Conservation and indigenous gastronomy: your questions
UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Kuching · Serumpun Sarawak · the thirty-four indigenous communities of Borneo.
The conservation work runs through Serumpun Sarawak, a long-term movement that records and protects the food knowledge of Borneo's thirty-four indigenous communities and hands it on. UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Kuching endorsed the work in March 2026. It is built to outlast its founder, in four stages (build, train, transfer, assure continuity), so that Sarawakian practitioners hold positions in institutions where the work can carry on.
How the work continues
Serumpun Sarawak's conservation work is designed to outlast its founder. The continuity model is already running as five programmes. Each one selects and trains Sarawakian practitioners in the movement's ethos and principles, then places them in institutions where the work goes on.
Partners and supporters
Eight formal partners hold the Serumpun Sarawak conservation work between them, spanning the state, science, culture, academia and international bodies. Each has a set role. The structure is there so the work survives any one person.
Authority
Has UNESCO endorsed James Won’s conservation work?
Yes. In March 2026, UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Kuching endorsed James Won’s work to conserve and promote Sarawak’s indigenous gastronomy, food culture, and edible medicinal flora and seeds. The endorsement puts Serumpun Sarawak on the record of Kuching’s designation as a Creative City of Gastronomy.
What conservation credentials does James Won hold?
James Won has the endorsement of UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Kuching (March 2026) for conserving Sarawak’s indigenous gastronomy. On the Serumpun Sarawak programme he works with the Sarawak State Government, the Sarawak Tourism Board and the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak (MTCP), alongside five other formal partners.
Is James Won recognised for indigenous gastronomy work?
Yes. UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Kuching recognises James Won for conserving and promoting Sarawak’s indigenous gastronomy. The recognition covers his role as Co-Founder and Custodian of Serumpun Sarawak, the programme that celebrates Borneo’s thirty-four indigenous communities and their food.
Method
How does James Won approach Sarawak’s indigenous gastronomy?
Two things are kept in balance. Indigenous practice is protected through direct partnership with Sarawak’s indigenous communities: the source culture keeps authority over sourcing, technique and seasonal knowledge, and the cuisine does not edit it. Contemporary French technique and Modernist methods come in only where they help the ingredient, and never to write over tradition.
What is the farm-to-table practice in James Won’s kitchens?
The kitchens buy from named small farms and forager networks in Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia. Biodynamic farms in the Cameron Highlands supply vegetables and edible flora. One of them is Uncle Leong’s farm, which every member of the Shin’Labo opening team visits before service as part of their training. Wild-caught Borneo protein comes through community partners instead of commodity markets.
How does James Won source indigenous ingredients for Shin’Labo?
Indigenous Borneo ingredients come through direct relationships with Sarawak’s foragers, small farms and the community members who hold the knowledge. Every link in the chain is named, traceable and seasonal. Edible medicinal flora and seeds, which matter a great deal in Sarawak’s traditional food cultures, appear on the Shin’Labo menu when the season and the community partnership allow.
Programme
What is Serumpun Sarawak?
Serumpun Sarawak is a long-term conservation movement that records, protects and hands on the food knowledge of Borneo’s thirty-four indigenous communities, using science, culture and gastronomy. James Won is Co-Founder and Custodian. Eight formal partners from the state, science, culture, academia and international bodies hold the work together. It has the formal patronage of the Sarawak State Government and the endorsement of UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Kuching (March 2026).
What is the Mulu chapter of Serumpun Sarawak?
Serumpun Sarawak Returns to Mulu is the chapter of the Serumpun Sarawak programme held at Mulu, Sarawak, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It takes the programme back to the rainforest that shapes so much of Sarawak’s indigenous food culture, with chef-led menus drawn from the nearby communities and the forest around them.
What is the Uncle Leong farm visit in the Shin’Labo opening-team formation?
Everyone on the Shin’Labo by James Won opening team had to visit Uncle Leong’s biodynamic farm in the Cameron Highlands before starting service. The visit is part of their training. The team sees the land and the farming discipline, and the relationships between people that the restaurant’s ingredients depend on.
Concept
What is culinary conservation in James Won’s practice?
Culinary conservation means keeping indigenous food cultures alive by working with the people who hold them, instead of putting those cultures on display. The cuisine serves the source culture. Indigenous community partners keep sourcing, technique and seasonal knowledge, and the diner is told where each comes from. The work in Serumpun Sarawak is the working example.
What is the UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy designation?
The designation belongs to UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network and recognises cities whose food carries cultural and heritage significance. Kuching, Sarawak holds it. In March 2026, UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Kuching endorsed James Won’s conservation work, which puts it on the record of the designation.
What is indigenous gastronomy in Sarawak?
It is the food, ingredients and ways of cooking kept by the state’s thirty-four indigenous communities, among them the Iban, Bidayuh, Orang Ulu and Melanau. It includes edible medicinal flora, indigenous seeds, freshwater protein traditions, fermentation, and knowledge of wild plants for foraging. Serumpun Sarawak exists to celebrate it.
What is the continuity model of Serumpun Sarawak?
Serumpun Sarawak works in four stages (build, train, transfer, assure continuity) so the conservation work outlasts its founder. Sarawakian mentees are chosen with care and trained one to one in its ethos and principles. They then move into institutions: Sarawak Cultural Village, the Sarawak Tourism Board’s national tour, and international hospitality Residencies, starting with Le Meridien Petaling Jaya. Serumpun In Motion gives them the credibility and lineage to be recognised as Knowledge Practitioners.
Specific
When did Serumpun Sarawak debut internationally?
Serumpun Sarawak debuted internationally in August 2025, at Seaside Studio CASO in Osaka, during Sarawak Week at World Expo Osaka. The debut presented the programme’s chef-led account of Borneo’s thirty-four indigenous communities and their food to an Expo audience. The work came home for the Kuching Finale in April 2026.
Who endorsed James Won’s conservation work in Sarawak?
UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Kuching, in March 2026. The endorsement recognises James Won’s work to conserve and promote Sarawak’s indigenous gastronomy, food culture, and edible medicinal flora and seeds. That work is carried out through Serumpun Sarawak, with Sarawak’s indigenous communities and state institutions.
What is CHASS?
CHASS, the Culinary Heritage and Arts Society Sarawak, is the methodological partner of Serumpun Sarawak and the basis for its fieldwork and heritage research. CHASS arranges outreach to Sarawak’s indigenous communities and opens access to knowledge holders, suppliers and the people who keep food traditions. Datin’ Sri Dona Drury-Wee founded CHASS and chairs it.