Uncovering the Deforestation, Mismanagement, and Funders Behind a Malaysian Oil Palm Plantation

Reporter Low Choon Chyuan spent a year investigating deforestation and allegations of mismanagement at a state-run plantation in Malaysia .

The investigation exposed the structural weaknesses in Malaysia ’s forest management, he says.

Low and his team used QGIS and satellite imagery to map the area.

Low was able to check his trail on his phone, and export the trail so that he could view it on QGIS .

Wikiloc has a “waypoint” feature, which allows taking a photo along the trail, and mark the type of waypoint at the location of the photo.

After the reporting trip, Low cross-checked his findings on the ground with satellite imagery.

An anti-corruption NGO told the team that this is a common tactic in Malaysia because a private limited company receives less public scrutiny compared to a GLC .

In order to track where the loan money goes and find the exact loan amounts, Low bought PASB ’s audited financial statements from a government database called My Data SSM .

After analyzing the financial reports, Low found that Bank Islam issued loans totaling up to $11.65 million between 2015 and 2023 .