SARAWAK’S ethnic Penans at Long Ajeng deep in the state’s interior have resorted to a blockade to stop a logging company from encroaching on forested land they have claimed as their ancestors’.

The forest is also the source of their livelihood and food, they said.

Swiss-based forest conservation group, the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), said Penans from a dozen settlements erected the blockade on a logging road in the upper Baram area close to the Sarawak-Kalimantan border last Thursday to keep out bulldozers brought in by conglomerate Samling Group from working in the disputed area.

The area is near Batu Siman, one of the state’s iconic mountain ranges in the middle of a planned protected area. 

BMF shared half a dozen photographs showing Penans holding placards with the words “Stop the Chop” and “Mai Teveng Kayeu Me’” (Don’t Cut Our Trees) and banners with the words “Warning to logging companies: This forest is a Penan traditional territory. Do not encroach on our land and our rights.” 

The area where the blockade was mounted is reportedly in an area informally named the Baram Peace Park.

Last year, the International Tropical Timber Organisation approved the government-sanctioned project, which aims to protect and sustainably develop the region with enhanced community participation.

The Long Ajeng blockade is the latest development in an ongoing stand-off between the state’s indigenous communities in Baram and timber companies like Samling. – September 14, 2021.