0:00:02 > 0:00:04Contains scenes that some viewers may find disturbing.
0:00:04 > 0:00:08My name's Bruce Parry. I've been travelling to some of the world's most remote places,
0:00:08 > 0:00:10to see how people there live
0:00:10 > 0:00:14and how they're adjusting to a rapidly changing world.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19I believe there's only one way to really understand another culture,
0:00:19 > 0:00:22and that's to experience it first hand.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26To become, for a short while, one of the tribe.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39I'm in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, in Borneo,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42the third largest island in the world.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46Rich in animal and plant life, this vast wilderness
0:00:46 > 0:00:52is also the ancestral home of Borneo's nomadic forest people, the Penan.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58It's always been a dream of mine to spend time with these hunter-gatherers,
0:00:58 > 0:01:02to understand their intimate relationship with the forest around them.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Yah!
0:01:04 > 0:01:09I think you have to grow up with the Penan to be able to hunt something like this.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15But this is a journey that takes me by surprise.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20And from these few people, in this fast-changing landscape,
0:01:20 > 0:01:25I will hear a voice so clear, so impassioned
0:01:25 > 0:01:28that it cannot be ignored.
0:01:38 > 0:01:44I have made many journeys to Borneo and have developed a deep affection for its people.
0:01:44 > 0:01:51But now, at last, I have a chance to live with the guardians of its great forests.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07I'm in Sarawak, heading into the heart of Borneo,
0:02:07 > 0:02:11and hopefully I'm gonna find one of the last enclaves
0:02:11 > 0:02:16of truly pristine tropical forests found left in this vast island.
0:02:16 > 0:02:22And inside that, holed up, are maybe two or three hundred of the last of the Penan people
0:02:22 > 0:02:27who are still living a traditional nomadic lifestyle.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30The only trouble with that is, that all around that pocket of land
0:02:30 > 0:02:34are all the bulldozers and the loggers waiting to get in.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39With so much money at stake, the last thing the loggers want is me,
0:02:39 > 0:02:41in there, telling the Penan story.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49Borneo lies to the east of Thailand and Malaysia,
0:02:49 > 0:02:54and I'm in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the north western coast.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58Once covered with pristine forest, about two-thirds of the big trees
0:02:58 > 0:03:01have been logged in the past 40 years,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04leaving a few scattered groups of nomadic Penan
0:03:04 > 0:03:09struggling to survive in the damaged and degraded forest.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19The Sarawak government is hugely sensitive
0:03:19 > 0:03:23about its policy on logging and the impact on the forest people.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Film crews are almost always refused permission to film the Penan,
0:03:27 > 0:03:31so I've had to travel undercover to our rendezvous.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42My God, that's it.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45I can just make out a fire through there.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48We've just literally left the vehicle five minutes before
0:03:48 > 0:03:51and it's under the cover of night, which was all part of the plan
0:03:51 > 0:03:54as we didn't want anyone to know where we were going.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58And then a couple of people came out to help us with our gear
0:03:58 > 0:04:03and they're just leading us now to, I think, what is a Penan sort of, er, temporary settlement.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08Wow!
0:04:08 > 0:04:09SPEAKS LOCAL DIALECT
0:04:15 > 0:04:17Hello there, how are you?
0:04:43 > 0:04:49This group has agreed to let me stay with them and film them without official permission.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51They want to tell their story whatever the risk.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56Yet within hours of arriving my cover seemed blown.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58Yeah, yeah, that's cool.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15God, that was a bit of excitement I wasn't expecting.
0:05:15 > 0:05:20I was just sitting in the village minding my own business, not doing much at all,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23when suddenly a couple of the kids came up and grabbed my hand
0:05:23 > 0:05:25and told me to get out quick as I could.
0:05:25 > 0:05:30Just as they were ushering me outside the little settlement area,
0:05:30 > 0:05:35I could just make out a group of people walking towards the encampment.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37I've no idea who they were.
0:05:42 > 0:05:48I've been told it's OK to come back into the village after that little moment of excitement,
0:05:48 > 0:05:52but I still quite don't know yet what it was that sent us running.
