Bruno Manser

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Bruno Manser (born August 25, 1954 in Basel, Switzerland) was an environmental activist. He was well-known in Switzerland for his public activism for rainforest preservation and the protection of indigenous peoples.

1 Life with the Penans
2 Death
3 Popular culture
4 External links

[edit] Life with the Penans

Manser created richly illustrated notebooks during his stay in 1984 to 1990 with the Penan people, in the jungle of the Eastern Malaysian state of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, near the Indonesian border of Kalimantan. He stayed with the nomadic band of Along Sega, who became the Penan figurehead for their struggle. He also visited many other settled Penan communities in the Upper Baram district. These notebooks were later published, with some success, by the Christoph Merian press in Basel. Manser, however, was declared persona non grata in Malaysia and had to leave the country with a bounty of $40,000 on his head.

[edit] Death

As of 2006, Manser is missing and presumed dead. His last known communication is a letter mailed to his girlfriend on May 22, 2000 from the village of Bario, in the Kelabit Highlands, Sarawak. Where he had returned to meet the nomadic Penan he had lived with for so long.

Manser is still regarded by the Penan as somewhat of an idol, named 'Lakei Penan' (Penan Man). A man that united them and has been accused by the government of arranging numerous blockades of logging roads (although no proof has been given) and having some positive affects by protesting in Tokyo and Europe about the proposed inhumanity of the tropical timber industry.

After search expeditions proved fruitless, a civil court in Basel ruled on March 10, 2005 that Manser must be considered dead. Manser's unpopularity with Sarawak's government and the logging companies such as Samling Plywood, who have been known to use intimidation and violence as scare tactics have prompted suspicions surrounding his death, none of which have yet been proved.

[edit] Popular culture

Several documentary films have been made about him (Steven Spielberg did even want to compose a film about his life: These are Blowpipes against Bulldozers, Tong Tana (part one) and Tong Tana (part two). Available from http://www.bmf.ch