The Punan societies of Borneo, traditionally nomadic rainforest hunters and gatherers, have undergone a transformation over the past centuries. As downriver farming peoples expanded upstream and their cultures and technologies diffused, the Punan gradually abandoned their nomadic existence for a more sedentary life of trade-related activities and subsistence agriculture. But the culture that has emerged from these changes is still based on the enduring ideological premises of nomadism. This study, historical in perspective, examines the many factors-ecological, economic, commercial, political, social, cultural, and ideological-that have played a part in this continuing transformation. Foreword by Georges Condominas.

The Penan, one of the few remaining nomadic peoples of the rain forest, live in a place of indescribable beauty -- and all around them the forest is coming down at an alarming pace. In their East Malaysian state of Sarawak, the rate of timber cut is among the highest the world has ever known. This timely book addresses in words (both narrative and quotations) and unforgettable pictures the plight of the Penan. The majority of the photographs and quotations were collected during many field trips the authors made into the interior of Sarawak. Dramatic. -- The Los Angeles Times

This is the first comprehensive picture of the nomadic and formerly nomadic hunting-gathering groups of the Borneo tropical rain forest, totaling about 20,000 people.

In 1984 Swiss shepherd Bruno Manser trekked through the virgin rainforests of Borneo to live among the jungle's last nomads. In six years among the Penan people, Manser witnessed the wholesale destruction of one of the world's most diverse ecosystems through rapid deforestation. He swore to do everything he could to stop it. Manser's globetrotting campaign brought the world's attention to tropical deforestation. It also made him an enemy of Asia's timber barons. In 2000 he disappeared without a trace. Ruedi Suter's engrossing biography - the first in English - charts Manser's extraordinary journey form a young man am who sought to escape civilization for the peace of the jungle to a campaigner who would stand up to oligarchs, lead protests around the globe, and, ultimately, give his life for the forests that he loved.

This comparative study of the peoples of central Borneo offers an unusually detailed description of a pre-colonial society. Professor Rousseau analyses a region characterized by great ethnic diversity and unravels the relation between ethnicity, social organization, language, and cultureamong its peoples.Geographically, central Borneo is divided into several river basins, each of which forms part of a different country. Because of this, the area has traditionally been dealt with in a fragmented way by academics. Yet the records of scholars, missionaries, and administrators that have been keptsince the area came under colonial control at the beginning of the twentieth century provide ethnographic and historical data virtually unmatched in the rest of the insular South East Asia. Professor Rousseau's extensive survey of the available literature and archival material, backed up by manyyears of fieldwork in the region, challenges some long-held views and assumptions. First he shows that, while ethnic identity is normally expected to act as a divider between social groups, this area of great ethnic diversity actually forms a single society. Secondly, although it is thought thatsmall-scale, stateless societies tend to show little evidence of social inequality, he demonstrates that the communities of central Borneo have until recently had a clearly hierarchical structure.The uniquely detailed evidence presented in this study and its comparative approach shed an entirely new light not only on central Borneo, but also on the fundamental nature of societies.

The 1990s have seen a growing interest in the role of local ecological knowledge in the context of sustainable development, and particularly in providing a set of responses to which populations may resort in times of political, economic and environmental instability. The period 1996-2003 in island southeast Asia represents a critical test case for understanding how this might work. The key issues explored in this book are the creation, erosion and transmission of ecological knowledge, and hybridization between traditional and scientifically-based knowledge, amongst populations facing environmental stress (e.g. 1997 El Niño), political conflict and economic hazards. The book will also evaluate positive examples of how traditional knowledge has enabled local populations to cope with these kinds of insecurity.

The 1990s have seen a growing interest in the role of local ecological knowledge in the context of sustainable development, and particularly in providing a set of responses to which populations may resort in times of political, economic and environmental instability. The period 1996-2003 in island southeast Asia represents a critical test case for understanding how this might work. The key issues explored in this book are the creation, erosion and transmission of ecological knowledge, and hybridization between traditional and scientifically-based knowledge, amongst populations facing environmental stress (e.g. 1997 El Niño), political conflict and economic hazards. The book will also evaluate positive examples of how traditional knowledge has enabled local populations to cope with these kinds of insecurity.