INDIGENOUS GROUPS AND DEFORESTATION IN BORNEO (Chapter 10)        Return to Unit List

This unit addresses the question: How can geographers with knowledge of Geographic Information Science (GIS) play a role in advocating indigenous land rights in the face of tropical deforestation?

Tropical deforestation is one of the most significant environmental issues in the region of Southeast Asia. While there is great concern over the environmental consequences of tropical deforestation for the planet overall—in terms of "global warming"—there is also the issue of the people who depend upon healthy forest ecosystems for their livelihood. In other words, the issue of global warming overlaps with questions of indigenous knowledge and land rights.

This unit focuses on the island of Borneo. Borneo is the third largest island in the world, behind Greenland and New Guinea. The southern two-thirds of Borneo is controlled by Indonesia, and the northern one third by Malaysia. The Indonesian portion is called Kalimantan, which is further divided into four Indonesian provinces. The Malaysian portion is divided into two provinces: Sarawak and Sabah. In addition, the tiny oil-rich state of Brunei is wedged between the Malaysian provinces of Sarawak and Sabah. About 16 million people live on Borneo. Both Malaysia and Indonesia have carried out large-scale deforestation throughout the island, and many of the indigenous groups who depend upon the forests to sustain their livelihoods and ways of life are being forced to leave the forests and assimilate to Indonesian and Malaysian lifestyles.

Because of the rate of deforestation, a crucial issue on Borneo is the rights of indigenous land claims. Malaysia, for example, recognizes the "Native Customary Rights" (NCR) of indigenous groups to preserve their lands against the encroachment of logging companies. Establishing NCR claims depends, however, on indigenous groups being able to prove which lands are theirs by custom, and this often entails technical capabilities that are sometimes beyond the capacities of these groups. Many local, regional, and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have therefore been involved in "Community Mapping" projects to create Geographic Information Science (GIS) databases for indigenous groups to use in making NCR claims.

Some of these groups include:

• The Borneo Project: a Berkeley, California-based NGO advocating indigenous rights and sustainable development in Borneo. Click on "Our Work" and then "Community-based Mapping" to learn more about their GIS work.
• Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM): a Malaysian NGO working with Indigenous communities throughout the country. Read their press release on changes in Malaysian law that could make Community-based Mapping more difficult.
• Further information on native land rights (and many other related issues) can be found at Rengah Sarawak, or "Sarawak News". (click on "Land Rights"). Rengah Sarawak is an internet newspaper focusing on indigenous rights and sustainable development issues in Sarawak.

After exploring some of these websites, think about the following questions:

• How has the act of mapping indigenous lands given the communities new rights over their use?
• How has the local-scale issue of land use and deforestation become an issue on a global scale? What role have NGOs played in the scaling-up of this issue?