Launching the latest Bakun clearance project, which has now been revealed as an eco-catastrophe in the making (see the Save Rivers/Borneo Project press alert below), a Sarawak state government statement described this latest ‘Rich Venture’ by the tycoon Hii family as ‘necessary’.

Speaking in 2023, the GRS leader, Abang Johari, explained this was because the administration has not yet fulfilled a ‘Development Strategy 2030’ target to put 10,000 hectares under commercial bamboo plantations “which means that we need to develop more land for bamboo plantation”.

The question has to be why choose this 10,000 hectares of remaining forest land in an area already largely destroyed by the controversial Bakun Dam, which involved the displacement of over 10,000 indigenous peoples (from the Kayan, Kenyah, Penan, Lahanan, Sekapan, and Kajang communities) who are striving to survive with their traditional pursuits in what is left?

Do these communities ‘need’ for this last corner of their foraging and hunting lands to be destroyed?

Is it really a good idea to kill off remaining examples of the most valuable and endangered iconic animal species left in Sarawak that have managed to find a diminishing refuge in this shard of once officially protected natural forest?

Apparently the state government has not troubled to consider the situation on the ground because when the loggers moved into the area in 2025 native groups lodged a police report, having not been consulted or given their consent.

Meanwhile, global wildlife and conservation groups are left aghast. Amongst the now incredibly rare species which have been recently spotted by a Borneo Project environmental survey are Borneo Bearded Pigs, a Sun Bear with cubs, White-fronted Langur, Tufted Ground Squirrels, Bornean Great Argus which are all classed as protected species (see featured picture) and two macaque species listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

The native protestors articulated their concerns directly in a meeting with the premier whilst the logging was suspended following their police report. Yet, as they have explained below, these seem to have been ignored given the timber extraction has now re-started.

So, who IS the state government listening to and why has it been decided to choose an area packed with valuable timber and supposedly protected bio-diversity to start this monoculture plantation project – instead of, for example, utilising some the millions of hectares already cleared for other plantations in Sarawak, many of which have proven to be unsuccessful or neglected?

The answer seems to be the powerful influence of the Hii family, who are driving this project and have already made themselves into tycoons from the earlier plunder of native lands. The Hiis have a long history as politically engaged benefactors to the ruling establishment in Sarawak and have plenty of experience in navigating indigenous protests .

Like other timber barons the Hiis have been caught up in high profile logging disputes over the years (see below press release) and doubtless see this situation as just another bunch of troublesome native people who need to be out-manoeuvred.

After all, there is money to be made and to such concerns what else matters? The names they have chosen for their various companies eloquently spell out the family focus – “Rich Venture Plantation Sdn Bhd” is the name of the present project, as a sister company to “Rich Venture Sdn Bhd’.  Another controversial and destructive logging project gloried in the title of ‘Billion Venture Sdn Bhd“.

Where cash is concerned the Hii companies have shown little compunction in smashing through the rules, it seems.  However, these are marginalised peoples already driven from their original territories and the world famous species that will die as a result of these clearances are on the brink of extinction. The world will never forgive such vandalism.

Sarawak cannot leave it to the money tycoons to exert self restraint in such matters as it is well-known that those who already have too much money can never have enough or ever be satisfied. Such entities and their companies are impelled to acquire more and more until they hit the eye of the needle – and any obstacle in their way, such as social or environmental concerns, are merely to be overcome.

It is therefore the responsibility of the state government to intervene, reverse this vandalism and save Sarawak’s face. It must do the job in representing the wider interest and its global responsibilities, even if that means thwarting the unquenchable greed of the Hiis and their associates who are doubtless pressuring their political dependents in every possible way.

Another area must be chosen for this bamboo project: why not on lands already destroyed by previous logging by the Hii family, for example?

The sad truth is that the only reason this forest area has been selected by these business interests is because their primary target is the timber itself.  That has been the story of all plantation projects in Sarawak which have made easy profits out of logging in the name of plantation projects and developments that have too often been half-hearted failures.

If the real purpose is to grow bamboo then the state government can prove that by planting elsewhere.

Meanwhile, wake up!  Sarawak’s dwindling natural areas are the state’s real precious resource and the real billion dollar treasure that could sustainably benefit future generations and generate wealth today. The now rare beauty of Borneo’s tropical rainforests attracts paying visitors from the world over and the scientific value of Borneo’s unique DNA and natural evolutionary footprint is an immense potential cash cow for the present and future.

The timber barons can only see the price of pulp and paper, but their industry and knowledge is sadly primitive and outdated. Yet, because of their limited vision and single minded greed Sarawak may lose its glorious future by felling and burning its greatest treasures.

