The gazetting of land for timber

Please note :

In granting logging or other concessions, the state merely needs to gazette the land in question and provide a 60-day period of objection to those who would be affected.

Whether the affected communities are aware of this seems immaterial. The fact is that the people who are affected often find out about the state’s actions only when the logging companies show up at their doorstep.

By giving lucrative logging concessions to companies without clear, enforceable guidelines designed to ensure the protection and security of communities like the Penan, the government has left such communities completely vulnerable to encroachment, land loss, and the undermining of autonomy and self-sufficiency.