Looking back in time helps us see that things have not always been the way they are, and with that knowing, we can imagine different possibilities to guide our present policy choices for alternative futures. Human-forest relationships have not always been rooted in extraction and dispossession. There were (and in some communities, still are) customs of respect and restraint that guide human relationships with the natural world. These customs have largely disappeared from Malaysia’s collective imagination and governance norms over more than a century of policy choices, and elite decision making, that were made in the context of extending control over, and accumulating wealth from, the exploitation of the natural world. Today, the world is reeling from these choices, as is Malaysia. But we still have the opportunity to change course in how we relate to, and govern forests. These critical ecosystems and spaces are important not only for biodiversity preservation and climate action, but as culturally inscribed places and living lands that humans have long had a connection with. This paper offers an attempt to reimagine more just and sustainable futures, grounded in ethical policy choices that safeguard people and forests – not elite accumulation and extractive economic growth.