Borneo rainforest communities mount anti-logging protests

Indigenous communities in Borneo have set up blockades to prevent logging companies from gaining access to their rainforest homelands.

The Penan people of Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo barricaded roads used by timber companies to protest against the destruction of their native lands.

The demonstration is the latest in a string of protests spanning more than 20 years and is mainly directed at corporations who are clearing the local people's land for oil plantations.

A local Penan man told indigenous rights campaign group Survival International: "This piece of forest is the only place left for us to hunt and find food but there's only a little bit left.

"Last night I went hunting and came back with nothing. If we can't save this bit of forest, we will have nothing to eat."

Deputy rural and regional development minister Joseph Belaun Entulu pledged to intervene in the situation and persuade the timber companies not to disrupt any essential transport links used by the Penan people.

Numbering between 10-12,000, the Penan live in settlements within Sarawak's interior rainforests and depend on their environment for their survival.

Written by Aaron Akinyemi and Ahmed Mahomed

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