Bruno Manser (25 August 1954 – presumed dead 10 March 2005) was a Swiss
environmentalist
An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...
and
human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
activist. From 1984 to 1990, he stayed with the
Penan
The Penan are a nomadic indigenous people living in Sarawak and Brunei, although there is only one small community in Brunei; among those in Brunei half have been converted to Islam, even if only superficially. Penan are one of the last such pe ...
tribe in
Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...
, Malaysia, organising several blockades against timber companies. After he emerged from the forests in 1990, he engaged in public activism for
rainforest preservation and the
human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
of
indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
, especially the Penan, which brought him into conflict with the Malaysian government. He also founded the Swiss
non-governmental organization (NGO) Bruno Manser Fonds in 1991. Manser disappeared during his last journey to Sarawak in May 2000 and is presumed dead.
Early life and education
Bruno Manser was born in
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
, Switzerland, on 25 August 1954 in a family of three girls and two boys.
[ During his younger days, he was an independent thinker. His parents wanted him to become a doctor, and he studied medicine informally.][ Manser later completed his ]upper secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
, the first in his family to do so.[
At age 19, Manser spent three months in Lucerne prison because, as an ardent follower of non-violent ideologies espoused by ]Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
( Satyagraha), he refused to participate in Switzerland's compulsory military service
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
. After leaving prison in 1973, he worked as a sheep and cow herder at various Swiss Alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
pastures for twelve years. During this time, Manser became interested in handicraft
A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...
s, therapeutics
A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis.
As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many different ...
, and speleology
Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form ( speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology) ...
. He laid bricks, carved leather, kept bees, and wove, dyed, and cut his own clothes and shoes. He also regularly pursued mountaineering and technical climbing.
At the age of 30, Manser went to Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...
, looking to live a simpler life.[
]
Searching for Penans
In 1983, Manser went to the Malaysian state of Terengganu
Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', Jawi: ), formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu, is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l- Īmān'' ("Abode of Faith" ...
and stayed with a family. In 1984, while learning more about the rainforests, Manser learned of a nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
ic tribe known as the Penan
The Penan are a nomadic indigenous people living in Sarawak and Brunei, although there is only one small community in Brunei; among those in Brunei half have been converted to Islam, even if only superficially. Penan are one of the last such pe ...
. After learning more about the tribe, he decided to attempt to live amongst them for a few years and traveled to the East Malaysia
East Malaysia (), or the Borneo States, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia on and near the island of Borneo, the world's third-largest island. Near the coast of Sabah is a small archipelago called Labuan. East Malaysia li ...
n state of Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...
in 1984 on a tourist visa.[
In Malaysia, Manser first joined an English ]caving
Caving – also known as spelunking in the United States and Canada and potholing in the United Kingdom and Ireland – is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology i ...
expedition to explore Gunung Mulu National Park
The Gunung Mulu National Park is a national park in Miri Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that encompasses caves and karst formations in a mountainous equatorial rainforest setting. The park is famous for its ca ...
. After the expedition, he stepped deeper into the interior jungles of Sarawak, intending to find the "deep essence of humanity" and "the people who are still living close to their nature."[ However, he quickly became lost and ran out of food while exploring the jungle, then fell ill after eating a poisonous palm heart.]
After these setbacks, Manser finally found Penan nomadic tribes near the headwaters
The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source.
Definition
The ...
of the Limbang river[ at ]Long Seridan
Long Seridan is a Kelabit settlement in the Miri division of Sarawak, Malaysia. It lies approximately east-north-east of the state capital Kuching.
Long Seridan Airport has a STOL runway, originally built by Gurkha engineers in 1963. There are ...
in May 1984.[ Initially, the Penan people tried to ignore him. After a while, the Penan accepted him as one of their family members.][
In August 1984, Manser went to ]Kota Kinabalu
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wism ...
, Sabah
Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...
, to obtain a visa to visit Indonesia. On the Indonesian visa, he entered Kalimantan, then illegally crossed the border back into Long Seridan.[ His Malaysian visa expired on 31 December 1984.]
Life with the Penans
Manser learned about survival skills in the jungle and familiarized himself with the Penan's culture and language.[ The Penan tribal leader in Upper ]Limbang
Limbang is a border town and the capital of Limbang District in the Limbang Division of northern Sarawak, East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. This district area is 3,978.10 square kilometres, and population (year 2020 census) was 56,900. ...
, named Along Sega, became Manser's mentor. During his stay with the Penan, Manser adopted their way of life. He dressed in a loincloth
A loincloth is a one-piece garment, either wrapped around itself or kept in place by a belt. It covers the genitals and, at least partially, the buttocks. Loincloths which are held up by belts or strings are specifically known as breechcloth or ...
