Logging threatens Bornean forest once envisioned as Indigenous-led peace park
A recently published report says a conservation park in Sarawak, Malaysia, once envisioned by Indigenous communities as a place they could co-manage and self-govern, has been converted into a timber concession. The report, launched by civil society organizations in Malaysia and abroad, says the area has lost critical tree cover.
A recently published report says a conservation park in the Malaysian state of Sarawak has been transformed into a timber concession and stripped of critical tree cover.
Indigenous communities had believed they could co-manage and self-govern the area as a conservation park, according to the report.
Civil society organizations based in Malaysia and abroad launched the report, titled “Plundering the Baram Peace …”
THE QUESTIONS THIS EVENT LEAVES BEHIND
What conditions enabled the area to be converted from a proposed conservation park into a timber concession?
How were Indigenous communities involved in decisions about the forest’s management?
What evidence does the report provide for the loss of critical tree cover?
What would co-management and self-governance have required in practice?
Who benefits from the timber concession, and who bears its costs?
YOUR QUESTION
Does this story leave you with another question?
Send us the question the report did not answer. It may become the next question IAQ investigates.
GLOBAL CURIOSITY MAP · AUGUST 2026