By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Dec 19: Eleven Penan residents representing communities in Ulu Baram are weighting an appeal to the Malaysian Court of Appeal after the Miri High Court dismissed their challenge to logging licences issued by the Sarawak Forest director and approved by the Minister of Natural Resources and Urban Development.
Keruan Organisation director Komeok Joe said the appeal seeks to protect the Penan community’s native customary land rights, safeguard their forests, rivers, and sources of livelihood, and ensure that future generations can continue to live sustainably on their ancestral lands.
“The legal action taken by the Penan representatives is not meant to obstruct development. It is an effort to defend ancestral lands from destruction that has direct impacts on forests, rivers, sources of livelihood, and the food security of local communities,” he explained in a statement today.
Ipa Ulai, a resident of Ulu Baram and one of the applicants in the judicial review, echoed this view. “For generations, we Penan have depended entirely on these forests for our survival. The approved logging activities have caused environmental degradation, river pollution, and the loss of traditional hunting and farming areas, all of which directly impact our lives,” he said.
Addressing claims that the Penan community is being influenced or manipulated by external parties or NGOs, Komeok stressed that the struggle is rooted in the community’s own awareness and lived experiences.
“Linking our efforts to an external agenda is an attempt to divert attention from the real issue — the failure to recognise and protect Indigenous peoples’ native customary land rights. This appeal is initiated entirely by the Penan themselves, based on their own experiences and their need to defend their land for future generations,” he said.
Komeok also highlighted that claims of unanimous support for logging among local communities cannot be generalised as the presence of a small number of individuals holding banners does not reflect the collective voice of the Penan in Ulu Baram, who continue to defend their ancestral territories against ongoing exploitation.
Meanwhile, SAVE Rivers managing director Celine Lim said that development in Ulu Baram does not need to rely on logging licences granted to private companies, especially when the government already has agencies and structured development plans in place.
“There are sustainable and equitable development alternatives that do not sacrifice forests or the Penan people’s livelihoods. Ulu Baram can be developed without issuing logging licences to any private company.
“The Highland Development Agency (HDA), established by the Sarawak government, and government commitments to repair and upgrade logging roads mean that Upper Baram communities do not need to depend on logging companies for infrastructure,” she said. — DayakDaily
