Bruno Manser

Bruno Manser (25 August 1954 – presumed dead 10 March 2005) was a Swiss environmentalist and human rights activist. From 1984 to 1990, he stayed with the Penan people in Sarawak, Malaysia, organising rainforest blockades against timber companies. After he emerged from the forests in 1990, he engaged in public activism for rainforest preservation and the human rights of indigenous peoples, especially the Penan, which brought him into conflict with the Malaysian government. He also founded the Swiss non-governmental organization (NGO) Bruno Manser Fonds in 1991. Manser disappeared during his last journey to Sarawak in May 2000 and is presumed dead.

Early life and education Bruno Manser was born in Basel, Switzerland, on 25 August 1954, in a family of three girls and two boys. at various Swiss Alpine pastures for twelve years. During this time, Manser became interested in handicrafts, therapeutics, and speleology. He laid bricks, carved leather, kept bees, and wove, dyed, and cut his own clothes and shoes. He also regularly pursued mountaineering and technical climbing.

At the age of 30, Manser went to Borneo, looking to live a simpler life.

After these setbacks, Manser finally found Penan nomadic tribes near the headwaters of the Limbang river

Life with the Penans

Manser learned about survival skills in the jungle and familiarised himself with the Penan's culture and language. During his stay with the Penan, Manser adopted their way of life. He dressed in a loincloth, hunted with a blowgun, and ate primates, snakes, and sago. Manser's decision to live as a member of the Penan was ridiculed in the West, and he was dismissed as a "White Tarzan".

Manser created notebooks that were richly illustrated with drawings, notes, and 10,000 photographs during his six-year stay from 1984 to 1990 with the Penan people.

Activism Manser gave many lectures in Switzerland and abroad, making connections to people within the European Union and the United Nations. As an activist, he visited American and African jungles, staying in various locations for a few weeks.

On 17 July 1991, during the 17th G7 summit, Manser climbed unaided to the top of a 30-foot high lamp post outside of the summit's media centre in London. After reaching the top, he unrolled a banner that displayed a message about the plight of Sarawak rainforests. He chained himself to the lamp post for two and a half hours. His protest also coincided with protests by Earth First! and the London Rainforest Action Group. Police used a hoist to reach the top of the lamp post and cut his chains. Manser climbed down the lamp post without force at 1:40 PM. He was then taken to the Bow Street police station and held until the summit ended at 6:30 PM, when he was released without being charged with an offence.

Later in 1991, Manser set up Bruno Manser Fonds (BMF), a fund designed to help conserve the rainforests and the indigenous population in Sarawak. He ran the fund from his home at Heuberg 25, Basel, Switzerland.

In June 1992, Manser parachuted into a crowded stadium during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Manser only stopped the hunger strike after his mother requested that he do so.

In 1995, Manser went to Congo rainforests to document the effects of wars and logging on Mbuti people.

After hearing of Manser's actions, then-Congressman Al Gore condemned logging activities in Sarawak. Prince Charles also described the treatment for the Penan as "genocide." to US$50,000 has been circulated by word-of-mouth, but the source of the bounty is unknown. Sarawak Minister of Housing and Public Health James Wong said that, "We don't want them [the Penan] running around [in jungles] like animals. No one has the ethical right to deprive the Penans of the right to assimilation into Malaysian society." The Sarawak government tightened the entry of foreign environmentalists, journalists, and film crews into the state, He was delivering a document for Kelabit chiefs at Long Napir to sign to confirm their wish of further protecting their territories. At the same time, Matios was also on holiday at Long Napir. He immediately arrested Manser for breaking immigration law and brought him to Limbang police station for interrogation. However, two local guides who brought Manser across the jungles of Sarawak were found. In desperation, fortune tellers and Penan necromancers were called. All of them agreed Manser was still alive.

After search expeditions proved fruitless, a civil court in Basel-Stadt declared Manser to be legally dead on 10 March 2005.

To celebrate Manser's 60th birthday on 25 August 2014, a species of goblin spider that was discovered by a Dutch-Swiss research expedition in Pulong Tau National Park in the 1990s is now named after Manser: Aposphragisma brunomanseri.

Books Written by Manser to introduce western readers to the life of a Penan. Biography of Bruno Manser.

Films Manser made a film documentary: SAGO – A Film by Bruno Manser (1997), a documentation of the culture of the Penan

Several documentary films have been made about him. They are: Blowpipes and Bulldozers (1988) Tong Tana – En resa till Borneos inre (1989) (In the Forest – A Journey to the heart of Borneo) Lucky People Center International (1998) Tong Tana 2 – The Lost Paradise (2001) Bruno Manser – Laki Penan (2007) Bruno Manser – Die Stimme des Regenwaldes (2019), Swiss film by Niklaus Hilber [Paradise War – The Story of Bruno Manser]