by DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, May 22: Penan community representatives from the Upper Baram region have filed a legal challenge in the High Court of Sarawak and Sabah, seeking to stop large-scale logging which they claim has encroached on a legally protected forest zone.
According to a joint press statement by Bruno Manser Fonds (BMF), Save Rivers, Keruan, and The Borneo Project, the lawsuit calls to protest the issuance of a timber licence covering 170,000 hectares of forested land to a local timber company.
The licence, granted in 2024, which also encompasses the local communities’ native customary territory, is being challenged on the grounds that it was issued without the free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) of local communities.
“They also argue that they have been deprived of their rights to object and to be heard. They also claim that the licence was granted without proper environmental and social impact assessments,” the statement said.
Part of the licence also allegedly covers the 55,000 hectare Suling-Selaan Protected Forest, which was gazetted in 2002.
Furthermore, satellite imagery, cited by the groups, showed the heavy footprint of timber company’s operations, even in areas that were defined as ‘protection zone’, including the west flank of Gunung Murud Kecil.
In response to the court action, the State’s Forest Department has acknowledged that the core function of protected forests is to preserve ecological integrity and safeguard water and soil resources.
“The primary purpose of a protected forest is to preserve and safeguard the ecological integrity of the land, ensure environmental protection of soils and water, and in some cases, support productive forest activities.”
Despite these assurances, the groups highlighted the lack of transparency on the agreements surrounding the timber concession, noting that key documents—such as environmental or social impact assessments, harvesting plans, and the timber licence itself—have not been made public.
“My clients are calling on the court to quash the Director of Forest’s decision to issue forest timber licence, and to stop the unlawful logging operation,” said Miri-based lawyer Roland Engan.
“I will officially apply to court for all relevant documents pertaining to the logging operation,” he added. – DayakDaily
