The Borneo Project

"The future of Upper Baram is no longer an abstract debate about development versus conservation. It is a real and ongoing conflict involving Indigenous communities, logging interests, and government authorities responsible for managing Sarawak’s forests."

The Future of Upper Baram: Rights, Sustainability, and Responsible Development by Peter Kallang The future of Upper Baram is no longer an abstract debate about development versus conservation. It is a real and ongoing conflict involving Indigenous communities, logging interes…

“Indigenous land rights, forest protection, and corporate accountability are closely connected. When communities cannot secure land recognition, companies can obtain concessions over territories where people live, farm, worship, gather forest products, and maintain cultural life. When certification, regulation, and buyers fail, communities bear the costs.”

Sarawak: Defending Indigenous Land from The Bulldozers On paper, the land around the Indigenous Rumah Jeffery community was covered by company concessions. For the Iban families who live there, it was home.

From SAVE Rivers Chairman Peter N. J. Kallang:

End timber wars with rights-based development in Upper Baram, says activist By DayakDaily Team KUCHING, July 20: The way to end the long-running timber conflict in Upper Baram is not through more logging, but by recognising Indigenous rights, ensuring genuine consent and s…

💚 From our founder, Joe:

"Ten years ago, at the gathering that would help save the Baram River, the legendary Indigenous leader Berta Cáceres told me that she knew our campaign was going to win. She knew, she said, because the river told her. Five months later she was assassinated in Honduras for defending her own forest. But she was right about the Baram. We won. And I've carried her words with me ever since, because I know we can win again. Our collective refusal to relinquish hope is what makes this work possible."

Thanks to our incredible community, we’re already halfway to our fundraising goal for our mid-year appeal. With a matching grant of $40,000 in place, all donations between now and the end of the month are doubled.

Head to borneoproject.org and click donate to find all the different ways to give. 🙏

A blueprint for effective activism 10 years after defeating a dam in Borneo (analysis) In October 2015, Indigenous activists from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Brazil, the United States, and Honduras, together with delegates from longhouse communities throughout the Malaysian state of Sarawak, gathered at Tanjung Tepalit, an Indigenous Kenyah village on the Baram Riv...

Indonesia is building a new capital city in the heart of Borneo to replace sinking Jakarta. As construction transforms one of the world's most biodiverse rainforests, scientists and Indigenous communities are racing to record the sounds of the forest—and preserve generations of ecological knowledge before it's lost.

Indonesia is building a new capital in the rainforest—but what could be lost forever? Indonesia is building a new capital city in the heart of Borneo to ...

For generations, Indigenous communities across Sarawak have governed and cared for vast stretches of forest, not as “protected areas” on paper, but as living territories that sustain their cultures, livelihoods, and identities. These communal forests are not empty wilderness. They are places of farming, hunting, fishing, gathering, ceremony, and history. They are where rivers are protected, wildlife is managed, and customary rules regulate how land and resources are used.

In the Upper Baram, these systems are still very much alive. Orang Ulu communities continue to manage forest areas through customary institutions that determine where farming can happen, which forests are strictly protected, and which rivers and watersheds must remain untouched. In Kenyah villages like Long Tungan, Long Semiyang, and Long Moh, communities have set aside large forest areas where logging, farming, and hunting are restricted or entirely prohibited — not because of state directives, but because of collective community decisions to protect future generations’ access to forest resources. Yet in the eyes of the Sarawak government, these forests are invisible, except as lucrative logging and palm oil concessions.

The Stewards Sarawak Won’t Recognize - The Borneo Project For generations, Indigenous communities across Sarawak have governed and cared for vast stretches of forest, not as “protected areas” on paper, but as living territories that sustain their cultures, livelihoods, and identities. These communal forests are not empty wilderness. They are places of ...

Forest protection teams in Upper Baram are ready to start. They just need the equipment, transport and connectivity to get the project off the ground.

We are urgently fundraising to make this happen. Right now, every gift is doubled by a matching grant, up to $40,000. Please give today to help make this last line of defense against forest destruction a reality.

Go to https://borneoproject.org/ways-to-give/ to find all the ways to donate.

“It’s a shift from protecting forests as external objects to governing territories as living systems, from delivering projects to building institutions, and from treating communities as beneficiaries to recognizing them as decision-makers.”

Deforestation is just a symptom. The disease is de-governance (commentary) For decades, deforestation has been treated as the central problem. It’s measured in hectares lost, monitored through satellites, and addressed through conservation programs, carbon mechanisms, and development interventions. Yet despite billions of dollars invested, forests continue to decline. Wh...