Bruno Manser

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Bruno Manser (1993).

Bruno Manser (born August 25, 1954 in Basel ; missing in Malaysia since May 25, 2000 and officially declared missing on March 10, 2005) was a Swiss ethnologist and environmental and human rights activist.

Life

In 1973 Bruno Manser completed his Matura at the Basel Realgymnasium . Various advanced training courses followed, including as a herdsman , on alpine farming and agriculture , medicine, traditional handicrafts and carpentry. From 1973 to 1984 Bruno Manser worked as a herdsman and shepherd in the canton of Graubünden . From 1977 he did an internship at the Natural History Museum in Basel. From 1984 to 1990 he lived in the jungle of Borneo in Indonesia / Malaysia , made records of the fauna and flora of the tropical rainforest and of the language and culture of the Penan , a nomadic ethnic group of Borneo. In April 1990 he had to flee to Switzerland or was expelled by the Malaysian government and declared an " undesirable person "; a bounty was also placed on him.

From then on Bruno Manser devoted himself internationally to lecturing and educating about the fate of the indigenous peoples of the rainforest, about the machinations of the timber trade and timber industry and about the human rights situation in the Malaysian Sarawak . In addition, the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) was set up in Basel in 1992 and developed into a globally respected rainforest information center and lobby for the indigenous population.

Bruno Manser on hunger strike in 1993

In 1992 his book Voices from the Rainforest was published by Zytglogge Verlag . In 1993 Manser took part in a fasting campaign or a hunger strike in front of the Bundeshaus in Bern to protest against imports of tropical wood . Various exhibitions followed from 1995 to 1997, including at the Musée d'Ethnographie in Geneva , the Zoological Museum in Strasbourg and the National Museum in Zurich .

From 1995 to 1998 Manser carried out further actions against the destruction of the rainforests, in 1996 in Zermatt and in 1998 a parachute jump over Geneva. From 1997 to 1998 the campaign "Renunciation of wood from overexploitation " ran, finally in 1998 campaigns to establish contact with the Malaysian government.

In July 1999 Bruno Manser lost a quiver with 150 deadly poison arrows from Borneo, which he deposited in a bush at the entrance of a shopping center. He was accused of negligence. He had to pay a fine of 800 francs for violating the poison law, the poison arrows remained missing.

Fearing that the Penan would hardly have any chance of survival as an independent people, Manser decided to return. On May 22nd, 2000 he traveled from the Indonesian part of Borneo (Kalimantan) across the green border to the Malaysian Sarawak to the Penan despite the entry ban and suspended bounty .

He has been missing since May 25, 2000. Search expeditions were unsuccessful. On March 10, 2005, Manser was officially declared missing by the Basel civil court.

In May 2004 the diaries from the rain forest were published by Christoph Merian Verlag in Basel, which Bruno Manser wrote between 1984 and 1990 in the jungle of Sarawak and which record the Penan culture as well as its commitment to its habitat. The Bruno Manser Fund continues its work for the Penan and other primeval forest peoples.

Two animal species were named after him, the spider species Aposphragisma brunomanseri and the toad Ansonia vidua , both species have their habitat in the area in which Manser last lived or has disappeared.

Awards

  • 1993: Basel head of the year
  • 1993: Icebreaker of the Year (Piolet Cointreau Award)
  • 1993: VCU Prize for Civil Courage (Association of Christian Entrepreneurs in Switzerland)
  • 1994: Binding award for nature and environmental protection

Special exhibitions

  • 2019/20: Cabinet exhibition in the Barfüsserkirche / foyer case: Public enemy - Bruno Manser and the rainforest

Works

  • Voices from the rainforest. Evidence of a threatened people . Zytglogge, Gümligen 1992, ISBN 3-7296-0386-8 .
  • Diaries from the rainforest . 4 volumes in a slipcase. Christoph Merian Verlag, Basel 2004, ISBN 3-85616-214-3 ; Revised new edition, Christoph Merian Verlag, Basel 2019, ISBN 978-3-85616-900-8 .
  • A life for the rainforest. Excerpts from the diaries . Christoph Merian Verlag, Basel 2007, ISBN 3-85616-317-4 .

literature

reception

With the film Bruno Manser - Laki Penan , the Swiss director Christoph Kühn went in the footsteps of Bruno Manser into the jungle of Sarawak. The Penan who became Manser's second family have their say: They tell of their shared adventures and fears, Manser's battles with giant snakes , his encounters with ghosts - and of his attempt to unite the Penan in the resistance against the loggers and the police . This film was shown in Swiss cinemas from April 5, 2007.

In the short film Bruno Manser - Fasting for the Rainforest by Clara Puhlmann and Roman Stocker, those involved and companions of Manser talk about his hunger strike in front of the Bundeshaus in Bern . In the spring of 1993, Manser fasted for 60 days to force a ban on the import of tropical timber from Malaysia .

From May 11, 2017, the documentary The Borneo Case showed in Swiss cinemas how Manser's original ideas were further developed and implemented. The production of AMP Film Stockholm was directed by Erik Pauser and Dylan Williams. The first broadcast on German-language television on Arte took place on May 15, 2018 .

The feature film Bruno Manser - The Voice of the Rainforest by Niklaus Hilber with Sven Schelker as the leading actor has been shown in Swiss cinemas since November 7, 2019 . The film opened the Zurich Film Festival on September 26, 2019 and won the Science Film Award .

The Swiss culture magazine DU dedicates its issue 898 from February / March 2020 to Manser.

Web links

Commons : Bruno Manser  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ bmf.ch: Bruno Manser Fund | Bruno Manser , accessed May 3, 2014
  2. ↑ Home. Retrieved June 2, 2020 .
  3. ↑ He came, saw and disappeared - almost ( memento from January 26, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 124 kB), article in the Berner Zeitung from May 7, 2004
  4. ↑ Bruno Manser missing in Borneo. In: Swissinfo from November 19, 2000.
  5. ↑ Researchers discover new animal species that recall the disappearance of the jungle protector Bruno Manser on idw-online.de on August 22, 2014.
  6. ↑ Bruno Manser - Fight for the Rainforest (2007) | Film, trailer, review. Accessed January 31, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Bruno Manser - Fasting for the Rainforest. In: youtube.com. Retrieved June 1, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Manser on hunger strike for 60 days. In: infosperber.ch. Retrieved June 1, 2018 .
  9. ↑ The political legacy of Bruno Manser. In: NZZ. Retrieved June 1, 2018 .
  10. ^ The Borneo Case - The Film. In: moxi ltd. Accessed May 7, 2017 .
  11. ↑ The Borneo Case - The Dirty Rainforest Business. In: filmdienst.de. May 10, 2018, accessed May 15, 2018 .
  12. ^ The Borneo Case - News and Society - ARTE. In: arte.tv. Retrieved May 15, 2018 .
  13. ↑ Bruno Manser - The Voice of the Rainforest - Ascot Elite. Accessed January 31, 2020 (German).
  14. ^ Laszlo Schneider: Bruno Manser in the cinema: Spectacular and politically relevant. In: srf.ch . September 26, 2019, accessed October 23, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Cate Blanchett and three Swiss winners. In: srf.ch . October 6, 2019, accessed October 23, 2019 .
  16. ↑ DU - the culture magazine. Accessed January 31, 2020 . , ISBN 978-3-905931-97-6
personal data
SURNAME Manser, Bruno
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss ethnologist and environmental activist
DATE OF BIRTH August 25, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Basel , Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH after May 25, 2000