Eleven Penans weighing an appeal against the Miri High Court's rejection of their Judicial Review application

MIRI, Dec 19 2025: The 11 Penan residents representing communities in Ulu Baram are weighing an appeal to the Court of Appeal after the Miri High Court dismissed their challenge to logging licences issued by the Sarawak Forest Director and approved by the Minister of Natural Resources and Urban Development.

Caption: A group of Penans from Ulu Baram with their lawyer Roland Engan (seated, centre)

Keruan Organisation director Komeok Joe said the appeal is aimed at protecting the Penan community’s native customary land rights, safeguarding their forests, rivers, and sources of livelihood, and ensuring that future generations are able to continue living sustainably on their ancestral lands.

“The legal action taken by representatives of the Penan community is not intended to obstruct Development,” he said in a statement.

He said it is an effort to defend ancestral lands from destruction that has direct impacts on forests, rivers, sources of livelihood, and the food security of local communities.

Caption:  The Data Bila area has been severely ffected by extensive logging activities, underscoring the environmental consequences and the urgent need for conservation efforts to safeguard the local ecosystem and communities. 

He stressed that this position was echoed by Ipa Ulai, a resident of Ulu Baram and one of the applicants in the judicial review.

“For generations, we, the Penan have depended entirely on these forest areas for our survival.

“The approved logging activities have resulted in environmental degradation, river pollution, and the loss of traditional hunting and farming areas, all of which directly affect our lives,” he said.

Responding to allegations that the Penan community is being influenced or manipulated by external parties or non-governmental organisations, Komeok said the struggle is rooted in the community’s own awareness and lived experiences.

“Linking these claims to an external agenda is an attempt to divert attention from the real issue — the failure to recognise and protect the native customary land rights of Indigenous peoples.

“This appeal is initiated entirely by the Penan community themselves, based on their own experiences and their need to defend their customary land rights and ensure that future generations can continue to live on their ancestral lands,” he added.

Komeok further emphasised that claims suggesting unanimous support for logging among local communities cannot be generalised, adding that the presence of a small number of individuals

holding banners did not represent the collective voice of the Penan community in Ulu Baram, who continue to defend their ancestral territories from ongoing exploitation.

Meanwhile, SAVE Rivers managing  director Celine Lim said that development in Ulu Baram does not have to rely on the issuance of logging licences to private companies, particularly when the government already has agencies and structured development plans in place.

She noted that more sustainable and equitable development alternatives exist for local communities without sacrificing forests or the Penan people’s sources of livelihood.

“Ulu Baram can be developed without issuing logging licences to Borneoland Timber Resources Sdn Bhd or any other private-sector company.

“Development agencies such as the Highland Development Agency (HDA) were established by the Sarawak government, and the government has also announced that it will take over the repair and upgrading of logging roads, with commitments budgets.

“Therefore, Upper Baram communities do not need to depend on logging companies to build or repair roads,” she said.

On Dec 16, the High Court dismissed the application for Judicial Review filed by the 11 Penans against the director of Forests, Minister of Natural Resources and Urban Development and Sarawak government.

In delivering the decision,  Judge Dean Wayne Daly said that the applicants had failed to prove locus standi that they were adversely affected in real and genuine interest by the issuance of the logging licence in Ulu Baram area.

The court further found that the applicants had failed to adduce evidence in support of their allegations that the issuance of the logging licence to Borneoland Timber Resources Sdn Bhd was illegal, procedurally improper or unreasonable.

Accordingly, the court’s decision confirms that the decision of the director of Forests, with the approval of the minister to issue the licence was made in accordance with the Forests Ordinance 2015, rational and in compliance with procedural requirements.