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Sarawak Borneo Rainforest Revisited All Galleries
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Sarawak 'Then' 1989-91 and 'Now' 2012-2015

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  • Twenty three years ago: Seventeen year old Den Along (LHS) daughter of Along Sega the renowned resistance fighter, with her daughter Senorita, 1yr old (child in the middle). They are indigenous Penan native people, living as semi-nomadic hunter gatherers. Long Tegang, Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo 1989<br />
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PENAN SULAP, MALAYSIA. Sarawak, Borneo, South East Asia.  Penan family in sulap settlement. Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo333.jpg
  • Twenty three years later: Forty year old Den Along (RHS) daughter of Along Sega, with her daughter Senorita (LHS), who is now 24 yrs old, and Senorita's two year old son Dimas. They are indigenous Penan native people, who were once nomadic hunter gatherers and are now settled. Long Gita, Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo 2012<br />
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Nomadic decades ago, they have since been forced to move up-river, to settled accomodation, far from their original hunter-gatherer grounds. The sound of chainsaws is not too distant, oil palm plantations are looming and the pipeline is right next door. What will the future hold for them? Long Adang and Long Gita, Limbang Sarawak, Borneo..The huge Petronas Sabah-Sarawak pipeline is being built across the Borneo rainforest through native areas. Petronas is the government cash cow which funds about 45% of its budget. New roads are being built, though much of the transport follows the existing roads and infrastructure created by logging. Whilst the government heralds the project as a source of jobs for local people, it is unlikely to bring much but wanton damage to rainforest habitat and paving the way for further deforestation by oil palm plantations. ..Borneo native peoples and their rainforest habitat revisited two decades later: 1989/1991-2012. ..Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair.
    144_borneo_1F2C2155.JPG
  • 1991: Kenyah native woman, Gin, with distended earlobes, elongated to wear traditional earrings. Long Geng, Belaga district, Sarawak, Borneo. <br />
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Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo166.jpg
  • August 2012: Kenyah native woman, Gin whom I photographed in 1991 in Long Geng, now living in Long Lewan over two decades later. Long Lewan is above the waterline, whilst Long Geng is below, and was flooded by the Bakun Dam. Long Lewan, Belaga district, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
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Their community is now dispersed between Sungai Asap, Long Lewan and floating longhouses on the Bakun reservoir. The Bakun hydro-electric dam, which covers 700km². Construction of the dam required the relocation of more than 9,000 native residents, mainly Kayan and Kenyah indigenous peoples who lived in the flooded area. Many Sarawak natives have been relocated to a longhouse settlement named Sungai Asap in Bakun. Most of them were subsistence farmers. Each family were promised only 3 acres of land, insufficient to survive, and many families still have not been compensated for the loss of their longhouses..Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth, and this deforestation has done irreparable ecological damage to that region.
    093_borneo_1F2C1154.JPG
  • Twenty three years ago: Baru and Banai Tebai standing in front of a temporary 'sulap' structure, made from a mixture of timber, bamboo and rattan. Semi-nomadic Penan, indigenous hunter-gatherers, dressed in traditional 'chawats' loincloth. Long Tegang, Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo 1989<br />
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Semi-Nomadic Penan, MALAYSIA. Sarawak, Borneo, South East Asia. Penan men with their sulap settlement  . Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo162.jpg
  • Twenty three years later: Penan natives, Baru standing with the brother of Banai Tebai. They lived twenty years ago in Long Tegan, but since the area was so thoroughly deforested, they moved upriver and now live in Long Gita. In a permanent traditional native design hardwood house on stilts. Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo 2012<br />
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Nomadic decades ago, now settled, far from their original hunter-gatherer grounds.<br />
<br />
The huge Petronas Sabah-Sarawak pipeline is being built across the Borneo rainforest through native areas. Petronas is the government cash cow which funds about 45% of its budget. New roads are being built, though much of the transport follows the existing roads and infrastructure created by logging. Whilst the government heralds the project as a source of jobs for local people, it is unlikely to bring much but wanton damage to rainforest habitat and paving the way for further deforestation by oil palm plantations. ..Borneo native peoples and their rainforest habitat revisited two decades later: 1989/1991-2012. ..Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth, and this deforestation has done ir
    116_borneo_1F2C2362.JPG
