Controversial claims over the state of Sawarak's rainforests

This week Sarawak's Chief Minister - Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud - controversially claimed that 70 percent of this Malaysian region's forest remains intact.

Refuting claims that 90 percent of Sarawak's primary forests have been at least partially logged, the Chief Minister said that: "People can make many claims, but my government has been very deeply committed to sustainable management of our forest."

 Not everyone agrees with this claim. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, for instance, recently described the deforestation of Sarawak as "probably the biggest environmental crime of our times."

Other critics, led by Gordon Brown's sister-in-law - rainforest campaigner Clare Rewcastle Brown -suggest that Sarawak's Chief Minister, along with associates, have made vast amounts of money from logging and plantation development in the region since 1980.

In the last 12 months, the government of Sarawak has also announced plans to transform over a million hectares of rainforest into palm oil plantations.  Much of this forest belongs to indigenous communities.

Source: www.mongabay.com

Bookmark this page: