A 1991 Penan blockade in its seventh week. It was maintained for another seven weeks before being dismantled by armed riot police (from Davis, 1995, p. 137).

The First Wave

The first blockes in Sarawak came in 1987. For a number of years, indigenous leaders had been trying to reason with loggers and the government by signing petitions and applying for logging licenses themselves. When their efforts continued to be ignored, the Penan took action: on March 31st, 1987, they constructed the first of a series of blockades along a logging road in the Tutoh River basin. In two months, activities in sixteen logging camps had ground to a halt.

Other groups were heartened by this initial success. By October 1987, Penan, Kayan and Kelabit communities had blockaded roads at twenty-three different sites in the Baram and Limbang areas (1). The blockades received international media coverage, and drew support from all over the world. For example, the European parliament adopted a resolution calling for a suspension on Malaysian timber imports (2). The situation became a great embarrassment for the Malaysian government, and it launched a crackdown, arresting hundreds of people.

The next wave of blockades began in 1989. On September 10th, indigenous peoples from nineteen communities built twelve barricades in the Upper Limbang and Baram regions, and on October 5, eleven Iban communities blockaded areas in the Bintulu district (3). Blockades continued off and on for the next several years.

On March 23, 1993, Penan communities in the upper Baram started a massive blockade, in which over a thousand men, women and children participated. This standoff lasted for six months, during which nine Penan died of sickness and hunger. Finally, on September 28, three hundred soldiers, police, forestry officials and logging company employees attacked the barricade with tear gas and bulldozers, and managed to dismantle it (4).

But by 1993, such blockades were already unusual. International coverage and assistance had long since waned. Most were discouraged by a lack of success. Blockades leave one vulnerable to heavy handed government tactics, and because they keep a number of people in a village from procuring food, they cannot be sustained forever. The longest blockade has lasted nine months.

The Second Wave

Despite the drawbacks to blockading, there has been a resurgence starting around 1999. This is mostly due to a growing desparation, and a lack of alternatives. This is especially true of the Penan. While other ethnic groups have found some success in the courts fighting for their land rights (as will be mentioned later), the Penan don't have the same legal standing, due to their history as nomads. They also are more dependent on the forest to survive, and thus have more to lose when the forests are destroyed.

Recent blockades have often lacked the numbers and support of the first wave, but on the other hand the government is also not responding with tear gas and mass arrests as they once did. Perhaps this is due to Malaysia's desire to have their logs certified as "eco-timber". Whether this gives some breathing space to the Penan and others remains to be seen.

Continue to Part 6 - Bakun Dam and Oil Palm Plantations

Return to Part 4 - Current Issues: Logging

1. Davis, Wade; Mackenzie, Ian & Kennedy, Shane. Nomads of the Dawn. The Penan of the Borneo Rainforest. California: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1995, p. 130.
2. Parry, Richard Lloyd. The Hunt for Bruno Manser. Independent on Sunday (London). 23 Sept 2001.
3. Davis, p. 134.
4. Davis, p. 137.