  • Kenyah native people blockading a logging road, which they manned for two years continuously against logging companies. Several groups of people rotated every few weeks. They were also supported by people from Long Geng. Near Long Lewan, Sarawak, Borneo 1991<br />
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Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo349.jpg
  • August 2012: Kenyah native people from the communities of Long Lewan standing on a road near their home. They are a community still standing firm against widespread deforestation. Logging companies have to negotiate with them for access and pay to extract timber. The people shown here participated on the actual human blockades during two years continuously from 1991 through 1992. The adults in the front row were children two decades ago. Long Lewan, Belaga district, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
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Home of the Kenyah native people who once lived in Long Geng, which was flooded by the Bakun Dam. Some of this community lives at Long Lewan. The Bakun hydro-electric dam covers 700km². Construction of the dam required the relocation of more than 9,000 native residents, Kenyah indigenous peoples who lived in the flooded area. Many Sarawak natives have been relocated to a longhouse settlement named Sungai Asap in Bakun. Most of them were subsistence farmers. Each family were promised only 3 acres of land, insufficient to survive, and many families still have not been compensated for the loss of their longhouses. Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth
    086_borneo_1F2C1054.JPG
  • 1989: Kelabit native and hunter, Fredrick Ngareng, in his early twenties, with shotgun sitting by the Limbang river. Near Long Napir, Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
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Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo253.jpg
  • Kelabit man, Fredrick Ngareng, with gun on beach, twenty years later. Sedentary Dayaks, living in longhouses, they rely on fishing, hunting and farming to survive. Limbang, Sarawak, Malaysia 2015<br />
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Borneo native peoples and their rainforest habitat revisited two decades later: 1989/1991 and 2012/2014/2015. <br />
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Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth, and this deforestation has done irreparable ecological damage to that region
    borneo_revisited_nigel_dickinson_201...JPG
  • 1989: Kelabit native, Fredrick Ngareng, in his early twenties, with shotgun and a Honda 50cc motorbike. Behind him is logging with caterpillar and logging camp. Near Long Napir, Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
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Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo251.jpg
  • August 2012: Kelabit native, Fredrick Ngareng, in his mid-forties, with single bore shotgun and a Honda 50cc motorbike, at home with fishing nets behind. Long Napir, Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
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Kelabit native people facing a mounting threat to lose their traditional lands, ancestral burial grounds, culture and habitat, once the hydro-electric dam project floods their lands. The Limbang valley including Long Napir, a cluster of four settlements of Penan and Kelabit people, is threatened by a new hydro-electric project which will flood the entire area, displacing thousands of native people. The Murum Hydro-electric project already underway affecting the Rejang region, will displace over 24,000 Dayak native residents, destroying their longhouses and forest habitat. The dam site is located on the Murum River, in the uppermost part of the Rajang River basin, 200 km from Bintulu. Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth, and this deforestation has done irreparable ecological damage to that region.
    105_borneo_1F2C1566.JPG
  • 1989: Kelabit native, Jangin Taibilung, rainforest defender and activist living at Long Napir, Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
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Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo278.jpg
  • August 2012: Kelabit native, Headman/Chief Jangin Taibilung of both Long Napir and Long Seboyan communities. He is one of the old survivors, many of the other respected elders and fighters for the forest have since passed away. Long Seboyan, Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo <br />
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Kelabit native people facing a mounting threat to lose their traditional lands, ancestral burial grounds, culture and habitat, once the hydro-electric dam project floods their lands. Limbang, Sarawak Borneo..The Limbang valley including Long Napir, a cluster of four settlements of Penan and Kelabit people, is threatened by a new hydro-electric project which will flood the entire area, displacing thousands of native people. The Murum Hydro-electric project already underway affecting the Rejang region, will displace over 24,000 Dayak native residents, destroying their longhouses and forest habitat. The dam site is located on the Murum River, in the uppermost part of the Rajang River basin, 200 km from Bintulu. Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth, and this deforestation has done irreparable ecological damage to that region.
