Support Indigenous forest protection in Borneo

2025 was a year of wins for The Borneo Project and our partners! From stopping destructive plantation expansion to securing the withdrawal of a major logging company from community forests, we’ve been pushing alongside Indigenous communities to defend the future of Borneo’s forests. Here are three major victories we celebrated last year:

This time last year, we were just ramping up a campaign to stop oil palm company Urun Plantations from clearing forests on Indigenous lands. After relentless resistance including community blockades, a formal complaint to the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) scheme, a coordinated media campaign and pressure on their supply chain – Urun Plantations finally announced a full moratorium on forest clearing. The company lost its MSPO certification, was cut off by its local processing mill, and faced mounting pressure from our coalition and international markets. 

With no certification and no supply chain, Urun was forced to engage with the Penan and Kenyah communities it had long ignored. 

The next phase will require close oversight and long-term planning for forest rehabilitation – if Urun Plantations agrees to address their deforestation liability. This win shows how powerful community action can be when backed by sharp advocacy and global solidarity.

Earlier in the year, Indigenous communities in Baram secured one of the most significant logging victories in recent memory: Samling withdrew several of its forest timber concessions from the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) and confirmed it was pulling out of logging in the region. Samling was previously the biggest player in logging in Sarawak, and has since announced an end to native forest logging.

This was a direct result of years of steady community action: documentation of violations, formal complaints, blockades, media pressure, and a coalition effort that reached national and international certification bodies. Samling acknowledged it had stopped logging in large part due to community opposition and NGO advocacy.

While this was a huge win, the work isn’t finished - communities are still pushing for full recognition of their territories, and a new, secretive logging project has already entered pristine forest in the area since Samling’s exit. Nonetheless, this milestone proves what Baram communities have always known: with persistence, solidarity, and a loud enough chorus of voices, even the largest companies can be forced to retreat.

Our international advocacy also surged forward last year, tightening scrutiny on the global supply chains driving deforestation in Sarawak. In Japan, our coalition urged the government to halt International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) funding to Sarawak and investigate imports from Shin Yang. In the UK, we continued pressuring SD Guthrie to suspend sourcing from Urun until deforestation is remedied. In Europe, the Dutch government launched an unprecedented investigation into MTCS-certified timber following mounting evidence of violations. And the Forest Stewardship Council, a global standards body for sustainable forestry, formally found Samling guilty of illegal logging after we urged them to launch an inquiry.

These interventions are raising the cost of business-as-usual. More governments and buyers are beginning to understand that “sustainable” timber from Sarawak often hides environmental and ethical problems. Sounding the alarm on the international stage can lead to real impacts on the ground. 

With momentum on our side and our partnerships stronger than ever, we’re heading into 2026 determined to defend more forests, support more communities, and ensure Indigenous rights remain at the heart of every fight.

In solidarity,
The Borneo Project Team