Month: May 2022

Indigenous delegates from Malaysia visit the Netherlands, top importer of MTCS certified timber, to raise concerns about the certification scheme

This article was originally published on The Borneo Project.

(THE HAGUE / NETHERLANDS) An Indigenous delegation from Malaysia is currently in the Netherlands to speak to the Dutch government about suspending its endorsement of the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme MTCS. The request is based upon community concerns about inadequate consultations and an abusive lawsuit against a Malaysian NGO. The Netherlands is a key timber consumer of Malaysian hardwood.

For the past two days the Malaysian delegation, which includes representatives from Indigenous and environmental NGO SAVE Rivers and Penan organisation KERUAN, have met with government representatives, politicians and civil society in the Netherlands. The Dutch government signalled its interest in starting a review of the scheme in response to the delegation’s serious concerns and experiences with MTCS.

Laki Weng from the Penan village of Long Adang, which borders Samling’s MTCS certified Ravenscourt Forest Management Unit (FMU), shared his story: “Samling’s logging activities affect our livelihood: we have no more timber to build houses. The logging also causes erosion, water pollution and floods. Our communities are not aware that our area is MTCS certified as we have not been properly consulted. Worst of all, the Penan village of Long Tevenga is not even on the map of the FMU. I am very happy to see that the Dutch government is willing to meet us and to listen to us. In Malaysia, our concerns are not
considered serious enough, we would never get the chance to present them to the
government.”

The Netherlands is the number one importer of MTCS certified timber: 71,800 m³, or 28% of the total export volume of MTCS timber, went to the Netherlands in 2020. The wood is sourced by the Dutch government for housing construction. The government endorsed the MTCS in 2017 only after the Malaysian government addressed outstanding issues concerning Indigenous rights, the availability of comprehensive maps and forest conversion under the MTCS. The endorsement officially expired after 5 years and the Dutch government has yet to review the new MTCS standard from 2020/2021.

Earlier this week, NGOs sent a letter to the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) requesting they take responsibility for the shortcomings in their scheme, particularly the lack of a functioning complaints procedure, and the Council’s inability to deal with the alleged SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) suit against SAVE Rivers that has stalled the Conflict Resolution Procedure opened by MTCC.

This story was originally published on The Borneo Project.

(MIRI / SARAWAK / MALAYSIA) As the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) attends the members’ meeting for the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) International this week, a group of civil society organizations has sent a scathing letter to the MTCC, arguing that the body has failed to ensure its own standards.

The letter points to stalled complaints proceedings and the mishandling of a lawsuit against Sarawakian civil society organization and Green Livelihoods Alliance Malaysia partner SAVE Rivers, which call into question the reputation of the MTCC and MTCS (Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme). The letter suggests the MTCC is urgently in need of reform to maintain its credibility.

For several years Indigenous communities in Sarawak have been opposing logging concessions operated by timber giant Samling, which have been certified under MTCS. The communities attempted multiple times to engage in dialogue with the company and with the MTCC, and in May 2021 they filed an official complaint. Instead of engaging in a dialogue process recommended by the MTCC as part of the dispute resolution, Samling filed a defamation lawsuit against SAVE Rivers in June 2021. This lawsuit has effectively stalled all dialogue, while timber extraction continues under the MTCS label. The letter points out that this sets a worrying precedent: companies using pending litigation to avoid accountability
could become a trend.

The letter also questions the lack of transparency regarding financial flows and auditing: “our understanding is that in Sarawak, the Certification Body [SIRIM] is potentially paid by their clients to do the auditing.” If this is true, SIRIM would have financial interests in granting certificates to logging companies in order to avoid harming their business relationship. This would create an egregious conflict of interest.

The letter points out that the MTCC, as the guardian of the certification scheme, must have the right to intervene in serious cases and disassociate themselves from companies that undermine the scheme. Under their current policy, if an associated company harms the credibility of the MTCS, it is outside of the MTCC’s jurisdiction to suspend or withdraw a certificate.

Jettie Word, director of The Borneo Project, questioned the capacity of the MTCC to fulfill its very function: “it is clear that the MTCC has very little ability to actually ensure the standards that they claim to uphold. Why would communities try to engage with them in the future, when the complaints process can be bypassed by powerful companies? The MTCS standard must be reformed in order to allow the MTCC to disassociate itself from companies that violate their principles.”

The group calls on the MTCC to amend its complaint mechanism to include an independent verifier of complaints, implement safeguards against retaliating companies, and ensure the MTCC has the power to suspend and withdraw certificates if necessary. It also asks the MTCC to develop a tangible plan to prevent escalation in courts.