    114_borneo_1F2C1661.JPG
  • 1989: Penan natives. Baru (LHS), Banai Tebai (2nd LHS) and Rasa (RHS) and extended family. Living a semi-nomadic lifestyle.Their 'sulap' temporary settlement, made from wood, bamboo and rattan is behind. Long Tedang, Sarawak, Borneo.<br />
<br />
Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo161.jpg
  • 2012: Penan native people; Baru (LHS), brother of Banai Tebai (2nd LHS) and Rasa (middle) and extended family, (On RHS) 17+yr old Senorita Along, daughter of Den Along Sega, with her son Dimas, 1yr old. They now living a settled but smi-hunter-gatherer lifestyle in Dayak hardwood  homes. Long Gita, Limbang District, Sarawak Borneo 2012<br />
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Nomadic decades ago, have been forced to move up-river, to settled accomodation, far from their original hunter-gatherer grounds. The sound of chainsaws is not too distant, oil palm plantations are looming and the pipeline is right next door. Long Adang and Long Gita, Limbang Sarawak, Borneo..The huge Petronas Sabah-Sarawak pipeline is being built across the Borneo rainforest through native areas. Petronas is the government cash cow which funds about 45% of its budget. New roads are being built, though much of the transport follows the existing roads and infrastructure created by logging. Whilst the government heralds the project as a source of jobs for local people, it is unlikely to bring much but wanton damage to rainforest habitat and paving the way for further deforestation by oil palm plantations. Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. For the natives this is disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth
    118_borneo_1F2C2334.JPG
  • 1991: Kenyah native headman/chief, Nelson, pulls his longboat upriver through rapids as he approaches Long Geng. Sarawak, Borneo<br />
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Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo258.jpg
  • August 2012: Flooded with water from the Bakun Dam reservoir. This is the exact place above the home of the Kenyah longhouse community 'Long Geng', which was, and is now underwater and no more. Bakun Dam reservoir, Belaga district, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
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Their community is now dispersed between Sungai Asap, Long Lewan and floating longhouses on the Bakun reservoir. Bakun Belaga region, Sarawak Borneo 2012. The Bakun hydro-electric dam, which covers 700km². Construction of the dam required the relocation of more than 9,000 native residents, mainly Kayan and Kenyah indigenous peoples who lived in the flooded area. Many Sarawak natives have been relocated to a longhouse settlement named Sungai Asap in Bakun. Most of them were subsistence farmers. Each family were promised only 3 acres of land, insufficient to survive, and many families still have not been compensated. Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth, and this deforestation has done irreparable ecological damage to that region.
    023_borneo_1F2C0372.JPG
  • Pristine tropical primary rainforest interior, with huge trees and many youthful saplings bursting from the forest floor. Supporting a diverse ecosystem in the world's oldest rainforest. Belaga district, Sarawak, Borneo 1991<br />
<br />
Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo138.jpg
  • August 2012: Once primary rainforest, but no more, petrified trees surround the artificial lake shore of the Bakun Dam reservoir. Millions of trees are dying underneath the water. Once home to the Kenyah native people at Long Geng and many other communities, and a diverse ecosystem of flora and fauna. Belaga district, Sarawak, Borneo <br />
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The Bakun hydro-electric dam, which covers 700km². Construction of the dam required the relocation of more than 9,000 native residents, mainly Kayan and Kenyah indigenous peoples who lived in the flooded area. Many Sarawak natives have been relocated to a longhouse settlement named Sungai Asap in Bakun. Most of them were subsistence farmers. Each family were promised only 3 acres of land, insufficient to survive, and many families still have not been compensated for the loss of their longhouses..Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth, and this deforestation has done irreparable ecological damage to that region.
    075_borneo_1F2C9608.JPG
  • 1991: Kenyah natives, women and children. She is weaving a traditional rattan sack from rainforest materials, on longhouse verandah. Long Geng, Belaga district, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
<br />
Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo294.jpg
  • Women from the Kenyah tribe making traditional bags from plastic instead of rattan, which would be found in the rain forest...Sungai Asap Longhouse community where Long Geng Kenyah community was forcibly resettled after their homes where flooded by the Bakun Dam. Home of the Kenyah native people who once lived in Long Geng, which was flooded by the Bakun Dam. Their community is now dispersed between Sungai Asap, Long Lewan and floating longhouses on the Bakun reservoir. Bakun Belaga region, Sarawak Borneo 2012..The huge Petronas Sabah-Sarawak pipeline is being built across the Borneo rainforest through native areas. Petronas is the government cash cow which funds about 45% of its budget. New roads are being built, though much of the transport follows the existing roads and infrastructure created by logging. Whilst the government heralds the project as a source of jobs for local people, it is unlikely to bring much but wanton damage to rainforest habitat and paving the way for further deforestation by oil palm plantations. ..Borneo native peoples and their rainforest habitat revisited two decades later: 1989/1991-2012. ..Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found
    128_borneo_1F2C9275.JPG
  • 1989: 17+yr old Den Along (LHS) daughter of Along Sega, with her daughter Senorita, 1yr old (child in the arms of her cousin). They are indigenous Penan native people, living as semi-nomadic hunter gatherers. Long Tedan, Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo 1989<br />
<br />
Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo332.jpg
