Penan feature in Eden Project oil palm exhibit

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A new exhibit at the world famous UK visitor attraction the Eden Project features the Penan of Sarawak and the destruction of their forests to make way for oil palm plantations.

The oil palm exhibit in the Eden Project’s hugely popular Rainforest Biome includes a quote from a Penan man whose community is trying to stop oil palm companies moving on to their land:

‘The oil palm plantation companies – they destroy the forest. They will destroy our natural habitat and that is the only source of food for the Penan. I wish that the government would stop doing this type of ‘development’, as they call it.’

Last year Survival visited Penan communities whose forests had been cleared and their land planted with oil palm by the company Shin Yang. One Penan man told researchers, ‘When the logging started, we thought we had a big problem. But when oil palm arrived, logging was relegated to problem number two! Our land and our forests have been taken by force. Our fruit trees are gone, our hunting grounds are very limited, and the rivers are polluted.’

Another group of Penan have told researchers, ‘Oil palm plantations have not benefited us at all; they have only robbed us of our resources and land… oil palm plantations have destroyed our source of livelihood and made us much poorer. A lot of people are hungry every day because our forest has been destroyed.’

Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘Just like the logging companies that precede them, the oil palm companies are taking the Penan’s land without their consent and without any consultation. The Malaysian government must stop sanctioning this theft and instead start ensuring that the Indigenous people of Sarawak’s land rights are respected.’

An Eden Project spokesperson said, ‘Eden is home to the largest rainforest in captivity… By connecting people to the plants from which everyday products are made Eden hopes to make the survival of the rainforests and other environments more relevant to its visitors.’

The Eden Project is in Cornwall, in the southwest of England. It receives over a million visitors every year.