It concerns Malaysian rainforest peoples losing their forest to logging and eventually “green” bio-fuel.

A selection of the work:

Palms in the undercanopy of the 1.07 million acre rainforest in Taman Negara National Park. The protected 130 million year old primary rainforest is the homeland of the Batek Negrito people and supports tigers, sumatran rhinoceros, Asian elephants, Malaysian gaur (wild bovine), tapir, gibbons, monkeys totalling over 200 species of terrestrial animals, over 300 species of birds, over 1,000 species of butterfly, and over 14,500 species of flowering plants and trees.

Balang Weng, a Penan man, scans the rainforest canopy where he heard a crashing sound for an unseen macaque (monkey). The Penan used to roam the rainforest following game or fruit that was in season as nomads. This is no longer possible because selective logging has pulled out important trees, damaged the soil, silts up rivers reducing food for the Penan, fish in streams and prey animals on the forest floor and in the canopy. Now, they can no longer sustain themselves from the forest alone and suppliment their diet with rice bought from the nearest towns, like Long Lellang. Although Penan are famous for hunting with poison arrows from a blowpipe, many Penan now use small arms, especially if they have small cuts on their fingers or hands because the poison will kill the hunter just as it would prey if it enters the blood stream.

Buttressed roots stabilize a towering 260ft high old growth rainforest tree in the very shallow tropical soil in Taman Negara National Park, Kelantan, Malaysia. Even the soil in the virgin forests are exceedingly shallow meaning that most of the bio mass of a tropical rainforest is found in the living trees and plants, not the soil. When the forest is cut, even selectively logged, what little soil there is immediately turns streams muddy brown and, if clear cut and converted to oil palm plantations, there is almost no top soil left at all. Torrential tropical downpours, typical to the ever wet rainforests of Malaysia, quickly wash it all away.

Logging road used by Samling Global Ltd. logging company pushes deeper toward one of the last unprotected parcels of old growth forest in the interior of Borneo. According to Forbes Magazine, Samling’s father & son owners, Yaw Teck Seng & Yaw Chee Ming have an estimated worth of $480 million. According to Survival International, there are roughly 10,000 to 12,000 traditionally nomadic Penan living in the forests of Sarawak now in settled communities. The per capita GDP in Malaysia is $6,970 (World Bank). Even if, taking the upper figure of 12,000, all the Penan people earned the per capita GDP of $6970, which these forest dwellers who are only marginally participating in the cash economy certainly would not, the entire population of the Penan people would earn $84 million per year, less than 20% the net total worth of the two tycoon owners of Samling Global Limited.

Palm oil processing plant where the rainforest once stood, where the Batek Negritos lived. The rainforest must be clear cut before oil palm can be planted. Oil palm plantations are impoverished “green deserts”. Lian Pin Koh and David S. Wilcove of Princeton University, analyzing data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, found that 55-59 percent of oil palm expansion in Malaysia, used in part to produce bio fuel, spread at the expense of the rainforest. Between 1990 and 2005 the area of oil palm plantations in Malaysia more than doubled to 8.9 million acres while Malaysia correspondingly lost roughly 3.7 million acres of forest.

Workers, mostly Indonesians of dubious visa status, cut logs from the Borneo rainforest into planks of lumber for export in one of the sawmills that line the banks of Batang (River) Kemena, Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. According to the United Nations Environment Programme – World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), 2004 World Database on Protected Areas, Malaysia lost an average of 194,00 acres of forest per year between 1990 and 2000. Between 2000 and 2005, the rate of deforestation actually increased by 85.1%. From 1990 to 2005, Malaysia forest cover decreased by 3.7 million acres.

Squalid workers dormitory at one of the large sawmills that line the banks of Batang (River) Kemena, Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. There are jobs generated from logging but the quality of jobs is questionable. Since many of the workers are migrants from Indonesia, it brings into question how much the local population is helped at all by the logging industry by the creation of jobs.

The Baram River, the jungle thoroughfare for the indigenous Dayak peoples, snakes through the last great forest in Southeast Asia, the interior forest of Borneo, and into Penan territory. Not long ago, the Baram River and its tributaries were the only way from the Kelibits and the Penans to travel to the coast from Long Lellang. The journey took 10 days. For a couple of decades, tons of top soil, mostly washed away because intensive logging operations which exposes the earth to torrential rains in this watershed have turned the waters the color of cafe latte.