The leaders of the state talk often about future planning and forward thinking, so they need to demonstrate that in practice and conserve the real treasures they have left.

Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 8th, 2026

Sun bear mother and cub caught on camera as Bakun bamboo plantation restarts clearing

Community camera-trap survey confirms forest slated for Rich Venture’s 44,545-hectare bamboo project is a biodiversity hotspot; satellite imagery shows old logging roads reopened

BELAGA, SARAWAK: Indigenous communities living beside the Bakun reservoir have documented a sun bear mother and her cub, along with 26 other mammal and bird species, inside a forest concession currently being cleared for a commercial bamboo plantation by Rich Venture Plantation Sdn Bhd. The camera-trap survey, carried out by local teams over two months, provides the strongest evidence yet that the licence area is a biodiversity hotspot that should be protected rather than converted to monoculture.

The Bornean sun bear is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and is a Protected Species under Sarawak’s Wild Life Protection Ordinance. The capture of a mother with a cub indicates a breeding population that depends on intact forest for survival. Sun bear populations across Borneo have fallen by an estimated 30 to 35 percent, and the species is increasingly rare in Sarawak because of habitat loss and poaching.

The survey also recorded the White-fronted Langur, the Tufted Ground Squirrel, and the Bornean Great Argus, all of which are Totally Protected under the Wild Life Protection Ordinance, and two macaque species listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The sighting of a Bornean Bearded Pig in the survey is also particularly significant – as populations across Borneo collapsed after African swine fever in 2020.

Clearing resumes after months of dormancy

According to documents obtained by the community, Rich Venture Plantation Sdn Bhd holds License for Planted Forests LPF/0056, with plans to convert more than 20,000 hectares of native forest to bamboo. Clearing began in early 2025 and prompted seven Kenyah, Kayan, Lahanan and Penan communities (Uma Belor, Uma Lahanan, Uma Kelep, Uma Penan Talun, Uma Balui Liko, Uma Juman and Uma Daro) to lodge a police report in September 2025 demanding suspension of the licence.

“We have already raised this directly with the Premier,” said Denis Hang Bilang, Chairman of the Customary and Native Land Committee of Hulu Balui. “When we met with him at his office on 25 February 2026, we asked him to re-establish our rights over the unsubmerged land within 10 kilometres of the reservoir bank. That land is ours, and it is where these animals live.”

Operations were largely dormant for much of 2026. But satellite monitoring by The Borneo Project shows activity has resumed in recent months, and that old logging roads through the area have been re-established. Many communities were already displaced once, when the Bakun reservoir flooded their ancestral lands in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The forest now under licence is much of what remains of their ancestral lands.

“The sun bears and other wildlife caught on our camera traps may well be the very animals that were rescued and released during the Wildlife Monitoring and Rescue (WiMoR) programme in 2010–2011, a joint effort by the Sarawak Forestry Corporation and Sarawak Energy”, continued Bilang. “The state spent time and money saving these animals once. Why destroy their habitat now?”

Owner implicated in multiple allegations of deforestation in biodiversity hotspots

Rich Venture Plantation Sdn Bhd is 80 per cent owned by Miri timber tycoon Hii King Chiong and his son Hii Wei Wen, according to Companies Commission of Malaysia records. The company’s registered business is timber as well as plantation, and the Hii family also owns Rich Venture Sdn Bhd, a separate log extraction and trading company registered at the same Miri address, whose directors are Hii King Chiong, his wife Datin Ting Hua Eng and his son Hii Wei Wen.

Bruno Manser Fonds’ August report, Plundering the Baram Peace Park, also identifies Hii King Chiong as the principal shareholder of Borneoland Timber Resources Sdn Bhd, the company granted a timber concession over more than 100,000 hectares of a proposed Indigenous-led conservation area in the Upper Baram.

Sarawak Premier Abang Johari witnessed the signing of Rich Venture Plantation’s bamboo MoU with the state timber agency STIDC in 2023, and government and company press releases record him alongside Hii family representatives on several other occasions.

“Communities affected by both companies say their complaints to the government have gone largely unanswered” said Celine, Managing Director of SAVE Rivers. “Given the relationships on the public record, it is fair to ask whether those complaints are being heard at all.”

ENDS

Media contact
SAVE Rivers WhatsApp: 60 13-997 6810

• Deforestation Alert: New Bamboo Plantation on Bakun Dam
• Communities Protest Bamboo Plantation Near Bakun Dam
• NEW REPORT: Plundering the Baram Peace Park