BMF report: Penan village succeeds in preventing logging in their forest
MIRI: Swiss-based organisation, the Bruno Manser Fund ( BMF), has reported that a Penan village has successfully protected their forest from logging.
According to a press release by BMF yesterday, after two years of struggle against logging in their forest, the Penan village of Long Tevenga in northern Sarawak gained a major victory: The Sarawak Forest Department said that logging company Lee Ling cannot proceed with the logging as long as the community has not given their consent.
“The small Penan village of Long Tevenga on Borneo saved their forest from timber extraction with unconventional means. For the last two years, the Penans have tried to prevent the logging company from entering the forest with a barricade on the logging road.
“In August this year, the village under headman Peng Megut decided to strengthen their efforts as they built a house across the logging road and when the logging company came back, they had no chance to get through and to continue the road construction as well as the timber extraction,” added the press release.
Last week, the logging company, however, returned to the blockade site with support of the police and representatives of the Sarawak Forest Department.
Based on the recently completed community maps, the Penans showed how the logging activities threatened their territorial rights in the area.
Consequently, the Sarawak Forest Department sent the logging company home and stated that Lee Ling should not proceed with further timber extraction without the consent of the Penan village.
Last year, the Penans and Bruno Manser Fund published a set of 23 maps documenting the Penans’ traditional forest and land use.
BMF is committed to protecting threatened tropical rainforests and the rights of the indigenous peoples, especially in Sarawak.