Insular Southeast Asia - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 460

Figure 16-11
I was on my way to the Mulu bat and swallow
caves when I saw this boat loaded with logs sail-
ing toward a coastal lumber mill. The river water
was dark, reddish brown from the tropical soils
and debris that are continually washing into the
river as the region is deforested and eroded.
Photograph courtesy of B. A. Weightman.

decades. Although devastated, forest cover is greater in
East Malaysia than in West Malaysia.
One-quarter of the deforestation is attributable to
logging. I recall driving from Kuching, Sarawak, to
Brunei along a beautiful, modern road, lined with bar-
ren hillsides, stacks of enormous logs, and fires burning
off debris. The route is punctuated by Malay kampungs ,
squeezed on the edges of coastal towns that are domi-
nated by Chinese shops and fronted with docks piled
high with logs and cut lumber. Rivers run brown with
eroded material from clear-cut plots deep in the once
magnificent rain forest (Figure 16-11). I thought of the
polluted and debris-ridden water, the damage to fish,

and the resultant flash floods. All along the route, signs
announced the coming of palm oil, pepper, or other es-
tate enterprises, along with new housing and industrial
sites.
As I looked upon government-built, tin-roofed long
houses lining parts of the highway , I thought of the once-
proud Dayak hunters and gatherers whose lives have
been disrupted and homes displaced (Figure 16-12)I
also thought of the Penan, another group of hunters
and gatherers who unsuccessfully protested the re-
moval of their forest home. Many of these displaced
people now work for the logging operations or on
plantations.

Figure 16-12
An Iban longhouse along the main highway in
Sarawak. As deforestation and modernization
ensue, many Iban are forced to seek work in the
coastal towns. Although they retain their nuclear
family structures and unified housing, the influx
of income enables their acquisition of such luxu-
ries as metal roofing and televisions. Photograph
courtesy of B. A. Weightman.