COMMENT | The Sarawak government’s announcement in February that it will no longer grant provisional leases to palm oil companies is hugely significant for indigenous peoples and their forests.

Previously, the Sarawak government granted these “provisional” leases to palm oil and timber companies to develop plantations before the administration surveyed the land. Despite the name, these leases can last up to 60 years.

With these permits, companies could take over the territories of indigenous communities who live in a lease area that had not been surveyed. These communities then faced an uphill battle to extricate their ancestral land from the lease.

There’s a history to Sarawak’s recent announcement.

In 2018, the federal government capped the expansion of oil palm plantations across the country. It also ordered every plantation to comply with the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil standard, which has provisions on indigenous land rights. But ultimately, states are responsible for enforcing these directives. Sarawak’s announcement nearly seven years later finally signals a willingness to comply.

But there’s a catch. The cap on oil palm plantations will not...