Balang Weng surveys a logging road barricade on another separate logging road, built the previous month by the residents of Long Kelamu await logging trucks from Samling Global Ltd. who they hope to prevent entering virgin Borneo rainforest between the Penan settlements of Long Kelamu and Long Sabai.

Palatial home, one of many found in large enclaves around Miri, a former oil city and now known for oil palm, plywood mills and a passable, pleasant beach on the muddy Borneo coast. Many of these homes, locals concur, are holiday homes for the largely ethnic Chinese Malaysians tycoons, referred to as “Foochow” (Fuzhou, Fujian) Chinese, from Sibu (once known as “New Foochow”), which is Malaysia’s second largest city set in the broad, muddy Rejang River delta. The dominant tycoons of the timber extraction and oil palm industry in Sarawak mostly hail from the “Foochow” Chinese community and two of Sarawak’s largest logging companies Samling Global Ltd. and Shin Yang Group are headquartered in Miri. Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad is also based in Miri and Group Executive Chairman, Ling Chiong Ho of Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad (SOPB) happens also to be the founder and chairman of Shin Yang Group. Tang Tiong Ing, a Non-Executive Director of SOPB, joined Shin Yang Group as a Group Accountant in 1991 and is an appointed representative of Shin Yang Plantation Sdn. Bhd. which is a substantial shareholder of Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad.

Security sign at the entrance to the sea front estate of the owner of Shin Yang Group leaves little doubt what would happen to an intruder should they enter the grounds of the estate that logging over the Borneo rainforest has built. Luak Bay, south of Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia.

The Batek Negrito and Penan peoples do not fit into Malaysia’s image of itself and its future as a fully industialized country. Malaysia has moved up to the next level of development where it can afford to think about the environment, and it can afford to stop growing at the expense of its 130 million year old rainforests which is a treasure to the planet. Kuala Lumpur is a fully modern city with plenty of green space. Perhaps the balance found in this modern metropolis can act as a guide to saving greater rural green spaces.

The project will be on show for the following season.

Congrats Alan!

All entrants must be nominated. Two of the seven nominating experts are Nuru Project contributing photographers, James Whitlow Delano and Jake Price.

If you have compelling, qualifying images, send them your work by Oct 15 (the UNICEF deadline is Oct 31):
James Whitlow Delano – james.delano@pep.ne.jp
Jake Price – jakephotog@gmail.com

Nuru Project has a history with this competition. We’re pleased to be currently showing last year’s contest winning image by Johan Bavman in our eight-city Dignity series raising money and awareness for Acumen Fund.

And we were luck enough to show Alice Smeet’s contest winning image from 2008 at our STAND WITH HAITI event benefiting Partners In Health in February 2010.

For those who aren’t familiar, Collective Good describes themselves thusly:

Collective Good is part social network and part idea farm. We produce and promote fun events that raise awareness and inspire action on issues important to us. We align with local brands and organizations that advocate responsible consumerism and progressive corporate governance. Being a part of Collective Good is a great way to meet like-minded people, have fun and do some good!

Check them out!

Many thanks to all of the people at SF for Acumen who handled the logistics and ran the event in such a successful way. Big thanks also to all the contributing photographers listed in the blog posts below whose work made this event shine. And of course to Modernage Custom Digital Imaging for the beautiful reproductions of their work.

Carrie Ting, who heads up SF for Acumen, recapped the event as follows, “We received overwhelming feedback that the photographs were impressive, and the event was professionally-run. All volunteers who were involved were very happy with the results, and many new faces approached us wanting to get more involved with Acumen Fund in the future. The live auction was entertaining and a highlight of the event.”

Nuru Project is looking forward to similar success at our remaining Dignity events with Acumen Fund in Toronto, Chicago, DC, London, Dubai, and Karachi!

Setting up for the event.

The SF for Acumen organizing team and volunteers.

Nuru Project’s statement for the show on the wall.

Yasmina Zaidman, Acumen’s Director of Communications.

The live auction.

Photo credits: Carrie Ting, Michael Deogirikar, and Anjelika Deogirikar.

Tickets for the event can be purchased here.
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Susan Meiselas/Magnum. Tanzania. 2004.

