{
  "id": 12892673,
  "title": "Logging threatens Bornean forest earmarked for Indigenous Peace Park",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/logging-threatens-bornean-forest-earmarked-for-indigenous-peace-park",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-08T14:25:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Mongabay",
    "slug": "mongabay",
    "url": "https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/logging-threatens-bornean-forest-earmarked-for-indigenous-peace-park/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A recent civil society report reveals that a forest in Malaysian Borneo, intended for Indigenous co-management and self-governance, has been converted into a commercial logging concession. The 283,500-hectare Upper Baram Forest Area, located in northeastern Sarawak, was initially proposed as a community-led conservation zone over a decade ago. In 2021, the Sarawak Forest Department received $1.4 million from the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) to establish a conservation initiative involving 32 Indigenous villages, known as the Baram Peace Park. However, in 2024, the state government granted a 170,000-hectare timber concession to Borneoland Timber Resources Sdn. Bhd., which overlaps vital cultural and ecological regions.\n\nAccording to a Swiss-based nonprofit, the Bruno Manser Fonds, which supported the Baram Peace Park project, community observers recorded more than 160 logging trucks exiting the concession each month from March to May 2025. These trucks transported an estimated 10.5 million ringgit ($2.6 million) worth of timber per month. Logging paths have infiltrated the core primary forest surrounding Gunung Murud Kecil, a peak significant to the Indigenous Penan heritage, endangering protected species such as helmeted hornbills (Rhinoplax vigil), sun bears (Helarctos malayanus), and Sunda clouded leopards (Neofelis diardi). Affected villagers claim loggers have violated their native customary rights by clearing land and uprooting ancestral fruit trees. Komeok Joe, CEO and founder of the Penan rights organization Keruan, stated that local communities are actively resisting these encroachments.",
  "summary": "Part of a forest in Malaysian Borneo that Indigenous communities had envisioned co-managing and self-governing has been turned into an active commercial logging concession, according to a recent civil society report. The 283,500-hectare (700,500-acre) Upper Baram Forest Area, in the northeastern part of the state of Sarawak, was proposed as a community-led conservation area more […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}