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 Penan urge British lumber company to stop purchasing timber from their rainforestBy BMF BMF 2006-04-30 | In a letter to Jewson Ltd., the British lumber company, 17 headmen and leaders of the Penan people of Sarawak / Malaysia have asked it to stop purchasing timber from their territories. "We would like to draw your attention to the fact that by purchasing timber from the Samling group you are making yourself part of the crimes committedagainst our communities", the Penan have written to Jewson´s managing director Peter Hindle in the letter published today. "Despite ourrepeated protests, Samling does not respect our boundaries and disregards our native customary rights. This is why we filed a courtcase against Samling in 1998 that is still pending." The Penan, who used to live as nomadic forest-dwellers in the jungles of Borneo, have been known for defying the logging companies for many years. While most of the Penan have become settled in the past decades, they still depend on the forest resources for their livelihood. "Without our forest, we, the Penan, cannot survive. We are dependent on the clean water from our rivers, the wild boar we hunt in the forest, the fruits and jungle products we collect from the old trees, the sago palms and the rattan vines." The Penan report that Jewson
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