INDIGENOUS Penan communities deep in the interior of northern Sarawak have launched a series of human blockades to halt logging operations they say are destroying their ancestral forests without consent.
According to a joint press statement released on Thursday by four civil society organisations — The Borneo Project, KERUAN, Save Sarawak Rivers, and the Bruno Manser Foundation — the blockades have been established near the Penan villages of Ba’Data Bila, Long Benali and Ba’Pengiran Kelian in the Baram district, some 10 hours’ drive over rugged terrain from Miri.
“These Penans have set up human blockades in the different locations as a desperate move to stop the logging operators from continuously chopping down their forests,” said the groups, via land rights lawyer Roland Engan, who is representing the communities and is based in Miri.
The statement alleges that logging activities are being carried out on traditional Penan land without free, prior and informed consent — a key principle of indigenous rights under international law.
“Every day, dozens of timber trucks loaded with big logs can be seen leaving the forests belonging to the Penans,” the organisations said. “The logging operators have never received permission from the Penans to cut down the forests. The Penans were never consulted, and their complaints against the logging were blatantly ignored by both the companies and the authorities.”
In April alone, it was estimated that 162 logging trucks entered and exited the affected forest areas, with the value of extracted timber reaching approximately RM9 million per month, the statement added.
The timber operations, the NGOs contend, are not only depriving the Penans of their land and livelihood but are also threatening Sarawak’s remaining intact forest ecosystems, which are among the richest in biodiversity in Southeast Asia.
The protest sites remain peaceful for now, with no reports of physical confrontations. Protesters, mostly from Penan villages, are blocking logging roads to prevent access by heavy machinery and timber vehicles.
“These communities are defenceless against the power and influence of logging conglomerates,” said the organisations. “We are calling on the Sarawak state government and elected leaders to intervene without delay to protect the rights of these native communities.”
The Penan, among Sarawak’s last nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples, have long fought to defend their forest territories from deforestation, dam construction and land encroachment. Despite decades of advocacy, many still await official recognition of their customary land rights.
The four NGOs behind the joint statement have been active in land rights and environmental advocacy across Borneo, calling for greater transparency in land use and the protection of indigenous communities and ecosystems. - June 5, 2025