, hunted with a blowgun
A blowgun (also called a blowpipe or blow tube) is a simple ranged weapon consisting of a long narrow tube for shooting light projectiles such as darts. It operates by having the projectile placed inside the pipe and using the force created ...
, and ate primates, snakes, and sago
Sago () is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of ''Metroxylon sagu''. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Maluku Islands, where it is c ...
. Manser's decision to live as a member of the Penan was ridiculed in the West, and he was dismissed as a "White Tarzan
Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...
".[ Within the Penan, however, Manser was known as "Laki Penan" (Penan Man), having earned the respect of the tribe that adopted him.]
Manser created notebooks that were richly illustrated with drawings, notes, and 10,000 photographs during his six-year stay from 1984 to 1990 with the Penan people.[ Some of his sketches include ]cicada
The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into tw ...
wing patterns, how to carry a gibbon with a stick, and how to drill holes on a blowpipe.[ These notebooks were later published by Christoph Merian Verlag press in Basel.][ Manser also created audio recordings of ]oral histories
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...
told by Penan elders and translated them. He claimed that the Penan people were never argumentative or violent during his time with them.[
In 1988, Manser tried to reach the summit of ]Bukit Batu Lawi
Batu Lawi is a twin-peaked mountain in the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo) that has played important roles in both ancient mythology and modern history. The taller 'male' peak is 2046 metres above sea level, while the female summi ...
but was unsuccessful, finding himself hanging on a rope without anything to grab on for 24 hours.[ In 1989, he was bitten by a red tailed pit viper but was able to treat the snake bite himself.][ He also got a malaria infection while living in the jungles.][
Unfortunately, ]deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...
of Sarawak's primeval forests started during Manser's stay with the Penan. As a result, the Penan suffered from reduced vegetation, contaminated drinking water, fewer animals available for hunting, and the desecration of their heritage sites. Manser worked with Along Sega to teach the Penan how to organize road blockades against advancing loggers
Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to loggers in the era (before 1945 in the Unite ...
. Manser organised his first blockade in September 1985.[
]
Activism
Manser gave many lectures in Switzerland and abroad, making connections to people within the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
and the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
. As an activist, he visited American and African jungles, staying in various locations for a few weeks.[
He returned almost every year after leaving the Penan to follow up with the logging activities and to provide assistance to the tribe, often entering these areas illegally, crossing the border with Brunei and Kalimantan, Indonesia. He discovered that logging conglomerates such as ]Rimbunan Hijau
Rimbunan Hijau is a Malaysian multinational logging corporation controlled by Malaysian businessman Tiong Hiew King. The company has operations in many countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Vanuatu, ...
, Samling, and the WTK Group continued their operations in Sarawak rainforests.[ As a result, Manser organised the Voices for the Borneo Rainforests World Tour after he left the Sarawak forests in 1990. Manser, Kelabit activist Anderson Mutang Urud, and two Penan tribe members travelled from Australia to North America, Europe, and Japan.][Tsing, A.L(2003). In ]
Nature In The Global South - Volume 7 of New perspectives in South Asian history
'. Orient Blackswan
Orient Blackswan Pvt. Ltd. (formerly Orient Longman India, commonly referred to as Orient Longman), is an Indian publishing house headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana.
The company publishes academic, professional and general works as well as s ...
. p. 332, 334. . Google Book Search. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
On 17 July 1991, during the 17th G7 summit
The 17th G7 Summit was held in London, England, United Kingdom between 15 and 17 July 1991. The venue for the summit meetings was Lancaster House in London.Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( MOFA) Summit Meetings in the Past./ref>
The Group o ...
, Manser climbed unaided to the top of a 30-foot high lamp post outside of the summit's media centre in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. After reaching the top, he unrolled a banner that displayed a message about the plight of Sarawak rainforests. He chained himself to the lamp post for two and a half hours. His protest also coincided with protests by Earth First!
Earth First! is a radical environmental advocacy group that originated in the Southwestern United States. It was founded in 1980 by Dave Foreman, Mike Roselle, Howie Wolke, Bart Koehler, and Ron Kezar. Today there are Earth First! groups around t ...
and the London Rainforest Action Group. Police used a hoist to reach the top of the lamp post and cut his chains. Manser climbed down the lamp post without force at 1:40 PM. He was then taken to the Bow Street
Bow Street is a thoroughfare in Covent Garden, Westminster, London. It connects Long Acre, Russell Street and Wellington Street, and is part of a route from St Giles to Waterloo Bridge.
The street was developed in 1633 by Francis Russell, 4 ...
police station and held until the summit ended at 6:30 PM, when he was released without being charged with an offense.
