber tree and oil palm plantations in Sarawak. It contains two case studies on plantation affected indigenous communities in Batu Niah and Bakong in the Miri Division. It stresses on the importance of understanding the context of large monoculture plantations in Sarawak accurately, as it entails two destructive factors. First, it involves deforestation, as it is clearly a post-logging development. This began in the late 1990s, as a result of the depletion in natural timber resources caused by the excessive logging in the previous decades. Second, it involves the violations of the NCR. Both factors are caused by various systemic weaknesses in governance, policy and law, which have failed to ensure sustainable forestry management and provide land tenure security for the NCR. It also provides analysis on the law and forestry and plantation statistics in Sarawak, oil palm smallholders and certification and ends with a set of policy and legal recommendations. The Malay version of the publication will be made available soon.
Pollution & Extractives
Prohibit mining in environmentally sensitive areas
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) calls on the federal and state governments to prohibit mining including of rare earth elements (REE) in environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs)
September 12, 2023