0:05:52 > 0:05:58Hi, Arau. Who was it, um, who was it that just came?
0:06:45 > 0:06:50With everyone feeling on edge, a meeting is called by head man, Jeffrey.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47That's it, we're off to a new camp.
0:07:48 > 0:07:54Dogs, monkeys, chickens, pigs, squirrels, everything, the whole family, we're all going.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17OK, I think we're going to stay here.
0:08:55 > 0:09:00For the next month, I'll be living with Arau and Tapi,
0:09:00 > 0:09:03but first we have to build our home together.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08When it comes to building a house like this, is there a specific job
0:09:08 > 0:09:11for the men and a specific job the women, or is it all the same?
0:09:46 > 0:09:48Of the 10,000 Penan people it's estimated that
0:09:48 > 0:09:53only 200 of the eastern Penan are still nomadic hunter-gatherers.
0:09:53 > 0:10:00Each small band is made up of parents and their children and rarely numbers more than 40.
0:10:01 > 0:10:06Nomadic bands roam throughout a territory of less than 100 square miles,
0:10:06 > 0:10:09moving home every few weeks when game and fruit
0:10:09 > 0:10:12become scarce and the camp too dirty.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17They trade meat and other forest products
0:10:17 > 0:10:20for pans, knives and tarpaulins.
0:10:22 > 0:10:28And this is Arau, my host, and Tapi.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32And you, you're my new friend as well, aren't you?
0:10:32 > 0:10:34Hey?
0:10:34 > 0:10:36We're going to become chums.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13Fantastic, thank you.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17So Tapi and Arau, how... So you mind me asking?
0:11:17 > 0:11:18How, how did you meet?
0:11:18 > 0:11:20How did you get together?
0:11:47 > 0:11:50So Tapi, er, what, er, what first attracted you
0:11:50 > 0:11:53to your very, very good-looking husband here?
0:11:53 > 0:11:55What was the first thing that you saw?
0:12:53 > 0:12:57As hunter-gatherers, the Penan are as comfortable collecting fruit,
0:12:57 > 0:13:0230 foot up in the canopy, as they are on the ground.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05Always opportunistic, Arau and Tapi have found us breakfast
0:13:05 > 0:13:09on our way to harvest the giant sago palm.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12This is just one of the nicest jungle fruits I know.
0:13:12 > 0:13:17It's a bit like a lychee I suppose, it's so sweet, so succulent.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22Aahh. Really good!
0:13:22 > 0:13:24It just really hits the spot.
0:13:45 > 0:13:50The sago palm traditionally supplies all the carbohydrate in the Penan diet.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54This monster palm can grow to over 40 feet,
0:13:54 > 0:13:59and it's the pithy core that the Penan split and extract to produce sago flour.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15Once cut and trimmed,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18we're going to have to heft the sago trunks down the mountainside
0:14:18 > 0:14:20in search of water to process them.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58If I was doing this, no doubt I'd break my toe within seconds!
0:15:05 > 0:15:09Not only balance but co-ordination, strength...
0:15:13 > 0:15:17little bit of daredevil. Make sure I don't hit my toes.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19OK.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40It's ingenious, really.
0:15:40 > 0:15:41After mushing with her feet,
0:15:41 > 0:15:46all of the inner pith goes through the mat
0:15:46 > 0:15:49and then is collected on this other mat,
0:15:49 > 0:15:50which is waterproof.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58This off-white, starchy paste
0:15:58 > 0:16:02is the food, and that there is sago.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42I've just been told some of the guys have come back
0:16:42 > 0:16:45from a day's hunting and they've caught a wild boar.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49God, they certainly have, as well!
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Oh, my God.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57By the looks of it, two wild boar.
0:17:00 > 0:17:01My God, the weight of that!
0:17:02 > 0:17:03Berat!
0:17:07 > 0:17:08And that's the back end of one,
0:17:10 > 0:17:12and that's a littler one.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17A mother and child, by the looks of it.