This week, an Indigenous delegation from Sarawak is visiting Europe to raise awareness about the shortcomings of MTCS, which is endorsed by PEFC. The delegation will meet civil servants and politicians in the Netherlands to urge the Dutch government to review their endorsement of MTCS.

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The Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) is committed to protecting the threatened
tropical rainforests and the rights of the Indigenous peoples, especially in Sarawak, Malaysia.

The Borneo Project brings international attention and support to community-led efforts to
defend forests, sustainable livelihoods, and human rights.

At the XV World Forestry Congress in Seoul, South Korea a consortium of three organizations is taking the initiative to ensure that #WorldForestVoices include those of indigenous and local communities.

#CommunitiesSpeak is an advocacy agenda that weaves together the voices and experiences of a network of smallholders, community forest and farm producers and enterprises, indigenous peoples, and local communities living in forests and forested landscapes.

The Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), NTFP-EP formed and co-organized the consortium together with their networks to ensure that the indigenous peoples and local communities and their support group of civil society organizations are heard in relevant regional and global forestry events.

This year, the consortium continues its agenda at the World Forestry Congress 2021, building on the momentum gained by the consortium during the Asia Pacific Forestry Week 2016 in Pampanga, Philippines and 2019 in Incheon, South Korea.

Side Events and Interventions

The consortium is actively engaging in the weeklong congress. Specifically, a number of hybrid side events have been organized and specific interventions where the members are invited to deliver:

Side Event – Communities Speak About Forests and Livelihood: Enabling mechanisms for a successful community enterprise initiative in forested landscapes

This hybrid side event aims to (1) highlight emerging models and initiatives that have successfully led to value creation and redounding of benefits to community forestry members, forest-based artisans, and small scale harvesters & producers; (2) discuss the challenges/struggles they experienced; and (3) present enabling mechanisms and responses to effectively overcome these challenges.

May 4, 2022 – 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM KST (GMT+9)
Venue: Room 307B
More info and Zoom link:
https://programme.wfc2021korea.org/en/session/382466c9-2199-ec11-a507-a04a5e7d20d9

Side Event – Communities Speak: Indigenous Peoples’ Local Actions and Initiatives are vital to implement Paris Agreement and the post-2020 global biodiversity framework​

This hybrid side event will highlight local stories that are contributing to the fight against the climate crisis and to protect biodiversity; discuss the challenges and gaps in the national climate and biodiversity action plan; and present key recommendations for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Date and Time: May 5, 2022, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM KST
Venue: Room 318A
More info and Zoom link:
https://programme.wfc2021korea.org/en/session/372466c9-2199-ec11-a507-a04a5e7d20d9

Sub-theme 4 – Session 4: Forests for social cohesion

Femy Pinto, Executive Director of NTFP-EP Asia and Myline Macabuhay, Coordinator for Land Rights Initiative of the Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), will be part of the session that will discuss and exchange experience from practitioners on how different forms of social cohesion can help in achieving sustainable forest landscapes.

Date and Time: May 4, 2022 | 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM KST
Venue: Conference room 201+202
More info and Zoom link:
https://programme.wfc2021korea.org/en/session/439ce861-e792-ec11-a507-a04a5e7d20d9

Side event: Positioning civil society in forest governance: the rise from advising and facilitating roles towards legitimate influencing

In this side event programme officer Dazzle Labapis will discuss NTFP-EP’s experience in working with different stakeholders in the civil society on forest governance.

Date and Time: May 4, 2022. 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM KST
Venue: Conference Room 308B
More info and Zoom link:
https://programme.wfc2021korea.org/en/session/95aa3831-db99-ec11-a22a-a04a5e7cd2d9?fbclid=IwAR1WAZY-DH3Y_MfT1VK1YwQC2Pvr1heKqnlpqhpevtMAqEZevPO08n2cawk

Poster Presentation and Exhibition Booth

NTFP-EP’s Programme Officer, Diana San Jose and Executive Director Femy Pinto, will be sharing their poster presentation titled, “Wild Foods and the Way Forward: Insights from South and Southeast Asia” on May 3 and 5, 2022.

You can view their poster here:
https://programme.wfc2021korea.org/en/session/dcba1897-a9c1-ec11-997e-a04a5e7cf9dc?fbclid=IwAR04U-oaa83yUKSRkiVlcAqdHFmxkKAm5hQWo7O7kabTIvMpvrSPdwoX2kU

Exhibition Booth

The consortium’s exhibition can be found at Booth F15 in the Exhibition Hall.

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