How a Malaysian dictator created the blueprint for ecological genocide—and watched it spread across three continents

In 1985, Malaysian dictator Abdul Taib Mahmud created a blueprint for forest theft by dissolving oversight, concentrating power, and pocketing billions. This blueprint spread from Borneo to Brazil to the Congo, shaping the global landscape of ecological destruction over the next forty years. Taib's system, which eliminated environmental assessments and concentrated power in the hands of a few, has been replicated by dictators and timber barons across three continents to strip millions of hectares of rainforests using his exact template.

The devastating impact of Taib's blueprint has been felt in Indonesia, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Papua New Guinea, and Brazil, where forests have been destroyed at an alarming rate, displacing Indigenous communities, causing violence, and contributing to climate change. The legacy of Taib's machine lives on even after his death, continuing to wreak havoc on forests and communities worldwide.