0:17:17 > 0:17:18Fantastic.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07Now that the meat has been butchered,
0:18:07 > 0:18:10how is it divided amongst the families?
0:18:17 > 0:18:19OK, and how is it decided who gets how much?
0:18:26 > 0:18:27Fantastic.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42It is really interesting to watch this.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45I've seen food sharing like this many times,
0:18:45 > 0:18:47but never quite so meticulous.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49It really is, it's painstaking.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52And although this is a relative time of plenty,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55you can imagine that that's been borne out from those periods of time
0:18:55 > 0:19:00when perhaps people have been watching every morsel going in every direction.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02And it makes sense.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11Fantastic. Oh, my God!
0:19:11 > 0:19:12So, look at that.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16Even though, really, this is for the crew,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19even though we're essentially outsiders and just visiting,
0:19:19 > 0:19:22still we've been included in the sharing process.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Fantastic, get a load of this!
0:19:41 > 0:19:45One of the first things that I noticed about living with the Penan
0:19:45 > 0:19:50is that every aspect of social life is transparent.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54There are no doors or walls that any of these people hide behind.
0:19:54 > 0:20:00Everything that goes on here is in view of everyone else.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11Over the past 40 years,
0:20:11 > 0:20:15logging has spread deep into Sarawak's primary forest.
0:20:15 > 0:20:22Once the canopy is removed, a dense, impenetrable secondary forest quickly takes over.
0:20:22 > 0:20:29Throughout their territory, there's a criss-cross of old roads where nothing has grown for decades.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16I didn't realise we were going to come across this logging path today,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19I thought we were just out looking for sago.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23We've just spotted one over there, and this area would normally be full of the stuff.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27But it's all disappeared, and it's not because the sago's being logged
0:21:27 > 0:21:29but it's just things like these roads,
0:21:29 > 0:21:32the fact that 100 yards either side of this is trashed.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34Everywhere they go in and do their selective felling
0:21:34 > 0:21:38they're coming out and they're just ruining the surroundings.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41And so, for these people, though to me it doesn't look any different,
0:21:41 > 0:21:43for them that's the loss of their staple,
0:21:43 > 0:21:46which is why they're having such a hard time of it.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48God!
0:21:53 > 0:21:57As we headed back to the camp, we're caught in a sudden downpour.
0:22:06 > 0:22:12Arau is keen to show me another effect of the loss of trees and the roots that bind the soil.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20I think he's trying to tell me something about this stream here.
0:23:08 > 0:23:13The Malaysian state of Sarawak has licensed 70% of the forest for logging.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16They say it's crucial for the country's development
0:23:16 > 0:23:18and insist they use sustainable methods.
0:23:18 > 0:23:23Yet the loggers return again and again to remove even the smallest trees.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Finally the land is stripped and burned,
0:23:26 > 0:23:31ready for acacia wood and palm oil plantations.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36Palm oil is used in everything from biscuits to shampoo to biofuel.
0:23:36 > 0:23:41Malaysia now produces 50% of the world's supply, and it's our
0:23:41 > 0:23:46demand for these products which is ultimately fuelling this business.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52In this endless sea of plantations, little survives,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56making it a relative desert for wildlife and the forest people.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09The Penan still hunt using traditional blowpipes,
0:24:09 > 0:24:12even though some men today have access to shotguns.
0:24:12 > 0:24:17The blowpipe is ideally suited to shooting wildlife high in the canopy.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22But to make the tiny darts effective,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Arau needs to collect an extremely powerful poison.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03Really? My God, that is quite extraordinary.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09It seems that Arau is going to climb this adjacent tree
0:25:09 > 0:25:14and then he's gonna tap the latex, the sap of the poison tree,
0:25:14 > 0:25:16which is what he needs to collect for his poison darts.
0:25:16 > 0:25:21I was just thinking that it's lucky that I'm not climbing the poison tree itself,
0:25:21 > 0:25:22because if I was gonna follow him,
0:25:22 > 0:25:25the amount of cuts I've got on my hands,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28I'd be dead before I got to the top!
