Rainforest Rescue sponsored John Bamba, an indigenous Dayak from West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, to attend and speak at an Activating Human Rights and Peace conference, Byron Bay, July 1-4th. The conference was organised through the Centre for Peace and Social Justice (Southern Cross University) and included delegates and speakers from over 20 countries.

The Dayak are traditionally a rainforest dwelling people who survive on a combination of hunter-gathering and swidden agriculture. They historically have cultivated and managed shifting agricultural plots throughout their forests without disturbing the healthy balance of the natural systems. John said this was achieved because of the five basic principals of Dayak natural resource management: sustainability, collectivity, biodiversity, subsistence, and customary law. In combination, these principals have ensured that their rainforests, and their food source, remained intact and productive.

This historic harmony is now under serious threat from the large scale clearing (and burning) associated with oil palm plantations, and from illegal logging. Since the natural rainforest environments of Kalimantan grow on extremely nutrient-poor soils, they are particularly vulnerable to these threats. Once the rainforests are disturbed or cleared, the sandy soils do not naturally regenerate like they do in other rainforests around the globe that grow on richer soil types.

The endangered rainforests of Kalimantan are home not only to the Dayak, but also to the much-revered Orangutan. Without the rainforests the Orangutan will surely not survive, except for small populations in controlled reserves. Without the rainforests, the Dayak culture and its intrinsic connection to the forest and forest management will also be seriously threatened.

John said it is very important for people to realise what is causing the degradation to these vulnerable and important rainforest systems. He urged us to inform ourselves about the oil palm industry, and how it is undermining his people and the Orangutan.

John Bamba is the executive director of the Institut Dyakologi, an organisation founded in 1991 which is focused on the revitalisation and restitution of the Dayak cultural heritage.