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Translation - English Report from Malaysia, Sarawak Province
Stolen Forests, Indigenous People Suffer
Exports to Japan: “Companies just do as they please”
“Before we could predict where berries would grow, and we knew where the boars and deer that we hunt would be. But now that the forest has been cut down it is difficult, and we have to search far and wide.” – Just below the equator, Sarawak Province, in the northern part of the island of Borneo, Malaysia. In the village of Long Sepigen, home to the indigenous Penan people, Dia Gedau (61) strains to make his voice heard.
“The loggers said ‘we won’t come into your lands’, but then one day they suddenly just came. We want the logging to stop.”
The village lies deep in the mountains. From the city on the coast we came by light aircraft and car, switching to boats to cross the rivers. Then, finally we arrived. The rainforests of Borneo hold 6% of the earth’s total living species, and are one of the planet’s most high-priority conservation environments. However, in Sarawak, large-scale deforestation continues, and it is estimated that now only 5 to 10% of forests remain untouched. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that “approximately 50% is illegal logging.”
The Punan people traditionally lived nomadic lifestyles, moving from place to place in the forest, practicing hunting and gathering in search of food. Although now settled in simple wooden houses built on stilts, Gedau’s wife says: “The center of our lives is the forest. The forest is very important.”
Medicines and the poisons for blowguns used in hunting can be obtained from the plants of the forest. However, forests which have grown back after deforestation are spreading everywhere now. People here say that the vegetation has changed, so medicinal herbs no longer grow, and hunting is difficult in the thick undergrowth. The rivers are muddied by an influx of sediment, and there are fewer fish – life has become difficult due to the effects of deforestation.
Samling Group is a local conglomerate which holds permits issued by the local government to conduct logging in the area around the village. In an interview, a member of staff explained: “We consult with the indigenous people before felling any trees. We do not go into areas if there is any opposition expressed.”
Passing through the area by car, freshly dug yellow soil was clearly visible leading up from the side of the road piled high with logs towards the cliffs – apparently evidence that a new logging road was under construction. Half falling down a steep slope as we walked down, a heavy machine rumbled up towards us, dragging logs several tens of metres long and several metres in diameter. Further down, bulldozers were demolishing trees with brute force.
In the area around Long Jaik, another Punan settlement, Samling Group has felled the entire area for planting things like acacias.
The village headman Matu Tugang (59) says: “The companies just come in and thoughtlessly mow down whatever they want. They threaten to arrest us if we try and stop them.” Fences have been built along the roads, and strict security is making hunting difficult.
The headman is serious when he says, “I want to take back the land”. In 2009 he sued the corporations and the local government, but a ruling has yet to be made. There are thought to be several hundred other similar cases ongoing where indigenous peoples are claiming infringement of their land rights.
Though we can’t assume that all of it is illegal, Sarawak-produced timber, both legal and illegal, is consumed in large quantities in Japan. 55% of all plywood exported from the province is headed for Japan for use in concrete mouldings and flooring in construction.
Andrew Aeria, Associate Professor of Political Economy at University Malaysia Sarawak said: “While most Japanese people may not know about the reality of the impact that logging has on indigenous peoples, I think they should stop importing unethical products.”
Malaysia, Sarawak Province
Kyodo News, Kaori Saito
(Photo caption: Worksite with evidence of logging road construction. Further back, diggers felling trees by brute force. Malaysia, Sarawak Province)
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Bachelor's degree - SOAS
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Years of experience: 12. Registered at ProZ.com: Jan 2016.
A freelance translator
with 9+ years of experience working in diverse areas, I am constantly searching
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I have worked internationally on complex projects, including translating legal,
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which I have relished the challenge of prevailing under strict deadlines and
rapidly changing circumstances. I have a first-class honours degree in Japanese from SOAS, and have recently completed a Masters in Psychology.
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