By Nicole Ernst
BRISBANE — Environmental activists protested in the early hours of the morning at the Hamilton wharves on November 22. The aim of the protest was to raise awareness about destructive logging operations in Malaysia.
Activists from the Environmental Youth Alliance, Rainforest Information Centre, the Wilderness Society and other groups were involved in actions on both land and sea.
Nikki Ulasowski, spokesperson for the Environmental Youth Alliance, commented, "Logging operations in countries such as Malaysia are unsustainable. We have to pressure the Australian government to stop importing tropical rainforest wood, and to start looking into sustainable timber."
Activists on the water attempted to block the Malaysian ship carrying tropical rainforest wood. Once the ship had docked, the protest continued on both the ship and the dock.
Since the early 1980s, the indigenous people of the tropical rainforests of Malaysia have been fighting to save their forests, culture and land.
Blockades of flimsy material have been erected to stop loggers. Indigenous tribes have stood behind these blockades for days, nights and weeks, in attempt to save their few remaining forests.
Anja Light, who recently returned from Sarawak, commented, "The people feel they have lost so much of their culture and integrity".
The rainforests of Malaysia are being logged 24 hours a day. If the logging continues at this rate, by 1995 there will be no primary tropical rainforests left in the country.
Light commented, "The situation has reached a desperate point, where the sacrifice of the environment and indigenous people's lives is being placed below profits".
Already the region is feeling environmental effects from the logging. Local rainfall has become irregular, causing massive crop failures. Rivers in the area have turned to mud. It is unknown to what extent wildlife has been affected.
The economic benefits for a few have been enormous. Government officials have given logging concessions to their friends and families. These concessions generate a lot of money. "The local people have received no benefits from logging", said Light.
Several weeks ago the Penan people, one of the 25 tribes living in the area, were bombed with tear gas by the military. There were also beatings, harassment and rapes. Light said, "This type of conflict has been occurring for years. Military and squads from the logging companies will do anything to make sure that logging is not interrupted.
"Within Malaysia the general community have no idea what is happening in their backyard. The media presents a biased view, by saying that there is no problem with the logging. Meanwhile, not far away, the indigenous tribes and tropical rainforest of Malaysia are being slaughtered."
A few years ago there were 10,000 people living under the traditional culture of the Penan. Today only 250 are left. The Penan have been pushed to the edges of the forest by logging. Their traditional way of hunting is almost impossible, as the whole ecosystem has been overturned. If the logging continues, the Penan people will lose their remaining rainforest within a few months.
"The indigenous people of Malaysia have called for international support. Their strength and determination to save their rainforests make it possible to continue the fight. All around the globe the environment and indigenous peoples are being affected by the pressure of Western development. However, the benefits from this development do not reach the people. Governments and multinational companies must be stopped from further cultural genocide and environmental destruction", said Ulasowski.
As part of the campaign to save the Penan and the rainforest, the maritime union in Australia called a national 24-hour stoppage on all ships carrying tropical rainforest wood.
"Until the Malaysian government and multinational companies involved in the logging start to take responsibility for the indigenous people and the environment, the campaign will continue", Ulasowski promised.