BMF_TT__July2010_en.pdf - Bruno Manser Fonds

More documents

Recommendations

Info

ush over and remain on the surface. Bruno Manser’s efforts were marked by a deep respect for the people in the rain forest, for the complexity of the ecosystem and for their mutual dependence. Whoever has respect maintains an initial distance to the problem and takes time for analysis and obervation. 2. Understanding Understanding can take different forms. As a natural scientist, I myself practice a very specific and formally-structured way of acquiring understanding. It is rational and impersonal, in other words it is not fixed on the observer. The claim of scientific knowledge is the independence of the person who has obtained it. Bruno Manser has shown us that there is also an equally important level of personal understanding: the directly experienced, the locally suffered and the locally enjoyed. Bruno Manser acquired this immediate understanding in Sarawak and shared it with us through his visits and his books. 3. Action An active response results from the understanding of a problem and from the possibility of being able to assess future consequences. Today we can comprehend the effects of overloading an ecosystem, the hastily logged centuries-old rain forests, the burning of coal and petroleum to generate energy. The result is a weakening of the ecosystem as a provider of services, loss of bio-diversity and climate change. When we have reached an understanding for these problems, then resolute action seems to be the only reasonable response. Bruno Manser acted in his own way, with his own means. He roused people through spectacular demonstrations, through his own suffering and through public relations. Yet in the end he did not achieve his goal. Why? I have placed respect at the beginning of the chain: respect in the eyes of the Penan, respect in the presence of the rain forest, and respect before the earth’s ecosystem in its entirety. First of all, it is the linking of respect and understanding that moves us to act. If there is no respect, there is no need to act. Through his work in Sarawak and his life with the Penan, Bruno Manser exemplified how respect and understanding can lead to action. But he failed for the lack of respect of those whom he wanted to convince. Thus the story and fate of Bruno Manser also have a direct importance for confronting the global challenge of climate change. For decades, science has been compiling and assessing data relevant to an understanding of the earth as a system, the effects of changes in temperature and percipitation, the rise in the sea level, and the deglacification in Greenland and the Antarctic. We have been providing this complex information, as gathered in the UN Climate Change Reports – the 5 th is to be published in 2013, to political authorities since 1990. These facts, combined with respect before the earth’s ecosystem that
affords us much needed services – free of charge and on a daily basis – should convince us to act quickly and resolutely. But it is only possible to act when understanding and respect are linked. One of the facts is that ca 20% of the world’s present carbon dioxide emissions ensue from the deforestation of the rain forests. Reduction of emissions, such as that forseen in the Copenhagen Accord of 18 December 2009, could be realised most quickly with a worldwide ban on deforestation. Important and unique lebensräume would be preserved, and gain in value for the future. Brazil recognised this and introduced it into the Copenhagen negotiations. Although CO2 emissions could be significantly reduced by enforcing the ban, the scenario indicates that at least 60% would still be lacking by 2050 and could only be compensated by the determined efforts of the industrial nations. What is valid for the rain forest in Sarawak is also valid on a global scale. It will only be possible to act when understanding and respect are linked . This was the example that Bruno Manser set for us.
Page 1: uno manser fonds for the peoples of
Page 4 and 5: «Politics need people like Bruno M
Page 6 and 7: «I would like to thank Bruno for h
Page 9 and 10: Greetings from your world Auszug au
Page 11 and 12: Federal Councillor Ruth Dreifuss wi
Page 13 and 14: Sarawak. This is because our legal
Page 15 and 16: «Bruno still inspires people to fi
Page 18 and 19: «All of us Penan in Sarawak are re
Page 20: 2. Iwat ha‘ koh nenéng mé‘lem
Page 23: «Bruno Manser exemplified respect,
Page 27 and 28: Sarawak, Malaysia has been stopped.
Page 29 and 30: När hani gmeint dasi tröim, usem
Page 31 and 32: Guy Morin President of the Governme

BMF_TT__July2010_en.pdf - Bruno Manser Fonds

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?