PACOS Trust: Indigenous Rights in Sabah

PACOS Trust at a glance

PACOS Trust is one of Sabah's best-known community-based organisations. Its name stands for Partners of Community Organisations in Sabah, reflecting a mission built around working alongside indigenous communities rather than simply for them.

The organisation focuses on indigenous community development and rights advocacy, combining grassroots work with campaigns on issues such as land rights. It operates widely across the state and draws much of its strength from staff who come from the communities it serves.

Origins and registration

PACOS Trust traces its roots to 1987, when it began community engagement work with indigenous communities in Sabah. For a decade it built relationships and experience on the ground before taking a more formal shape.

In 1997, the organisation was formally registered under the Trustees Ordinance (Sabah), having worked with communities since 1987 as a different legal entity (PACOS Trust, checked 6 October 2026). This gave PACOS a clear legal standing from which to expand its programmes, advocacy and partnerships in the years that followed.

That combination of long grassroots experience and a formal structure has helped PACOS sustain its work over decades.

Land rights advocacy

A central part of PACOS Trust's work is land rights campaigns. For many indigenous communities in Sabah, secure rights to ancestral land are closely tied to livelihoods, culture and identity.

PACOS supports communities in understanding and asserting these rights, helping them navigate processes that can otherwise be difficult to access. This advocacy sits alongside broader rural community development, recognising that land security and development go hand in hand.

Biodiversity and indigenous knowledge

PACOS Trust also works on the protection of biological diversity and indigenous knowledge. In Sabah, these two strands are deeply linked, as traditional practices often help sustain the forests, rivers and ecosystems communities depend on.

By documenting and defending indigenous knowledge, PACOS helps ensure that valuable practices are not lost. Protecting biodiversity, in turn, safeguards the natural resources that underpin rural community development and cultural continuity.

This work positions indigenous communities as partners in conservation, with knowledge built up over generations of living closely with the land.

Scale and grassroots staff

PACOS Trust operates on a significant scale for a community-based organisation. It supports community organisations in 19 districts and 27 geographical areas (PACOS Trust, checked 6 October 2026), giving it a broad reach into rural and indigenous communities throughout Sabah.

The organisation has 80 personnel, almost all of whom work in their own communities (PACOS Trust, checked 6 October 2026). This grassroots staffing is central to its identity, keeping its work grounded in local realities and trusted relationships.

That closeness to community helps PACOS design programmes that respond to genuine local needs rather than external assumptions.

International partnerships

PACOS Trust connects its Sabah-based work to wider networks through international ties. It is listed as a partner of the Forest Peoples Programme, a body focused on the rights of forest-dependent and indigenous peoples (Forest Peoples Programme, checked 6 October 2026).

Its own site also lists regional partners such as AIPP and NTFP-EP (checked 6 October 2026). These relationships link local campaigns and community development in Sabah to global conversations on indigenous rights.

Through such partnerships, the experiences of Sabahan communities can inform and draw on broader international efforts.

Frequently asked questions