annual report - Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Programme

Apo Tutoh youth together withRicardo, an Agta from thePhilippinesphoto courtesy of Earl DiazFestivities during the International Day ofIndigenous Peoples in Malaysiaphoto courtesy of Sze NingMALAYSIAIn 2012, NTFP EP in Malaysia has successfully engaged theFDS when they agreed to collaborate on the cross-countrystudy visit to Danau Sentarum National Park. The visit,scheduled in February 2013, will focus on forest honey andcraft development. Equally important, indigenous communitieswere empowered to negotiate and engage state agencies andmultinational companies.Rubber tree rehabilitation efforts continued. It involved seven(7) Penan villages who planted an estimated 1,500 rubberseedlings with a survival rate of 80-95%. Two additionalnewcomer villages developed 2,480 rubber seedlings at theend of the year. Rehabilitation provided the participatingcommunities with an alternative livelihood and strengthenedtheir capacity to conserve their forest and native land. ThePenan youth were actively involved in the rehabilitation effortsthat built up their leadership and unity.In efforts to strengthen and empower local leaders, youth andwomen, two workshops were organized to tackle indigenouspeople’s culture, rights, resources and current issues. Keytopics included state, national and international laws i.e. UnitedNations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples(UNDRIP) and its links to indigenous peoples culture, wayof life and social economic situation. Long-term interventionswith the Penan communities have also empowered them toengage with government and corporations. In particular,six Penan communities, five of which were semi-nomadic,formed an action committee to organize stakeholder dialogueswith Sarawak Forestry Corporation and logging giant Ta AnnHoldings. They successfully raised their concerns on thedevelopment of a certifiable forest management plan. Further,a semi nomadic Penan tribe effectively negotiated with nationaloil company, Petronas, to reroute a gas pipeline and obtainsatisfactory compensation for 8 hectares of land which thepipeline will occupy.For enterprise development, NTFP-EP supported initiativesto empower women and initiated craft development withwomen artisans. As steering committee member of ‘CraftsDevelopment and Women Empowerment’ project led by theMalaysian Indigenous Peoples Network, NTFP-EP facilitatedcapacity building on enterprise development. The processlooks into a more holistic aspect of CBE that includes productdevelopment, marketing, and in the second phase, resourcemanagement. It included an exposure and training organizedin the Philippines which involved other CSOs and indigenousartisans.As a means to empower women, NTFP-EP collaboratedwith CSO members and women artisans from 12 villages - 4villages each from Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia - toestablish Jalinan Warisan Orang Asal, a women’s association.It will further support Jalinan to establish village level CBEsthrough its members in the second phase. Towards the endof the year, JALINAN has obtained a booth for the NationalCraft’s Day sales and exhibition in Kuala Lumpur scheduledon February 2013.162012 Annual Report