0:26:06 > 0:26:12I can see the milky sap coming out of the cut he's made already.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16All of the sap is falling into the container.
0:26:19 > 0:26:24I'm 50 foot off the ground and frankly just about clinging on,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27but Arau here is moving around so agilely.
0:26:27 > 0:26:33It just goes to show, once again, just how in tune
0:26:33 > 0:26:36he and the whole community are with this environment.
0:27:45 > 0:27:51It's about 6:30 in the morning and I'm off hunting with the guys.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53No dogs, and just blowpipes.
0:28:40 > 0:28:41(My God!)
0:28:41 > 0:28:42(That is such skill!)
0:29:09 > 0:29:13These guys are pretty skilful with their darts.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37It seems amazing.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39These guys are out all day
0:29:39 > 0:29:42just trying to get the smallest, smallest morsel of prey.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00As the primary forest gives way to the dense secondary forest,
0:30:00 > 0:30:06hunting with long blowpipes has become increasingly difficult.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11I wondered if Arau has considered
0:30:11 > 0:30:16other ways of providing meat for the group.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20I hope it never happens, but one day if the Penan lost the forest
0:30:20 > 0:30:25and they had to settle into one place and not be nomadic,
0:30:25 > 0:30:30how would you feel about having domestic animals, goats and chicken
0:30:30 > 0:30:34and such like, that you would have to rear up and then eat later?
0:30:57 > 0:31:02Does it not cross your mind that this chicken might taste nice?!
0:31:46 > 0:31:49I thought I was going to get an early night,
0:31:49 > 0:31:51but there's about ten of us out.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54We've got blowpipes, we've got machetes and we've got torches.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56And it's frogs we're after.
0:32:19 > 0:32:20Two frogs.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23All you've got to do, it's like lamping,
0:32:23 > 0:32:26just get the eyes in the spotlight,
0:32:26 > 0:32:30pull up behind it, knock it on the head,
0:32:30 > 0:32:32frog for dinner.
0:32:38 > 0:32:39That's a big one.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46Yah! Bloody hell, man.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57Why is it you're not killing them? What's that all about?
0:33:23 > 0:33:25Not a good night to be a frog, really.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27Thanks, Arau.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31Finally I have one within my sights.
0:33:31 > 0:33:36It's only weeny, let's see if I can do it.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50There you go. Have you got it?
0:33:51 > 0:33:53I'll let you do the gruesome bit.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00Is there a lot of meat on this?
0:34:04 > 0:34:05The legs. Show me.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20One hour's work and about ten frogs,
0:34:20 > 0:34:22any Parisian chef would be delighted.
0:34:22 > 0:34:24Thanks. Let's go home.
0:34:37 > 0:34:42The Penan derive almost all their needs from the forest.
0:34:42 > 0:34:48Today we're off in search of one of the most valuable forest materials, rattan.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21And these fine tendrils are absolutely lethal.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25And there's no way out, you can't go forward,
0:35:25 > 0:35:28you have to remove yourself by retreating into it.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05Only with these guys now, who are pointing out to me
0:36:05 > 0:36:09everywhere I look how it used to be like this, and now it's like that,
0:36:09 > 0:36:12and how this has changed and that has changed,
0:36:12 > 0:36:14that I'm seeing just how much effect
0:36:14 > 0:36:17the logging is having on this habitat.
0:36:17 > 0:36:22And finally, I think, they're beginning to open my senses.
0:36:31 > 0:36:35As I spend more and more time here,
0:36:35 > 0:36:38I'm beginning to develop real friendships.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43I didn't realise it when I first moved in,
0:36:43 > 0:36:46but it seems that Arau has been quite a lucky find for me.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50He certainly is the hero around the community, everyone loves him.
0:36:50 > 0:36:55He's really made my stay here truly wonderful.
0:37:18 > 0:37:24All my life I've dreamt about meeting the original forest people of Borneo.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28The sudden unannounced arrival of some old traditional-looking Penan
0:37:28 > 0:37:33was like a visitation from the past.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45And they had walked all day just to meet me.
