Offers an overview and analysis of deforestation in Sarawak, the northwest portion of the island of Borneo. The history of extraction of forest products for economic gain in Sarawak began well before the colonial period and the arrival of James Brooke in 1839, first functioning as a domestic concern and growing into a multimillion dollar export business. The development of the timber sector and of governmental forest regulation gave rise to “timber politics,” which benefits the state’s elites at the expense of the indigenous Dayak, Malay, and Melanau peoples. The conflict of interest between land allocation and forest product extraction rights is central to timber politics.
