"I spent some time with enforcement group members of the Palawan NGO Network Inc (PNNI) on some of their operations into the jungles around Palawan, who respond to illegal logging, fishing and poaching throughout the island.

 

The response units are tipped off by the local indigenous communities of illegal logging activity happening around Palawan where they then travel to the suspected area to find the chainsaw operators. PNNI work with these communities in finding illegal activity across their lands and provide medical supplies to them as well while they’re out there. 

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Tracking illegal operation in the jungles of Palawan, the team follow the sounds of chainsaws in the distance and local knowledge, cutting their way through dense foliage, up steep slopes and through streams to avoid being seen. Once located, rather than prison, operators are cautioned and their chainsaws confiscated, giving them another chance to find another line of work. The likelihood though is that operators like these are solely reliant on this source of income to pay for their existence and things like their children's education. This really shows that the problem isn't the people cutting down the trees, but the lack of regulations, demand for materials (in this case tourist hotels apparently being a big driving factor) and the corporations that hire them to do the job.

 

You can find out more about what PNNI do and donate if you’d like to at https://www.pnni.org/"

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Role: Filmmaker | Photographer