Malaysia’s Indigenous Batek and Deforestation from Palm Oil – Podcast

Available to listen on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Others

In this episode we speak with James Whitlow Delano about his time documenting the plight of one of Malaysia’s last indigenous peoples, the Batek. We speak about what drew James to this particular story, who the Batek are, the attitudes from Malaysian government towards indigenous people, palm oil deforestation affecting their traditional lands, the notions behind resource extraction and the costs to planet and people, and many other topics.

James is a documentary storyteller and photographer who has been based in Asia for 30 years but whose work spans across the globe. James’ career has focused on environmental issues and climate change, human rights, migration and Indigenous cultures affected by industrialisation. His projects have won awards, such as the Alfred Eisenstadt Award (from Columbia University and Life Magazine), Leica’s Oskar Barnack, Picture of the Year International and NPPA Best of Photojournalism. He is also a grantee from the Pulitzer Center. James’ work has been covered by publications like The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, New Republic, The Guardian, Foreign Policy and many more. He is the founder of the EverydayClimateChange Instagram feed.

Twitter: @jameswdelano

Instagram: @jameswhitlowdelano

Facebook: James Whitlow Delano