  • August 2012: 40+yrs old Den Along (LHS) daughter of Along Sega, with her daughter Senorita (2nd from right), 24 yrs old, and Senorita's 2 yr old son Dimas (RHS), and his cousin Yorni (2nd from LHS). They are indigenous Penan native people, who were once nomadic hunter gatherers and are now sedentary. Long Gita, Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo 2012<br />
<br />
Penan indigenous native people, nomadic decades ago, have been forced to move up-river, to settled accomodation, far from their original hunter-gatherer grounds. The sound of chainsaws is not too distant, oil palm plantations are looming and the pipeline is right next door. Long Adang and Long Gita, Limbang Sarawak, Borneo..The huge Petronas Sabah-Sarawak pipeline is being built across the Borneo rainforest through native areas. Petronas is the government cash cow which funds about 45% of its budget. New roads are being built, though much of the transport follows the existing roads and infrastructure created by logging. Whilst the government heralds the project as a source of jobs for local people, it is unlikely to bring much but wanton damage to rainforest habitat and paving the way for further deforestation by oil palm plantations. Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem
    127_borneo_1F2C2133.JPG
  • 1989: Semi-nomadic Penan native, Baru at his home, a traditional Penan 'sulap' settlement made from bamboo, wood and rattan. Long Tedang, Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
<br />
Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo356.jpg
  • August 2012: Penan native, Baru, now sedentary. Living in a wood house, traditional native Dayak structure, but not anymore the Penan sulap as he did two decades ago. This is his last home, he will not be able to move again. there is not enough forest left for him and his community. Long Gita, Belaga district, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
<br />
The sound of chainsaws is not too distant, oil palm plantations are looming and the pipeline is right next door. Long Adang and Long Gita, Limbang Sarawak, Borneo..The huge Petronas Sabah-Sarawak pipeline is being built across the Borneo rainforest through native areas. Petronas is the government cash cow which funds about 45% of its budget. New roads are being built, though much of the transport follows the existing roads and infrastructure created by logging. Whilst the government heralds the project as a source of jobs for local people, it is unlikely to bring much but wanton damage to rainforest habitat and paving the way for further deforestation by oil palm plantations. Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth, and this deforestation has done irreparable ecological damage to that region..
    149_borneo_1F2C2234.JPG
  • 1991: Kenyah natives living in traditional longhouse, eating on the floor. Abu and his family. Long Geng, Belaga district, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
<br />
Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo306.jpg
  • August 2012: Abu and his family twenty years after. Sungai Asap Longhouse community where Long Geng Kenyah community was forcibly resettled after their homes where flooded by the Bakun Dam. Sungai Asap, Belaga district, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
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Home of the Kenyah native people who once lived in Long Geng, which was flooded by the Bakun Dam. Their community is now dispersed between Sungai Asap, Long Lewan and floating longhouses on the Bakun reservoir. <br />
<br />
The Bakun hydro-electric dam, which covers 700km². Construction of the dam required the relocation of more than 9,000 native residents, mainly Kayan and Kenyah indigenous peoples who lived in the flooded area. Many Sarawak natives have been relocated to a longhouse settlement named Sungai Asap in Bakun. Most of them were subsistence farmers. Each family were promised only 3 acres of land, insufficient to survive, and many families still have not been compensated for the loss of their longhouses..Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth, and this deforestation has done irreparable ecological damage to th
    056_borneo_1F2C9389.JPG
  • 1989: Semi-nomadic Penan native, Banai Tebai, smokes a cigarette inside a 'sulap' settlement made from bamboo, wood and rattan. Long Tedang, Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
<br />
Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo365.jpg
  • August 2012: Penan indigenous natives, Banai Tebai and his wife Sigangsey, are now living in a government built hut. The Penan natives moved in and set up their community there, when municipal workers vacated the outpost. Long Adang, Belaga district, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
<br />
The sound of chainsaws is not too distant, oil palm plantations are looming and the pipeline is right next door. Long Adang and Long Gita, Limbang Sarawak, Borneo..The huge Petronas Sabah-Sarawak pipeline is being built across the Borneo rainforest through native areas. Petronas is the government cash cow which funds about 45% of its budget. New roads are being built, though much of the transport follows the existing roads and infrastructure created by logging. Whilst the government heralds the project as a source of jobs for local people, it is unlikely to bring much but wanton damage to rainforest habitat and paving the way for further deforestation by oil palm plantations. Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth
    150_borneo_1F2C2404.JPG
  • 1989: Old Penan native, Sinan, wearing a Pepsi T-shirt. Long Napir, Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo <br />
<br />
Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo363.jpg
  • August 2012: Penan native, Maleng, holds a picture of his brother Sinan, who is deceased. This is the first photograph he ever had of his brother. Long Napir, Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
<br />
The Limbang valley including Long Napir, a cluster of four settlements of Penan and Kelabit people, is threatened by a new hydro-electric project which will flood the entire area, displacing thousands of native people. The Murum Hydro-electric project already underway affecting the Rejang region, will displace over 24,000 Dayak native residents, destroying their longhouses and forest habitat. The dam site is located on the Murum River, in the uppermost part of the Rajang River basin, 200 km from Bintulu. Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth, and this deforestation has done irreparable ecological damage to that region.
