Ulu Baram is a remote area of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is an encased alluvial plain, created in part by the Baram River.
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| inland Miri-Tekiwit(Sela'an) waterfall |
The forest is certified for logging. Most of Ulu Baram belongs to the traditional area of the Orang Ulu also known as Upriver People, a collective name that includes the Penan people, Kayan, Kenyah, Saban, Punan and Kelabit.
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| at Long Moh |
There has been large-scale logging & subsequent creation of oil palm or monculture acacia (used for paper) estates within the surrounding area, which continues despite the protracted protests of the indigenous inhabitants who claim these commercial activities are encroaching into their ancestral land and destroying their livelihood.
It is thought that this part of Sarawak may be the prime habitat for the very rare Hose's civet (Diplogale hosei), a small carnivore endemic to the montane forests of northern Borneo.
The Orang Ulu
Like the Ibans, the Orang Ulu are also former head-hunters but they live in even more imposing longhouses than the former.
Also, their arts and crafts are very different.
The Orang Ulu especially the Kayans and Kenyahs are known for their woodcarving, beadwork, spectacular ‘keliring’ or totem poles & the music of the hauntingly beautiful lute instrument – the ‘sape’.
Tattooing & body ornamentation are prominent; older ladies can be recognised by the brass rings hanging from their extended earlobes & from the dense dark tattoos on their arms and legs, a practice that is disappearing from the younger generation.
The Penan People
The Penan people live deep in the rainforests of Sarawak. Numbering about 10,000 people,
the Penan are tribes of hunter-gatherers—they rely heavily on the forest they live in for their continued survival.
Their livelihood, however, has been threatened by modern economic activity such as logging, dam building and forest clearance.
Penan people live simply in small villages far away from the hustle & bustle of modern civilisation.
Some live near roads or paths, and have limited access to modern amenities such as television. Living close to nature,
many Penan people use rainwater and firewood for their basic necessities. Some are even still nomadic and move around from time to time.
When a Penan settlement grows large enough, the Malaysian government may provide facilities such as clinic, schools, electricity and water supply.
Some Penan make intricate handicrafts from their harvest. A Penan family that kept a cat as a pet was sighted.
