Vast areas of forests adjacent Mulu National Park in northern Sarawak already cut down even as the Penans protested. Sahabat Alam Malaysia pic
MIRI: Ground surveys by Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) show that vast areas of forests adjacent to the Mulu National Park have already been cut down.
SAM field officer for Sarawak, Jok Jau Evong, said huge trees had been chopped down.
This discovery comes even as the minority Penan and Berawan natives in Mulu protest the forest-clearing by a plantation firm at the fringes of the Mulu National Park, a World Heritage Site, in interior Miri.
These natives have erected human barriers across the road leading to Bateu Bungan village.
Ukau Lupong, a Penan chief, is leading the protest that involves about 300 natives.
The Bateu Bungan village is located at the boundary of the Mulu National Park, about 200km inland from Miri, which is home to the largest cave systems in the world.
Jok said the Penans and Berawans were staging blockades not just at the Bateu Bungan village but also at the logged sites.
“A large number of trees have been cut down by the plantation workers already.
“The project is supposed to be for a oil palm plantation but the trees are being cut for timber too.
“The land clearing for building the roads into the proposed plantation is seeing trees being felled for their timber.
“The impact on the ecosystem is far-reaching – even Mulu National Park will feel the impact.
“We (SAM) are helping the affected natives highlight their plight to both the state and federal authorities,” Jok told The Star on Tuesday (Feb 19).
SAM president SM Mohd Idris, in an email, said Sarawak must follow the steps taken by Putrajaya to halt the expansion of plantations into virgin forests.
“The Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry has already made the decision not to allow any expansion of oil-palm plantations in the country.
“This latest case in Mulu shows that in Sarawak, there is still a lot of problems with regard to the extension of existing plantations and the opening of new ones.
“Sarawak already has 1.5 million hectares of oil-palm plantations. That is more than enough.
“The case in Mulu is serious because it is a World Heritage Site and the natives there depend on the forests for survival,” he said.
The Mulu protests have also garnered international attention.
The Bruno Manser Foundation, an international environmental group based in Switzerland that was formed by the family of the missing activist Bruno Manser, has also highlighted the case.
The Foundation has sent observers to Bateu Bungan to monitor the latest blockade.
It is said that the blockade was ignited after workers of a certain plantation company started clearing forests just next to the Mulu National Park to build roads to facilitate the opening of the oil-palm plantation.
Information indicated that the plantation project may involve forest-cutting and land-clearing of up to 4,400ha.
As of Tuesday morning, the Penans and Berawans were still staging human barriers and also wooden barricades at various points to stop the entry of the plantation company workers.
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