Save the Penans!

The Penans are a nomadic aboriginal people living in Sarawak and Brunei. They are one of the last such peoples remaining. The Penan are noted for their practice of 'molong' which means never taking more than necessary. Most Penan were nomadic hunter-gatherers until the post-World War II missionaries settled many of the Penan, mainly in the Ulu-Baram district but also in the Limbang district in Sarawak.

For the last two decates the Sarawak government has allowed the logging of the primary forest to escalate and now the end is in sight. If logging continues at the current rate, in less than half a decade, one of the world's oldest and most complex ecosystems will be destroyed. The loss of this great rainforest will drive thousands of unique species (found nowhere else on earth) to extinction, and will mean the end of a traditional way of life for many of Sarawak's natives, including the Penan, one of the last tribes of true hunter-gatherers left in the world.

The future of the more than 10,000 Penans has been a controversial subject since the confrontation between indigenous rights and state land use began. National and International Non-Governmental Organisations have been pressing for indigenous self-determination and respect for Penan human and land rights. The politicians never see them as human, and so they forget that we all share the same rights and realities as fellow human beings.

They have been living peace until the timber companies came to disturb their life and encroach into their forest. Many of them have suffered due to the logging operations, their rivers are polluted, their sacred sites damaged their animals chased away, rain forest home destroyed, women and girls often raped by the timber company workers. The damages are severe, so why are the government still ignoring Penan’s plights?

For many years, they have been raising their voice to protest against logging activities, but neither the company nor the government is listening to them. Stop offending the Native Customary Rights by giving certificates the logging companies! Save Penans and their rainforest home!

Listen to their plights:

LOGGERS SURVIVED, HOW ABOUT THESE PENANS?

WHERE IS THE JUSTICE FOR THEM?

WHY DISTURBING THE PENANS?