In 1976 Susan Meiselas joined Magnum Photos and has worked as a freelance photographer since then. She is best known for her coverage of the insurrection in Nicaragua and for her documentation of human rights issues in Latin America, which were published throughout the world. Meiselas has had one-woman exhibitions in Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, London, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Honorary awards of recognition include the Robert Capa Gold Medal for “outstanding courage and reporting” by the Overseas Press Club for her work in Nicaragua (1979); the Leica Award for Excellence (1982); the Engelhard Award from the Institute of Contemporary Art (1985); the Maria Moors Cabot Prize from Columbia University for her coverage of Latin America (1994); the Hasselblad Foundation Photography prize (1994) and most recently, the Cornell Capa Infinity Award (2005). In 1992, she was named a MacArthur Fellow.

Susan Meiselas is a long-time friend and advisor of Acumen Fund. This photo also serves as the cover photo for Acumen Fund CEO Jacqueline Novogratz’s book, The Blue Sweater.

Riccardo Venturi/Contrasto. Kenya.

Riccardo Venturi won the prestigious World Press Photo Prize for his reporting on Afghanistan in 1997. In 1999, he won the Leica Honorable Mention for reporting the war in Kosovo.

Riccardo Venturi is a member of Contrasto agency in Rome.

Tickets for the event can be purchased here.
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Palani Mohan/Reportage by Getty Images. India. 2009.

A man throws pink powder as tens of thousands of Indians celebrate Holi, the festival of colors, at a temple in Nadagaon, India. Thousands of gallons of colored water and powder are thrown at participants as they sing and dance. Holi is celebrated for 16 days in commemoration of the Hindu deity Lord Krishna’s love for Radha. The celebrations officially usher in spring, the celebrated season of love.

Palani Mohan/Reportage by Getty Images. India. 2009.

A fisherman pulls in his early morning catch on Marina beach in Chennai in southern India, the place of my birth. I’ve been photographing this beach for the past 15 years so I’ve seen lots of change,  a reflection of what’s happening all over India. Its a relentless hard existence for these fisherman. There is no doubt that the new found economic explosion in the country have left these people behind. This image was part of chapter in my book “Hidden faces of India” published in 2002.

Tomas Munita. India. 2003.

A Changpa nomad boy plays with flowers while watching his flock.

Tomas Munita. India. 2008.

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Zackary Canepari. India. 2009.

Rahul the Fire Eater practices in the Kathputli Colony.  The Kathputli Colony is a slum mostly inhabited by performers practicing traditional art forms such as marionette puppetry, juggling, magic, acrobatics, dance and music.  Many have traveled all over the world showcasing their abilities and make ample livings doing so, but they still remain in this slum, one of the worst in the city.

Zackary Canepari. India. 2009.

Many of the residents in the Kathputli Colony own animals such as snakes, monkeys and pigeons, which are used for performances. The father of Magician Hameed taught his son his entire magic repertoire during Hameed’s youth.  The majority of the performers in the colony are 3rd or 4th generation professional performing artists.

Zackary Canepari. India. 2009.

Tarveena Magician, 9, a fifth generation magician, overlooks the Kathputli Colony in her performing uniform.

Tarveena lives with her nine brothers and sisters in one brick room. Much like the other 220 million slum dwellers in India, Tarveena struggles every day with dysfunctional electricity, non-existent plumbing and shoddy sanitation. But Tarveena’s life has been touched by magic.

For the past five decades, magicians, acrobats, jugglers, musicians, dancers and puppeteers have migrated from all over India to the small Kathputli Colony slum. Nearly all of the 1,500-3,000 (depending on who you ask) families in the colony are professional performing artists, including Tarveena. Tarveena learned how to balance on a floating rope, pull flowers from a hat and pull an egg from a friend’s ear from her father Kasim Magician, 45, who in turn learned the craft from his father.

The local school, run by the Kalakar Trust NGO, teaches the local art forms alongside traditional classes. The performers travel the world, entertaining at 5-star hotels, cultural festivals and private parties thrown by the wealthiest in India before returning home to their sprawling slum.

Jobs in call centers and cell phone stores have lured some of the children away from the realm of magic and the Delhi government threatens to close down the illegal settlement, scattering the performers across the city.

Mikkel Ostergaard/Panos. Kenya. 2008.

A line of people fleeing an internally displaced person camp following disputed election results which sparked ethnic violence.

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Teru Kuwayama. Pakistan. 2005.

Teru Kuwayama. India. 2002.

Per-Anders Petterson/Reportage by Getty Images. South Africa.