Based on the interviews with two communities and staff in the logging camp, it can be concluded that coexistence between shifting cultivators and loggers in the study area is relatively smooth. At worst the longhouse inhabitants are indifferent to the logging operation, but most informants are satisfied with the logging activities, which have facilitated an improvement of the standard of living. At the same time the logging operator is indifferent towards shifting cultivation as long as it is carried out without the use of primary and logged-over forest within the MFMA.

The conflict scenarios presented by Lau (1979) and Colchester (1993) seem not to be applicable to the study area, and even though the MFMA is a trial area for sustainable forest management and as such could be considered an unrepresentative showcase, this study demonstrates the potential for mutually beneficial coexistence between actors traditionally considered to be in conflict with each other. It is by no means impossible that similar arrangements could be secured in other logging areas, particularly where the purpose of the logging operation is to maintain the Permanent Forest Estate for long-term timber production. In State Land Areas designated for conversion to plantations, the situation may be different, as communities are likely to be subjected to more pressure to engage in long-term leases of their customary land to oil palm plantations in joint venture arrangements (Majid Cooke 2002; Ngidang 2002).