Nor Nyawai & Others vs. Borneo Pulp Plantation & Others

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• published: 14 Sep 2013
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This film is an educational introduction to Nor Nyawai & Others vs. Borneo Pulp Plantation & Others. In that precedent-setting court case of 2001, the High Court decided that Rumah Nor did indeed have sufficient evidence to claim native customary rights over all of their traditional territory ("pemakai menoa"), including farms and fallows ("temuda") and the "disputed area", which had been their primary forest reserve ("pulau galau") destroyed by Borneo Pulp Plantation, a subsidiary of Borneo Pulp & Paper and Asia Pulp & Paper. In 2005, their victory was partially overturned in State Appeals Court due to "lack of evidence of occupation of the disputed area". Confusingly, all their lands outside the disputed area were still considered by the court to be valid native customary rights lands. The community is appealing that decision in Federal Court, the highest court of Malaysia. The Federal Court must decide what does or does not constitute "sufficient evidence" and "occupation" for native customary land rights claims in Malaysia, especially primary forest reserves used for hunting, gathering, fishing, medicinal plants and rattans. This decision will set an extremely important precedent for hundreds of indigenous communities across the country that are currently fighting for rights to their ancestral lands, especially forests.