Shifting cultivation in the study area operates almost without the use of primary forest. First, both longhouses have been situated in the area since the early 1900s and can be considered sedentary. Furthermore, as a result of out-migration, the population size has not changed much in the 20 years preceding the study. This means that the habit of pioneering shifting cultivation in search of primary forest is no longer needed, as native customary rights to a sufficient amount of land have already been established through the clearing of primary forest in the past. Second, the extra labour input required for felling primary forest is not compensated by a proportionate increase in yields. Third, as seen elsewhere in Sarawak (Mertz and Christensen 1997), the Iban increasingly prefer to cultivate closer  to  the  longhouse  where  primary  forests  are  no  longer  present (see Figure 9.2). This may be caused by the lack of labour in households dominated by elderly people, which is an indirect effect of the improvement of roads and hence the accessibility of the area. Whereas, in other parts of the world, the opening up of new forest lands is frequently accompanied by an influx of new settlers or resettled persons (Myers 1992; Whitmore 1998), in this case it seems that the movement is reversed and has led to a stabilisation or even reduction in the number of people living de facto in the communities. Good off-farm job opportunities in Malaysia are the main reason for this development.^[3]

Logging was carried out prior to the establishment of the MFMA. Several areas close to both longhouses were logged from 1976 until 1996. In 1974 all longhouses in the area were asked to decide whether they would accept logging in their area or not. Meetings were held with the heads of longhouses and the penghulus (heads of several communities within one river catchment), who decided that, if compensated by the logging operators, they would accept logging in the area. Whether this decision was supported by the general Iban public in the area is not known.

Different logging operators initiated operations and some areas have been logged more than once. The compensation agreed upon included, among other things, a monthly payment to the longhouse head, a yearly payment to each household in the longhouse, and the landowners affected by road construction were paid compensation of one Ringgit per metre of road constructed on their land. In addition to this, some longhouses still receive diesel fuel for their generators and (to a minor extent) building materials from the operators.

Some 300 000 m³ of logs are now felled annually in the 162 500 ha that make up the MFMA. Selective logging, as carried out in the MFMA, is scheduled to allow re-entry after 25 years of regeneration. Since the operation was initiated in 1976, most of the primary forest in the MFMA has already been logged, and the companies now focus on re-entering previously logged blocks rather than expanding into new areas. The logging operation is run from four main logging camps; the headquarters of the operation is the Sekawi camp located in the centre of the MFMA (see Figure 9.1). More than 600 people are employed in the operation, of whom approximately two thirds are Iban. The Iban are almost entirely engaged as chainsaw or bulldozer operators and surveyors. Only about half of the Iban workforce can be considered as locals whose homes are within a half day’s travel of the main camp. Very few Iban have camp-based jobs such as those of managers, mechanics and shopkeepers. These jobs are generally more desirable as they are less hazardous and have fixed salaries with a retirement scheme, but jobs in the field-based logging operation, which are paid by the hour, can yield high wages if working hours include overtime.

The effects of low-impact logging as carried out in the MFMA have previously been described by Marn and Jonkers (1982). They show that low-impact logging can be carried out without jeopardising the economy of the operation, even while reducing damage to the residual stand. The number of trees damaged during the logging operation is still generally high, but there are different views on the extent of the problem. Kartawinata et al. (1981) and Whitmore (1998) estimate that 35–40 per cent of the residual stand is damaged during the extraction of 10 per cent of the trees. Contrary to this, Brown and Press (1992) claim that more than 70 per cent of the residual stand is damaged or destroyed by this level of extraction. These variations usually reflect the different ecological conditions and management decisions under which logging is carried out, but may in certain cases also represent different agendas and opinions on tropical rainforest utilisation.

All land within the MFMA is designated as part of the Permanent Forest Estate (Sidu 1995), despite the fact that several plots of land within the MFMA fulfil the conditions for being Native Customary Land. This has not as yet led to any conflicts. The logging operators are usually uninterested in areas used for shifting cultivation as they do not contain sufficient numbers of large, valuable trees to be profitable for logging, and regeneration of cleared plots to climax forest would take at least 60–80 years.

However, should the communities decide to claim land with logged-over forest as Native Customary Land and practise shifting cultivation in these areas, conflicts would be likely to arise because the logging operator expects to re-enter these areas after a period of 25 years. Although the extent of this practice is not known, and during the time of study no fields were located in logged-over forest, this issue is a major concern for the logging operator. The two longhouse communities had diverging opinions on the suitability of such areas. People in Rumah Agau perceived logged forest as unsuitable for cultivation due to the disturbance of the soil caused by the heavy machinery. On the other hand, people in Rumah Chili thought areas previously logged would be very suitable for cultivation, especially because clearing of vegetation had become easier due to the presence of smaller trees. Another potential point of conflict would be the establishment of forest plantations within the MFMA, including areas previously used for shifting cultivation, as this would permanently alienate land to which local communities may have claims for customary rights. However, such plans have not yet been initiated.

