Since the Penan episode of the BBC’s Tribe series aired last night on UK television, we’ve had lots of messages of support for the Penan – with comments here on the blog and e-mails asking what people can do to help.

We’ve had several donations, which of course are vital in helping to continue Survival’s campaign for the Penan (and the other peoples and campaigns we’re working for). But there’s more that you can do to help the Penan directly.

We’d like you to write some letters supporting the recognition of the Penan’s rights to their own land, and the halting of Samling’s logging activities on Penan ancestral land.

Time and again we’ve found that letters from Survival supporters have called governments and organisations to account. Policies have changed and lives have been saved.

The most powerful way is to post your letter, but for some of the addressees we have published e-mail addresses or fax numbers. However, e-mail addresses change and fax machines get unplugged. If you can post a letter, please do.

It’s also great to hear about the letters you write, and any response you get. Please post a comment on this article or e-mail us at info@survival-international.org. Thanks!

1. Please write a polite letter to the chief executive of the Malaysian Timber Certification Council, asking him to revoke the certification of Samling’s Sela’an-Linau Forest Management Unit on Penan land:

Mr. Chew Lye Teng
Chief Executive Officer
Malaysian Timber Certification Council
19F, Level 19, Tower 1 Menara PGM
No. 8, Jalan Pudu Ulu, Cheras
56100 Kuala Lumpur
MALAYSIA
FAX: +60 3 9200 6008
chewlt@mtcc.com.my

2. Please write to Samling, asking them to recognise the Penan’s right to their land and to stop logging Sarawak’s last remaining primary forest:

Mr. Yaw Chee Ming
Chief Executive Officer
Wisma Samling Head Office
Lot 296, Jalan Temenggong Datuk Oyong Lawai Jau
98000 Miri, Sarawak
MALAYSIA
enquiry@samling.com

3. Finally, please wite to the Chief Minister of Sarawak asking that the Penan’s right to their land be fully recognised and that no logging should take place on their land without their full, free and informed consent. Please also urge him not to allow the authorities or companies to use force against the Penan to gain access to their forest:

YAB Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud
Chief Minister of Sarawak
Office of the Chief Minister of Sarawak
22nd Floor, Wisma Bapa Malaysia Petra Jaya
Kuching
93502
Sarawak
MALAYSIA

Fax: + 60 82 442755

I’ve just completed my ballot application to run in the 2008 Flora London Marathon. It’s now sitting on my desk, ready to send, and I’m trying hard to stop myself from putting it in the recycling bin instead.

For the last few years, Survival has had a small but dedicated team of runners taking part in the marathon. Named after the Bushmen of Botswana’s word for ‘keep going’, our Saa! Saa! Saa! Marathon Team plays an important part in raising funds for our vital work for tribal peoples.

There are more than 150 million tribal people worldwide, including over 100 uncontacted tribes. Almost all are persecuted relentlessly – they are flooded by dams, wiped out by disease, driven from their homes by logging and mining, and evicted by settlers. However, with the support of people outside, these threats can be averted and tribal peoples can live healthy and secure lives.

Taking part in the marathon is the experience of a lifetime. Unfortunately, the only way to enter the ballot is by obtaining a copy of ‘Marathon News’ and completing the enclosed form (to find your nearest stockist, please go to: http://www.london-marathon.co.uk/site/?pageID=9). When you’ve sent off your entry, fill out the form entitled ‘I want to join the Saa! Saa! Saa! Team and run the Flora London Marathon in 2008’ at http://www.survival-international.org/actnow/marathon to let me know that you’ve entered, and that if you get a place, you’ll be racing to raise vital funds for Survival.

The ballot closes on October 19, 2007, and ballot results come through in November. If you win a place through the ballot, we’ll welcome you to the team with your fundraising pack and Saa! Saa! Saa! Team vest. If you don’t get a place through the ballot, you’ll get a second chance by being considered for one of our Golden Bond places.

Please help me recruit runners for the 2008 Saa! Saa! Saa! Team by telling anyone you think might be interested. The more people who apply through the ballot, the bigger and better our team will be.

Go on. If I can have a go, anyone can. Here’s hoping we’ll be running together for tribal peoples.

The BBC’s hit series Tribe returns to the UK’s TV screens on Tuesday 21st August as presenter Bruce Parry visits the Matis tribe of the Brazilian Amazon.

Survival’s campaigner Fiona Watson has also visited the Matis. I asked her about her experiences on the trip and for an update on the situation the Matis face right now. You can watch her talking about her time with the Matis, together with some video taken on that trip, here:

If you want to help the Matis in their struggle against disease in the Javari Valley, please write to the Brazilian Health Minister. Survival has written a model letter for you.

The third series of Tribe will also see Parry visit the Nenet of Siberia, the Anuta of the Solomon Islands, the Akie of Tanzania, the Layap of Bhutan and the Penan of Sarawak, Malaysia.

Bruce Parry says, ‘We have so much to learn from tribal peoples and yet they themselves are frequently facing extreme difficulties or extinction. I hope that our series may have touched you in some way and I recommend your contacting Survival International to find out more about the global plight of indigenous peoples and how you may help.’

The Arhuaco are one of three unique, related Indian tribes who live on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia. They are characterised by a complex spirituality and distinctive clothes and houses. Survival’s report on the Arhuaco, Guardians of the Sacred Land, is available to buy from the Survival Bookshop for just £1. This passage from the report explains Arhuaco philosophy and spirituality.

In the beginning of time, Kaku Serankua created the Earth. He made her fertile and took her as his wife.

The world was supported by two sets of four golden threads which were interwoven and attached to the four cardinal points. Where the eight golden threads cross, lies the heart of the world. This is our home, the Sierra Nevada, which is marked out by the ‘black line’ which defines its boundary and separates it from the low plains which surround it.

The snow peaks and sacred lakes were placed in the middle of the mountains; this, the highest area, is chundua. The peaks are like people, like us in many ways, like ‘guardians of honour’. They are like our parents, our fathers and mothers. They are also the fathers and mothers of the white man; for our god is his god. A mamo [priest] was put on every peak to be vigilant and caring. Every peak has a mamo, just as every house has someone living there. The peaks are like our temples or churches.

Then Kaku Serankua distributed the land, he kept the Sierra as a sacred place where wisdom would reside, so that one day it could be taught again to humanity. This is where Kaku Serankua lives now, watching over his creation.

Before he made the world, Kaku Serankua created the water, which nourishes the Earth as the veins of man nourish his body. He also made the stars, the sun and moon, and everything.

When he came to create the living beings, he gave laws to the four kinds of people – the white, yellow, red and black. Their colours are the same as the four mantles of the earth: bunnekan, the white earth; minekan, the yellow earth; gunnekan, the red earth; and zeinekan, the black earth.

Our breathing is the same breath which springs from the world: the air, the winds, and the breeze. All the races of people are equal; to each was given their own rights and their own laws so that they did not violate their brothers and sisters. Each one of us has been given a path whereby we can come close to god and recognize and know him.