Sarawak Environmental Challenges

LIMBANG, LONG NAPIR, SARAWAK, MALAYSIA - 2012/05/25: Close up of the leathery hands of an elderly Penan woman living in an area close to Long Napir. A new dam project threatens to flood the area forcing thousands of locals - Penan and Kelabit - from their ancestral lands. The flood resulting from the dam will also destroy a delicate and unique forest ecosystem. The area where the Penan live has also been heavily logged, destroying millions of acres of pristine rain forest. The Penan are a nomadic aboriginal people living in Sarawak and Brunei. They are one of the last such peoples remaining. They 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 them, mainly in the Ulu-Baram district but also in Limbang district. They eat plants, which are also used as medicines, and animals and use the hides, skin, fur, and other parts for clothing and shelter. The Penan number around 16,000 of which only a very few are still nomadic. The Penan speak a language distinct from other neighbouring native groups such as the Kenyah, Kayan, Murut or Kelabit. However, in government censuses they are more broadly classified as Orang Ulu which translates as 'Upriver People' and which contains distinct neighbouring groups such as those above. Even more broadly they are included in the term 'Dayak', which includes all of Sarawak's indigenous people.. (Photo by Yvan Cohen/LightRocket via Getty Images)