One of the biggest challenges the indigenous people in Malaysia are facing today is the loss of their land and livelihoods to encroachment or outright dispossession. Orang Asli’s cultural territories are not recognised and protected.

To address this challenge, the project aims to improve the customary rights recognition of the Semai indigenous grassroots organizations in native land protection through a combination of community organization, capacity building and advocacy support. Strategically, this project builds local ownership and enhances sustainability by connecting and empowering communities in the form of local action groups and through a series of advocacy activities aimed at affecting legislative reform concerning indigenous customary land rights.

The project sites are located in Central and South-Eastern Perak, where the East Semai population is concentrated. The planning and implementation of this project is done jointly with KSPP, a Perak-based Semai indigenous cooperative consisting of 30 village branches.