Members of the Penan tribe have rebuilt their logging blockade” a monthafter it was dismantled by police and loggers. The Penan have beenblockading the logging road to stop the Malaysian logging giant”Samling” from destroying one of the last remaining areas of pristinerainforest left in Sarawak. The Penan rely on this forest for theirfood and all their needs; without it they cannot survive as anindependent and self-sufficient people. The Penan have told the HumanRights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) that they will continue toblock the road in order to protect their ancestral land.

“Theywant to log on our land. We will not allow that”” the Penan delegationtold Suhakam officials at a meeting in the town of Miri last week. ThePenan believe that unless they defy the loggers all the remainingforest in the area will be gone in two years. Samling have already cutdown much of the Penan's rainforest. In June 2006 the Malaysianauthorities announced that they would remove the blockade” near thecommunity of Long Benali” and arrest four Penan leaders. However” afterprotests by Survival supporters and others around the world” they tookno action. The blockade was finally dismantled on February 7th” 2007″amid international condemnation.

This article is available on the Survival website.

A link to the statement by the Penan tribe can be found on bmf.ch.