'Our desire for goods is at the heart of this': Why Bruce Parry wants us all to live more sustainably

We could reduce all of our environmental problems by using less stuff and energy.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/29/bruce-parry-interview-borneo-penan-documentary

Jonathan Watts
Friday 29 September 2017 08.03 EDT

Bruce Parry has made a career out of going native. The Royal Marine-turned-celebrity explorer may not yet be as fully-fledged an institution as David Attenborough, but if the British public were to nominate anyone to paddle up a crocodile-infested creek, tuck into a wriggling dinner or liberate their mind with shamanistic drugs, Parry would surely rank near the top.

So it is worthy of note that this affable and – until now – mainstream film-maker has been forced to part ways with the BBC for his latest project, a documentary that stresses environmental defence begins on the home front.

Due for release from Friday, Tawai: A Voice From the Forest is an empathetic, sumptuously filmed homage to indigenous groups, particularly the Penan, a Bornean community that is held up by anthropologists as a model of a peaceful and egalitarian society.
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Parry does not just laud their virtues. He also says we – the viewers in Europe, the US and other wealthy nations – should learn from them and consider changing our consumption patterns and lifestyle values. Instead of blaming environmental destruction on foreign criminals or corrupt governments, Parry asks the viewer to consider their own responsibility.

In an interview with the Guardian, he speculates this may have been why his proposal was rejected by BBC commissioning editors.

“We’re not just challenging individual identity but national and cultural identity and all pillars of society. The things I learned from my time with indigenous people put me in a state where I wanted to shout at society,” he says. “When I pitched this to the BBC, I didn’t do such a good job of hiding that and they were understandably put off.”

Indigenous groups and protected reserves are under more pressure than ever, whether it is pollution of rivers, illegal logging of forests, encroachment by miners or infrastructure development. “They are all struggling,” Parry says. “There is nowhere with a pristine, isolated ecosystem.”

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Parry has previously spent time with illegal loggers, miners and cocaine producers. “Most are people just trying to get by,” he said. Simply blaming them for environmental destruction misses the broader point.
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“It’s like slapping a plaster on a gaping wound. You’re dealing with the symptoms rather than the causes. In a sense that’s why I made this film,” he says. “My hope is that it inspires a new state of awareness. It’s a kind and gentle invitation for us to reflect on ourselves. Until we look at ourselves, those things will continue.

“Globalised trade and our desire for goods is at the heart of this. It’s hard to acknowledge that, really hard. But until we do, I don’t think there is a solution. We need to think before we get hardwood furniture, or put a beautiful ring on our loved one’s finger, or buy a new phone or fill our car with petrol.”

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He is not naive about indigenous communities. He has seen how most want modern material trappings and some have embraced change with self-destructive consequences.

But the longer he has spent with remote communities, the more he has come to appreciate the lessons they have to offer at a time of climate change, mass extinctions and alarming levels of waste and pollution.

Is he still hopeful? “I am, but I think massive change needs to happen. I want to be part of that, but at the same time I’m learning to forage. I’m learning the skills to survive.”