Month: August 2021

NTFP-EP Asia and NTFP-EP Malaysia have signed a letter along with a hundred organizations asking Malaysian timber giant Samling to withdraw its defamation suit against one of our partners, SAVE Rivers, and its board members.

The suit claims SAVE Rivers made defamatory statements against Samling in several press releases throughout 2020 and 2021, questioning the sustainability of their logging operations in Sarawak and the certification process by the Malaysian Timber Certification Council. The signatories from Malaysia and around the world believe this suit is strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP), and is part of a growing international trend of silencing human rights and environmental defenders.

We stand in solidarity with our fellow signatories in calling for an end to the harassment of Indigenous environmental and human rights defenders.

The full text of the letter can be found below (via The Borneo Project)

To: Yaw Chee Ming, CEO, Samling Group

Dear Mr. Yaw Chee Ming,

The following organisations ask that Samling withdraw its legal suit against SAVE Rivers and its board members, and provide the communities of Samling’s Gerenai and Ravenscourt concessions in Sarawak with all of the environmental and social impact assessments conducted for the certification, including the High Conservation Value assessment. 

The suit claims SAVE Rivers made defamatory statements about the company in several press releases throughout 2020 and 2021. We believe this suit is strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP), and is part of a growing international trend of silencing human rights and environmental defenders. 

Instead of addressing the very legitimate concerns of Sarawak’s indigenous communities and engaging in a meaningful dialogue, Samling has resorted to legal action. The suit against SAVE Rivers was filed while a case is pending with the Malaysian Timber Certification Council’s Dispute Resolution Committee. This undermines the necessary and clearly regulated dispute resolution process. 

The following signatories fully support SAVE Rivers and the Indigenous communities expressing concerns over certification, and demand that Samling refrain from legal action against civil society organizations and local communities. 

We urge Samling to drop the SLAPP suit against SAVE Rivers and its directors, to release all relevant project documentation, and to engage in meaningful consultations with local communities about their lands. 

Signed,

1stopborneo wildlife 

350.org Asia

350.org Japan

Advancing Knowledge in Democracy and Law initiative 

Agora Society Malaysia

Alaska Clean Water Advocacy

Aliran

All Women’s Action Society

Alternatives to Violence Project Malaysia

Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM)

Association of Toy Libraries Malaysia 

Biofuelwatch

Blueprint for Free Speech

Bob Brown Foundation

Bruno Manser Fund

BRWA (Badan Registrasi Wilayah Adat) – Indonesia

California Trade Justice Coalition

Canopée 

Caritas Diocese of MiriI

Center for Orang Asli Concerns

Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center)

Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) Malaysia

Childline Foundation 

Clean Air Action Group

Climate Wise Women

COECOCEIBA – Friends of the Earth Costa Rica

Colong Foundation for Wilderness

Covenant Tribal Solar Initiative

Earth Island Institute

Earthsight

Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)

Environmental Paper Network (EPN)

Environmental Protection Information Center

Environmental Protection Society Malaysia (EPSM)

Family Frontiers 

FECOFUN

Fern

ForestCom 

Forum Ökologie & Papier

Free Tree Society Kuala Lumpur

Friends of the Earth International

G25 Malaysia

Gabungan Darurat Iklim

Green Empowerment

GreenFaith

Greenpeace Southeast Asia 

Health In Harmony

ICCA Consortium

International Forum on Globalization

International Rivers

Japan Tropical Forest Action Network

Jaringan Kerja Pemetaan Partisiaptif (JKPP)

Justice for Sisters 

Kaoem Telapak

KERUAN Organisation

Kiu & Co.

LEAP – Land Empowerment Animals People

Malaysian CARE

Melbourne Rainforest Action Group

MyHutan

Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Programme Asia 

Non-Timber Forest Products Exhange Programme Malaysia

North South Initiative 

Nuclear Consulting Group (NCG)

OGM dangers

Ohmsi Sdn Bhd

Oil Change International

Partners of Community Organisations (PACOS)

Penang Forum

Pergerakan Tenaga Akademik Malaysia (GERAK)

Persatuan Kesedaran dan Keadilan Iklim Malaysia – Klima Action Malaysia ( KAMY )

Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor

Pertubuhan Alam Sekitar Sejahtera Malaysia -GRASS 

Pronatura – Friends of the Earth Switzerland

Pusat KOMAS 

Rainforest Action Network

Raptors Are The Solution

Real Food Real Stories

Rettet den Regenwald (Rainforest Rescue)

Sacred Land Film Project

Sahabat Alam Malaysia, Friends of the Earth Malaysia

Salva la Selva, Spain

Seacology

Seeding Sovereignty

Sisters in Islam (SIS)