Later in 1991, Manser set up Bruno Manser Fonds (BMF), a fund designed to help conserve the rainforests and the indigenous population in Sarawak. He ran the fund from his home at Heuberg 25, Basel, Switzerland.
In June 1992, Manser parachuted into a crowded stadium during the Earth Summit
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to June 14, 1992.
Earth Su ...
in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
, Brazil.[ In December 1992, he led a twenty-day ]hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
in front of the Marubeni Corporation
(, OSE: 8002, NSE: 8002) is a ''sōgō shōsha'' (general trading company) headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chuo, Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the largest ''sogo shosha'' and has leading market shares in cereal and paper pulp trading as well as a st ...
headquarters in Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
.[ In 1993, he went on a sixty-day hunger strike at the ]Federal Palace of Switzerland
The Federal Palace is a building in Bern housing the Swiss Federal Assembly (legislature) and the Federal Council (executive). It is the seat of the government of Switzerland and parliament of the country. The building is a listed symmetric ...
('"Bundeshaus") to press the Swiss Federal Assembly on enforcing a ban on tropical timber imports and mandatory declarations of timber products. The hunger strike was supported by 37 organisations and political parties. Manser only stopped the hunger strike after his mother requested that he do so.[ After Manser's disappearance, the Federal Assembly finally adopted the Declaration of Timber Products on 1 October 2010, with a transition period allowed until the end 2011.
In 1995, Manser went to Congo rainforests to document the effects of wars and logging on ]Mbuti people
The Mbuti people, or Bambuti, are one of several indigenous pygmy groups in the Congo region of Africa. Their languages are Central Sudanic languages and Bantu languages.
Subgroups
Bambuti are pygmy hunter-gatherers, and are one of the oldes ...
.[ In 1996, on the German-language programme ''fünf vor zwölf'' (''At the Eleventh Hour''), Manser and his friend Jacques Christinet used auxiliary cable to drop themselves down 800 meters onto the ]Klein Matterhorn
The Klein Matterhorn (sometimes translated as ''Little Matterhorn'') is a peak of the Pennine Alps, overlooking Zermatt in the Swiss canton of Valais. At above sea level, it is the highest place in Europe that can be reached by aerial tramway or ...
aerial cable car and hung sizable banners there.[ They reached the dangerous speed of 140 kilometers per hour while riding on a self-made rider with steel wheels and ball bearings.][
In 1997, Manser and Christinet tried to enter ]Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...
from Singapore to fly a motorised hang-glider
Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...
during the 1998 Commonwealth Games
The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''( Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unpreceden ...
in Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, sub ...
. However, he was recognised at the border and denied entry into Malaysia. They then decided to swim across the Straits of Johor
The Johore Strait (also known as the Tebrau Strait, Straits of Johor, Selat Johor, Selat Tebrau, and Tebrau Reach) is an international strait in Southeast Asia, between Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia.
Geography
The strait separates the Ma ...
into Malaysia, but later abandoned the plan as it involved a lengthy 25-kilometer swim and a passage through a swamp across the straits. They planned an alternative route, opting to row a boat from an Indonesian island into Sarawak. However, BMF received a warning from Malaysian embassy warning of the consequences for such an act.[ In 1998, Manser and Christinet travelled to Brunei and swam across the 300-metre wide Limbang river at night. Christinet was almost fatally injured by drifting logs along the river. They spent three weeks in Sarawak hiding from the police. During that period, they attempted to order four tons of 25-centimeter nails for the Penan to hammer into the tree trunks, which could have caused serious injuries to loggers when the embedded nails inevitably came into contact with chainsaws.][
]
Impact
In 1986, Manser's representative in Switzerland, Roger Graf, wrote about sixty letters to Western media outlets, but none took notice of them. It was only in March 1986 that Rolf Bökemeier, an editor for the ''GEO'' magazine based in Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, Germany, who also specialised in indigenous people, wrote a letter of reply to Graf. In October 1986, ''GEO'' published a 24-page article entitled: "You have the world - leave us the wood!" which included photos taken during their undercover tours with Manser, as well as Manser's drawings. The article was later reprinted all over the world in Australia, Japan, and Canada, leading to the attention of human rights and environmental organisations and green parliamentarians around the world.
After hearing of Manser's actions, then- Congressman Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic no ...
condemned logging activities in Sarawak. Prince Charles also described the treatment for the Penan as "genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...
."[ The ]BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
produced documentaries about the Penan, and Penan stories were also featured on
''.
started to develop an action-adventure horror script where the Penan used their forest wisdom to save the world from catastrophe. The Penan also received coverage in ''
''.