This paper, using the arrest of the Sarawak 8 (eight Western environmentalists who sabotaged logging equipment in Sarawak) as a starting point, discloses an international environmental conspiracy against the Sarawak economy. The UK-based Gaia foundation is accused of organizing the Penan tribe to save them from modern civilization. Malaysia is targeted rather than Brazil because it is a smaller, more vulnerable country. It is argued that (1) over 60% of deforestation is for fuelwood and another 20%-25% for slash and burn farming; (2) the alternatives of marketing alternative forest products and medicines and tourism will keep Malaysia in the Stone Age; (3) the Penan tribe are beneficiaries of preferential government programmes; (4) a biosphere reserve in Banam district has been set up for those Penan who wish to keep to their nomadic life style; and (5) environmentalists want to turn the whole of Malaysia into a biosphere reserve.
