A conservation park that Indigenous communities from the Malaysian state of Sarawak believed they could co-manage and self-govern has been transformed into a timber concession and stripped of critical tree cover, according to a recently published report. A group of civil society organizations based in Malaysia and abroad launched the report, “Plundering the Baram Peace Park,” with a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 27, calling on other NGOs and the Malaysian government to recognize the logging of primary forest as well as alleged irregularities in the process of granting the concession and informing affected communities. The report, led by Swiss-based nonprofit Bruno Manser Fonds with participation from other NGOs, also raises concern that the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), an international organization that aims to promote sustainable use of forests, has continued funding projects in the region, even after the 2024 collapse of a coalition between Indigenous community members, the Sarawak government, and civil society. A fragile coalition The Upper Baram Forest Area was initially proposed as a community-led conservation project, an idea going back more than 15 years. From 2009 to 2024, the area was proposed to be conserved as the Baram Peace Park, with Indigenous villages and the Sarawak forest department working together to protect the forest. The project gained steam in 2021 after the forest department submitted a project proposal to the ITTO and raised a total of $1.4 million to develop a park program in cooperation with 32 Indigenous Penan, Kenyah, Kelabit, and Saban…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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