    110_borneo_1F2C1475.JPG
  • 1989: Dayak hunters with cabin and shotguns. Limbang region, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
<br />
Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo244.jpg
  • August 2012: Dayak hunters with motorbikes and shotguns get ready to go on a hunting spree. Belaga region, Sarawak, Borneo <br />
<br />
Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth, and this deforestation has done irreparable ecological damage to that region.
    089_borneo_1F2C1112.JPG
  • Baru, a semi-nomadic Penan, indigenous hunter-gatherer, searching for sago and wild boar. Dressed in traditional 'chawats' loincloth, searching for sago from the forest. In the rainforest near Long Tegang, Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo 1989<br />
<br />
Tropical rainforest and one of the world's richest, oldest eco-systems, flora and fauna, under threat from development, logging and deforestation. Home to indigenous Dayak native tribal peoples, farming by slash and burn cultivation, fishing and hunting wild boar. Home to the Penan, traditional nomadic hunter-gatherers, of whom only one thousand survive, eating roots, and hunting wild animals with blowpipes. Animists, Christians, they still practice traditional medicine from herbs and plants. Native people have mounted protests and blockades against logging concessions, many have been arrested and imprisoned.
    sarawak_borneo154.jpg
  • August 2012: Baru living a traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle, with blowpipe and rattan rucksack, in primary rainforest twenty years later. Penan indigenous native, who was nomadic decades ago, have been forced to move up-river, to settled accomodation, far from his original hunting-gathering grounds. Near Long Gita, Limbang district, Sarawak, Borneo<br />
<br />
The sound of chainsaws is not too distant, oil palm plantations are looming and the pipeline is right next door. What will the future hold for them? Long Adang and Long Gita, Limbang Sarawak, Borneo..The huge Petronas Sabah-Sarawak pipeline is being built across the Borneo rainforest through native areas. Petronas is the government cash cow which funds about 45% of its budget. New roads are being built, though much of the transport follows the existing roads and infrastructure created by logging. Whilst the government heralds the project as a source of jobs for local people, it is unlikely to bring much but wanton damage to rainforest habitat and paving the way for further deforestation by oil palm plantations.<br />
<br />
Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth
    133_borneo_1F2C1942.JPG
  • Nigel with Kelabit friends on the banks of the Limbang River in Autumn 1989
    Borneo_revisited_nigel_dickinson_198...jpg
  • Nigel with same two Kelabit friends twenty six years later. <br />
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The Penan native people are learning to live a sedentary lifestyle which includes living in wooden houses, farming and fishing. They were traditionally nomadic hunter-gatherers. These days they have become forcibly settled as their hunting grounds have been largely destroyed by logging concessions and palm-oil plantations. Limbang Sarawak Malaysia 2015<br />
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There are only a few, difficult to find, scarce communities of semi-nomadic Penan nowadays, who live like of those of old, hidden away deep in the tropical forest, hunter-gathering, wearing loin cloth ‘chawats’, hunting wild boar with blowpipes and poison arrows, and extracting sago-root flour, their staple carbohydrate, by hand.<br />
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Borneo native peoples and their rainforest habitat revisited two decades later: 1989/1991 and 2012/2014/2015. <br />
<br />
Sarawak's primary rainforests have been systematically logged over decades, threatening the sustainable lifestyle of its indigenous peoples who relied on nomadic hunter-gathering and rotational slash & burn cultivation of small areas of forest to survive. Now only a few areas of pristine rainforest remain; for the Dayaks and Penan this spells disaster, a rapidly disappearing way of life, forced re-settlement, many becoming wage-slaves. Large and medium size tree trunks have been sawn down and dragged out by bulldozers, leaving destruction in their midst, and for the most part a primary rainforest ecosystem beyond repair. Nowadays palm oil plantations and hydro-electric dam projects cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of what was the world's oldest rainforest ecosystem which had some of the highest rates of flora and fauna endemism, species found there and nowhere else on Earth, and this deforestation has done irreparable ecological damage to that region
    borneo_revisited_nigel_dickinson_201...JPG
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Nigel Dickinson

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