Last July 25, 2012 in Bario, Miri, YBhg Pemanca Philip Lakai, Kelabit Paramount Chief, inaugurated the 7th Annual FORMADAT Community Cross Border Meeting. FORMADAT is the Alliance of Ethnic Communities in the Highlands of Borneo. It is a cross-border, rooted initiative initiated by ethnic communities in the Heart of Borneo (HoB) Highlands, hailing from Lun Dayeh/Lun Bawang, Sa'ban and Kelabit.This year, the gathering was held in conjunction with the annual Slow Food Festival in Bario, where FORMADAT celebrated the vision and culture of the homeland together with its local communities.

Mr. Lewi Gala Paru, Head of FORMADAT Indonesia outlined the vision for a sustainable future in Borneo. "We, the Highland Ethnic Communities of HoB, who share a common culture and homeland with the people of Lun Dayeh, Kelabit, Lun Bawang and Sa'ban, come together with FORMADAT to: raise awareness and understanding of highland communities, build local capacity and strengthen sustainable development in HoB."

The Borneo highlands cover several sub-districts in Malaysia and Indonesia, namely Sarawak (Bario, Ba'kelalan and Long Semadoh) and Sabah (Long Pasia), as well as East Kalimantan (Krayan and South Krayan). This area constitutes one of the geographical, environmental and cultural landscapes of Borneo, which is one of the few regions in Southeast Asia that still has extensive tropical rainforest.

Penghulu George Sigar, Head of FORMADAT Malaysia, said: "We inaugurated FORMADAT last October 2004 as an ethnic organization to facilitate and share information, as well as discuss common issues and strategies for the benefit of the future of the highlands. Our mission is to create awareness and understanding of upland communities, safeguard our traditional culture, develop local capacity and strengthen sustainable development in the HoB Highlands, by protecting our natural resources and traditional knowledge. Our organization is registered in Sabah and Sarawak (Malaysia) and Kalimantan (Indonesia). WWF-Malaysia and WWF-Indonesia have been our partners and helped us with conservation, livelihoods and capacity building. We look forward to welcoming more partnerships with the Malaysian and Indonesian Governments, and other organizations in supporting our initiatives to achieve our sustainable conservation goals in the HoB."

Together with WWF-Malaysia and WWF-Indonesia in Bario, FORMADAT organized a tree planting event as part of the conservation activities. This year's tree planting program was led by Y.B Dato Henry Sum Agong (Lawas Parliamentarian) and YBhg Datu Ose Murang (Deputy State Secretariat for Sarawak).

Inaugurated last year by YB Senator Dato Sri Idris Jala, the tree planting program has successfully planted more than 3,000 local tree species such as Meranti, Agatis and so on.

Cr. John Tarawem, Coordinator of FORMADAT in the Kelabit highlands, stated: "We, FORMADAT, are actively promoting awareness on conservation and global warming. In our own way, we promote tree planting and we hope the world will do the same. And if everyone does the same, we believe we will all have a more sustainable planet. We hope to promote 'one migrant, one tree' for all areas in the HoB region. We love our homeland and want to protect it."

Dr Henry Chan, WWF-Malaysia's Head of Conservation for Sarawak Program, said: Tree planting symbolizes the sustainability of life. Just as planting a seed produces a fruit, I hope FORMADAT can also help its members to achieve a sustainable future".