0:39:37 > 0:39:42I've been here a couple of weeks
0:39:42 > 0:39:46and I've talked about this issue non-stop since I've been here.
0:39:46 > 0:39:53And these people are so gentle and calm and tranquil,
0:39:53 > 0:39:54and you get them on this subject
0:39:54 > 0:40:01and they have so much energy and venom and anger and that comes out.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04And you see this again and again, and you can't escape it.
0:40:04 > 0:40:11And even though I've been hardened to this topic now for the last couple of weeks,
0:40:11 > 0:40:16having these three people now arrive here has been like
0:40:16 > 0:40:19an arrow through the heart, it's absolutely taken me sideways.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24I've never been quite so hit by a subject before, I don't think.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28It's just bringing tears to my eyes.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31And...and the saddest thing of all
0:40:31 > 0:40:37is that I absolutely have nothing at all to give them as an answer.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50Koolin, Ohok and Malin decide to stay the night.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52And they have stories to tell.
0:42:48 > 0:42:53I've come to have a lesson in Penan language, but not words and not writing, but actually in signs.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44It's fantastic, it really is.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48Essentially this stick here is the message stick and it's pointing
0:43:48 > 0:43:52in a direction that is the direction in which you must go.
0:43:52 > 0:43:58And, because it has this stick here at the beginning, it means you must come.
0:43:58 > 0:44:00This is an indication that you must come along.
0:44:00 > 0:44:05And then this stick next to it, because it's a sharp pointy stick on its own,
0:44:05 > 0:44:08it's like a...stick it up your arse, come on, you've got to come quickly.
0:44:08 > 0:44:13But next, we have this scraping along the side here, which means
0:44:13 > 0:44:16that actually it's a long, long, long way.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18And then, as you come back down,
0:44:18 > 0:44:22you've got three knots in a bit of bark,
0:44:22 > 0:44:26which says that he has to be there in three days.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30And this leaf here, which is wrapped and empty, stuck in the side,
0:44:30 > 0:44:34is suggesting that he's going there without any food at all.
0:44:34 > 0:44:39But the best bit of all, which to me just surmises everything I've learned about the Penan,
0:44:39 > 0:44:42is this single stick here, which says,
0:44:42 > 0:44:46even though there's an urgency, you must come quickly, it's a long way,
0:44:46 > 0:44:49you must be there in three days, I'm going without any food,
0:44:49 > 0:44:53but this stick here, it says, don't worry, because I'm in a good mood.
0:44:53 > 0:44:55How amazing is that?
0:45:00 > 0:45:06Malin and Koolin were keen, however, to show me one more important Penan sign.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33No prizes for guessing what this is.
0:46:35 > 0:46:41This is obviously where the loggers lived. Did you ever come here when they were actually living here?
0:46:41 > 0:46:46There must be some people you came across that were decent people that you could communicate with.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48Is this not the case?
0:47:15 > 0:47:20The Sarawak government says the income from logging will provide development for the whole state,
0:47:20 > 0:47:23including the Penan.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06OK. Thanks, Jeffrey.
0:48:06 > 0:48:12Wow. When it comes to their feeling, it's heartfelt, I know it is.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16It's true, what these people are telling me is absolutely true
0:48:16 > 0:48:19and they're devastated, angry and upset.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23And I know them and I know that that's how they feel, and it's heartbreaking.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35I didn't come here to make a rant or a political statement.
0:48:35 > 0:48:37I came here to just tell their story.
0:48:37 > 0:48:41But their story is about their issue.
0:48:41 > 0:48:46Everything they say is about the loss of their forest.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57Throughout my time with the Penan, I had become accustomed to
0:48:57 > 0:49:01fighting my way through the dense scrub of the secondary forest.
0:49:01 > 0:49:06Arau and Jeffrey, however, wanted to show me a last remnant
0:49:06 > 0:49:11of the primary forest that once covered their entire territory.
0:49:16 > 0:49:21This is a place easy to hunt in and rich in fruit trees.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05Wow! I tell you what, honestly...
