The Dayaks and the Punans have inhabited the island of Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) for thousands of years.  It  is a vast area rich in natural resources and of great diversity.

But it continues to experience large-scale devastation due to industrialization and deforestation. To make matters worse, the effects of climate change are steadily compounding problems in the region. While the Indonesian government has preserved 45 percent of Borneo as conservation areas and forests, many other areas have been transformed into palm oil plantations, or scraped clean to extract coal, oil, and gold.

In 2022, I documented the impacts of various industries (national and foreign) on the Dayak people, who live in the  forests of the interior of the island mostly in the upper Mahakam river region.
In 2023, I went to scout locations in the north and east kalimantan among the Punan Malinau and Punan Batu tribes.

https://patrickmorell.com/works/environment/#punan

Today, several Dayak organizations and NGO’s such as AMAN and WALHI are waging an arduous fight against this encroachment of various industries (Palm oil, mining and logging).

https://patrickmorell.com/works/people/#landrights

My goal was in 2023 (and still is in 2024) to focus on a particular Punan group called the Punan Batu, who live in the upper and remote eastern part of the island.

For more please go to:
https://patrickmorell.com/in-production/