Siti Kasim & Associates 

Society for Threatened Peoples (STP)

Stop Fish Bombing USA

Sustainable Development Network Malaysia

TENAGANITA 

Terabai Kenyalang Heritage Association of Sarawak 

The Altai Project

The Borneo Project

The KL & Sel Chinese Assembly Hall Women Division 

The Oakland Institute

The Woodland League

Third World Network

Thousand Currents

Treat Every Environment Special

Undi Sarawak

Viva Sierra Gorda

Western Australian Forest Alliance (WAFA)

The year 2020 was unprecedented. The WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 11 March, and in the months that followed no one was spared from its impact. Apart from the existential threat of the disease itself, the resulting
lockdowns, movement restrictions and curtailing of some civil liberties have resulted in a dire situation worldwide. Although vaccines were in rapid development by the end of the year, talks of building back better still seemed superficial and a distant reality. Health, food, climate, biodiversity, and the state of global to local economies during the pandemic were in their rightful places as priority agendas for all nations in the world for what seemed to be a turn for the worse for both people and planet.

The year 2020 was supposed to kick-off a decade of action to 2030 for the SDGs. Before the pandemic, the SDG reports have already shown uneven results. With the pandemic, any progress from previous years were undone with devastating results for food security, nutrition, and hunger. For climate and biodiversity, alarming rates of biodiversity loss, extreme weather, and the highest concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere were marked in 2020. The nature and biodiversity goals for the last decade, particularly targets for ecosystem protection, were only partially
achieved. In fact, habitat loss and forest degradation have been found to contribute to the rise of zoonotic diseases.

On that note, COVID-19, as an “emerging infectious disease of probable animal origin”, spotlighted zoonotic diseases as an effect of both climate change and nature and biodiversity degradation. The importance of forests couldn’t have been more pronounced and relevant for the 1.6 billion people in the world (including over 200 million of indigenous population in the Asia-Pacific) who are dependent on forests for food, medicines, shelter, and income. The importance
of forests during the pandemic became pivotal during the crisis period, beyond its seasonal contribution.

Yet these forests are being ravaged by threats fueled by an unsustainable and inequitable economic model, further aggravated by the already life-threatening circumstance of the pandemic. Forests and biodiversity figured as truly essential for the survival and sustainability of all peoples and our planet. The clamor for a shift to more sustainable lifestyles was no small outcry; it was a recurring message throughout the year. Furthermore, such agendas carried through to 2021 as the global talks on food for the United Nations Food Systems Summit, climate and biodiversity for the Conference of Parties, and the development goals for the SDGs continued.

Sadly with the global pandemic, we also saw some national governments taking advantage of the situation by passing controversial laws such as the Omnibus law in Indonesia, the Anti-Terror Bill and the division of Palawan island into three provinces in the Philippines, and other policies which are being amended in the absence of transparency. In India, a farmer’s protest against farm acts passed by parliament in September 2020 have been described as “anti-farmer” by
unions.

Civic spaces continued to shrink and dissenting voices were either silenced or threatened with force and even extrajudicial means. Promoting ICCAs remained challenging, with the appreciation for these territories of life still yet
to gain support from lawmakers. One strategy to overcome this is the active participation of the NTFP-EP in regional and international events on ICCAs and grabbing opportunities that allow for advocacy of ICCAs. In our strategic planning, NTFP-EP concurred with the global message that transformational change is extremely vital now and towards the next decade.

NTFP-EP sees the need for transformational change in the status of IPLCs, women and youth in terms of recognition and defense of their rights, their livelihoods, well-being, and health. Their persistent invisibility in statistics and policies need to be directly addressed. The defense of threatened community forests, natural resources and ecosystems and working towards inclusive conservation, where the link between people and forests were emphasized as part of our key strategic actions in the next decade.

The global message of transformational change resonated well with NTFP-EP. IPLCs, women, youth, and civil society have vital roles and contributions to building a better future for all. We summed this up in our theory of change by enabling communities and elevating Community-based Forest Conservation, Indigenous Knowledge, Systems, Practices & Culture, Gender Equality and Women Rights through the enhancement of capacity and space for IPLC, women and youth leadership, building knowledge and evidence, catalyzing stakeholders’ engagements, modeling and facilitating change, and stabilizing our foundation as we mainstream gender and strengthen the organization in the next 10 years.

To this end, NTFP-EP will continue to work towards realizing its vision: “Resilient Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, with women and youth in Asia, are respected stewards of healthy forests and living securely in their land for generations to come.”

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