0:50:06 > 0:50:09..it is different, it really is.
0:50:10 > 0:50:16I've been so used to walking through green...wet green leaves flapping in my face
0:50:16 > 0:50:19even on well-used paths, and here suddenly it's open.
0:50:19 > 0:50:25Yes, there's lots of life, but it's not happening here, it's happening up there.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27And here it's drier, it's cooler,
0:50:27 > 0:50:33there's less sunlight and I can see, I can actually see a distance,
0:50:33 > 0:50:36and that's just me after a month in the woods.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39To these guys, who listen to everything,
0:50:39 > 0:50:40it must be so different.
0:51:22 > 0:51:27Until you've actually had meaningful interaction with people like the Penan here,
0:51:27 > 0:51:32it's, I suppose, understandable to look down on them,
0:51:32 > 0:51:37to see them as objects of pity, and certainly the Malaysian government
0:51:37 > 0:51:40has said they require our pity and need to be settled.
0:51:40 > 0:51:46And then, once they're settled, then we can give them health and education and infrastructure.
0:51:48 > 0:51:50But the real problem here
0:51:50 > 0:51:56is that nobody has actually bothered to ask the Penan what it is that THEY want.
0:51:57 > 0:52:03I've been with you for four weeks now and it's nearly time for me to go, and you've taught me so much,
0:52:03 > 0:52:06but one question that I've never asked is, if you had your way,
0:52:06 > 0:52:09in the ideal world, what is it actually
0:52:09 > 0:52:13that you really want for the future, more than anything else?
0:54:01 > 0:54:06It's nearly, unfortunately, time for me to leave, but the securing of this meat here today
0:54:06 > 0:54:10means that at least we can have a big party before I have to depart.
0:54:27 > 0:54:32It's so nice, it's my last night, to have every face here all eating together.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35It's really pleasant.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42Many times, people have looked at me and asked me what it is
0:54:42 > 0:54:48that I can do for you, and I have felt a grave responsibility... in that,
0:54:48 > 0:54:51which is very difficult because, of course, I am not a politician.
0:54:51 > 0:54:58But, at the same time, what I can do for you and what I promise I will do for you
0:54:58 > 0:55:00is give you a voice around the world
0:55:00 > 0:55:04and I promise that many people will listen to what you have to say.
0:55:04 > 0:55:10And hopefully in the future this message will come back to the Sarawak government.
0:55:10 > 0:55:16Anyone who truly listens to you and knows the full story will know that this forest is yours
0:55:16 > 0:55:18and that you do have the right to be here,
0:55:18 > 0:55:22and I hope that you maintain the forest and keep it as your own.
0:56:01 > 0:56:03Thank you, my friend. Thank you so much.
0:56:05 > 0:56:07Maria, stay good.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10You guys, it's been really fun knowing you.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15Good luck with your target practice, yeah? Hope that gets better.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20I don't want to keep you hanging around.
0:56:21 > 0:56:23Hey, good luck.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28And you, thank you so much.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32Jeffrey, what can I say? You taught me so much. Thank you so much.
0:56:32 > 0:56:36You're an amazing leader and I've learnt a great deal from you, thank you.
0:56:36 > 0:56:41And finally, my friend, you of all people have looked after me the most,
0:56:41 > 0:56:45you've taught me the most, and I will always remember you. Thank you.
0:57:07 > 0:57:08Thanks, fella.
0:57:36 > 0:57:42What started out as a dream to live with the forest people of Borneo had become something else.
0:57:42 > 0:57:49It had made me think deeply about my life and those I've met on my journeys.
0:57:49 > 0:57:54As tribal people the world over become ever more marginalised,
0:57:54 > 0:57:58it's simply not enough for me to stand by
0:57:58 > 0:58:00and witness the destruction of their cultures.
0:58:00 > 0:58:08I owe it to them, as I think we all do, to champion their right to live the way they want to.
0:58:09 > 0:58:13If we fail, we will all be poorer for it.
0:59:04 > 0:59:06Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:59:06 > 0:59:07E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk