To all travellers who have recently been in Sarawak (and have been careful not to mention "Penan" or "Bruno ....." or "Logging" as has been advised by some guide books)...
I would like to hear what you actually thought and saw there. PLEASE MAIL ME AND ALL OTHERS WHO ARE READING THIS.
IN RETURN, I will answer all correspondance and help you with any travel tips, Malaysian recipies, Australian info (where I now live) you may need - no request is too big!
I was originally from Malaysia and am planning to visit Sarawak and all the wonder it holds - Niah / Mulu / Longhouses / Bario hill tribes, etc.
BUT I DON'T WANT TO SUPPORT ANY OF THE DEFORESTATION / HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES WHICH OCCUR THERE. SHOULD I STAY AWAY FROM SARAWAK??
From what I can gather so far, the Permit fee you pay will go directly to the government in support of it's activities. Other money spent may also go to a large extent that way. Eg, one of the most expensive domestic transfers AUD $400 will go to the government airline.
I've managed to find very little on the net but the info in the 1998 report found on the website below may be of interest.
www.amesty-usa.org
Cheers!
[There are 4 posts - the latest was added on Tue 25 May, 8:33]
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I've found a couple of interesting sites.
http://forests.org/gopher/malaysia/peforsar.txt
http://forests.org/gopher/malaysia/matoursa.txt
Question still remains: SHOULD I GO? What do you think?
I was there and found a lot of what you can read true.
One of the guides in Mulu national park told us a lot of their fights for justice.
But in my opinion the logging in Sabah and Kalimantan is much worse - so you shouldn't go to Indonesia either.
Or go and tell others what you found.
Reini
Forgot an address:
http://www.bmf.ch
reini
He seems to sneak back into Sarawak with regularity- most
recently to paraglide onto the the Chief Ministers lawn to
deliver a "wooden sheep" peace-offering ;-) Maybe he has
some advice on how to make the trip without contributing to
the destruction of the forest...as far as I know he has not
advocated a tourism boycott...which I suggest would be
counterproductive, as ecotourism is one of the main ways
that the issues are publicized and there is some incentive
for the gov't not to totally raze the landscape.
.
Bruno-Manser-Fonds (BMF)
bmf@bmfonds.links.ch
or http://www.bmf.ch