The Iban communities in the study area are still highly dependent on access to natural resources extracted from the forest and rivers, and the possibility for successful hunting and fishing has diminished since the logging companies entered the area. Siltation of rivers is unavoidable when logging operations are carried out (Douglas et al. 1993), and, according to local people, fish populations have declined as a consequence. Increased human activity, whether brought on directly or indirectly by the logging operations, can have the same effect on the number of hunted animals as these flee to areas less affected by logging. The change in the number of animals and fish was described by Aiken and Leigh (1992) as the result of several factors, including habitat change, hunting by timber company workers, greater availability of ammunition, improved access to forests along logging roads, high turbidity levels, siltation, and pollution from diesel oil in rivers. Rumah Chili people notably complained of decreasing food supplies from the forest and rivers and increasing reliance on purchased products.

Declining availability of forest products has partly been offset by other activities, thereby diminishing the dependence on natural resources. The improved possibilities for off-farm employment have enticed many younger Iban from Rumah Agau and Rumah Chili to engage in jobs outside the longhouse community. Some people find work in towns or even overseas for shorter or longer periods, but most jobs are found in the timber industry. These jobs require little education, and those within the actual logging operation, such as chainsaw operation, require skills already held by many Iban men.

The ongoing logging operation has led to the construction of a main logging road running through the study area. This has improved market access considerably as the travel time to the nearest towns has been shortened. Furthermore, the logging camp itself is an important market place, and various products such as durian, vegetables and fish are sold along the logging road. Another effect of the easier market access is an increase in cash-crop production, mainly rubber and black pepper. Sidu (1995) found that cash crops were cultivated mostly by the communities with the best market access.

Cash-crop schemes are mainly introduced by the Department of Agriculture, and although the communities express an interest in these schemes, they have only been adopted by a few families. Cash crops tend to be labour-intensive, and their prices fluctuate, making them unreliable as a stable source of income (Cramb 1988; Wadley and Mertz 2005). Extended periods of low world market prices might explain why black pepper gardens in both communities sometimes lack maintenance or are even abandoned, and why potentially productive rubber trees are being felled and the land converted to hill rice fields.

A more recent, but economically important, activity for the communities is the substantial extraction of logs of the illipe nut tree (Shorea macrophylla), which has been made possible by an entrepreneurial middleman at the mouth of the Muput River. This activity was carried out by the majority of households in the two longhouses. For some households the selling of logs was the most important income-generating activity. The more than 500 tons of logs sold during 1999 must be expected to exceed the future amount available for extraction.

Many aspects of the coexistence between the Iban population and the logging operator seem to work well. One initiative improving the coexistence could be directed to finding remedies for the decline in availability of forest and river products. Construction of fish ponds has already been carried out with machinery from the logging operation, and an expansion of this activity seems obvious as it substitutes for the decline of fish in the rivers and may provide income-earning opportunities. More areas close to the logging road could be converted into fishponds with a minimum of effort if machinery from the logging operation were used more frequently. In line with this, a focus could be directed towards animal husbandry, thereby partly substituting the decline in the presence of wild animals. The Department of Agriculture has supported this activity through the Animal Husbandry Improvement Scheme, but only to a limited extent. The logging camp itself could be a potential market for such products.

The remote location of the communities means that off-farm employment normally implies moving away from the longhouse and only returning for a few days each month. The logging operator in the study area employs many people from the longhouses situated within or close to the MFMA, but the majority of the employees are from other parts of Sarawak, and a few even from Kalimantan. Employing people from areas far away is part of the policy of the logging operator as these people are perceived as a more reliable workforce. Employees are required to stay in the logging camp permanently and only return to their community for for or five days each month, but local employees tend to return to their home more often without approval from the camp manager. Although the Iban have a tradition of male labour migration (bejalai), and do not consider it a major obstacle to have to travel to get a job (Kedit 1993; Wadley 1997), the local population prefers to engage in jobs close to the longhouse. Furthermore, if the local workforce were able to return from the logging camp to their home once a week instead of once a month, it would be easier to fulfil obligations within the longhouse. The present routine seems to have been made with the intent to allow workers living far from the MFMA to return to their homes. Changing the employment policies and working routines could probably facilitate a higher proportion of local employees in the logging operation and further improve the coexistence between the local population and the logging operator.

As logging is a widespread practice throughout Sarawak and is probably bound to continue in the future, it is important to emphasise the positive impacts of concessions with long time spans (ITTO 1990). Long-term concessions would create an incentive for the concessionaire and logging operator to adopt low-impact logging procedures, thereby allowing for a second entry. At the same time, knowing that the operation will continue in the area for a long time should encourage both the local population and the logging operator to establish good relations and develop the potential for mutually beneficial coexistence.