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Orang asli settlement in the Malaysian rainforest. (Photo by R. Butler)
ASIAN PEOPLES OF THE RAINFOREST
Asia is by far the most populous region on earth, and population pressures have pushed people into forested lands
where they interrupt the lives of the few remaining forest people. The original inhabitants of Southeast Asia were
dark-skinned, frizzy-haired, broad-nosed Australoids, some of whom moved into Australia. They were hunters, not
farmers, but nonetheless used a wide variety of plants for food, medicinal remedies, and other useful products.
These people since have been pushed into the extreme reaches of the rainforest by waves of immigration. Today the
original people of Asian rainforests are found only in remote parts of forests of the Malay peninsula, Borneo,
the Andaman islands, the Philippines (Palawan island), and New Guinea.
The Australoids were pushed farther into the forest by the arrival (about 7,000 years ago) of better farmers, the
Proto-Malays from India and Burma who had brown skin, wavy hair, and more Caucasoid facial features. These people were pioneers of the domestication of plants. From 5,000 to 3,000 years ago, the Deutero-Malays arrived
from southern China. They have Mongoloid features and today are the dominant people of Southeast Asia; almost none
are found in the rainforest.
Because of the tremendous population of Asia, very few rainforest peoples continue their fully traditional way
of life. Even so, those that do follow their forest beliefs have rich traditions. Like forest peoples of other
regions, many Asian forest dwellers believe in close spiritual ties between human and animals. In fact, many believe
that their souls interchange into the bodies of animals during sleep or at death. Shamans, the so-called "witch-doctors"
of tribal rainforest peoples, claim the ability to communicate with animal spirits through trances. Often shamans
claim to take the form of a tiger, much as the shamans of the New World often take the form of a jaguar.
As mentioned earlier, the forest peoples of Asia are few, existing in a few traditional enclaves, because of historic
migrations and encroachment on their lands due to overpopulation. Some of the few remaining groups are directly
threatened by the Indonesian transmigration program, which is working to move millions from crowded Java, Bali,
and Lombock to Sulawesi, Sumatra, Borneo [Borneo news], and Papua. The stated goal is to reduce population pressures from
highly populated central islands and to develop outer islands through road, communication, and city construction.
The people who suffer most from this program are the original inhabitants of these outer areas. The program has
resulted in great deforestation for fuelwood and building materials for colonists' needs. In addition, the program
has contributed to stirring up the anti-Indonesian feelings of those residents of the lands conquered by Indonesia
during its aggressive expansion campaign of the late 1960s. In East Timor, for example, tensions between the Indonesian
military and locals who desire independence led to violence and eventual UN intervention. Large-scale logging throughout
Indonesia, especially in Borneo and New Guinea [New Guinea news], has displaced thousands of tribal peoples.
Photos by late Borneo rainforest hero, indigenous rights activist go online
(4/17/2008) On April 19th over 10,000 of Bruno Manser's photographs will be made available to the public on-line. The pictures are rare documentation of the nomadic Penan peoples from the Malaysian state of Sarawak in Borneo. Swiss environmentalist Bruno Manser proved an unflinching and passionate advocate for the Penans in the 1990s as their territory was increasingly deforested by industrial logging companies.
Global warming solutions are harming indigenous people, says U.N.
(4/2/2008) Large-scale solutions intended to help mitigate global warming are harming the very indigenous people who are likely to bear the brunt of climate change, warned the United Nations University (UNU) at a conference in Darwin, Australia.
55% of the Amazon may be lost by 2030
(1/23/2008) Cattle ranching, industrial soy farming, and logging are three of the leading drivers of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. As commodity prices continue to rise, driven by surging demand for biofuels and grain for meat production, the economic incentives for developing the Amazon increase. Already the largest exporter of beef and the second largest producer of soy - with the largest expanse of "undeveloped" but arable land of any country - Brazil is well on its way to rivaling the U.S. as the world's agricultural superpower. The trend towards turning the Amazon into a giant breadbasket seems unstoppable. Nevertheless the decision at the U.N. climate talks in Bali to include "Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Degradation" (REDD) in future climate treaty negotiations may preempt this fate, says Dr. Daniel Nepstad, a scientist at the Woods Hole Research Institute.
