What do two giant land deals mean for the future of Southeast Asia's forests?

We discuss two big stories from Southeast Asia that Mongabay's been covering which highlight the importance of land rights and also Free, Prior, and Informed Consent for Indigenous and local communities.

Cynthia Ong is our first guest, she's founder of LEAP, an NGO based in the state of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo, who shares the fallout from a story broken by Mongabay about a giant carbon deal signed by government officials in Sabah -- covering more than 2 million hectares of the state’s forests for at least the next 100 years -- without consulting local communities.

Our second guest is Gerry Flynn, a Mongabay contributor based in Cambodia who has been covering a recent government decree that made 127,000 hectares of protected areas available for sale or rent.

Flynn discusses why there are fears that it will amount to a land grab by powerful interests.

Further reading about the Sabah deal:

• Is colonial history repeating itself with Sabah forest carbon deal? (Ong's commentary)
• Details emerge about Sabah carbon deal

Articles about Cambodia by Flynn:

• The great Koh Kong land rush
• Carving up the Cardamoms: Conservationists fear massive land grab in Cambodia

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Episode artwork: Stung Proat, Cardamom Mountains, Cambodia. Photo via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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