On Wednesday, May 16, Grimaldi Forum, which regularly holds events to raise public awareness about environment preservation, has chosen to share a living testimony of the impacts of deforestation on the planets primary forests, by organising an exceptional meeting with Chief Papou Mundiya Kepanga.

Leader of the Kobe Tumbiali community, Mundiya Kepanga is a respected leader of the Huli tribe in Papua New Guinea. Living in the heart of one of the primary forests of the globe, he leads a traditional life. However, since 2003 he has travelled around Europe giving lectures at the invitation of museums, researchers and schools. Additionally, he has spoken on numerous occasions at international symposia in Paris (COP21, UNESCO), in London (GEM Report UNESCO) and in New York, inviting others to reflect on the way they look at indigenous peoples and themselves.

With a strong commitment to the defence of the environment and especially the primary forest of his country, Mundiya Kepanga is at the origin of eco-development programmes such as the creation of a bed and breakfast, a source of essential income for his entire village, and a voice of indigenous peoples and an observer of the world that he comments on in a very personal way.

TV channel Arte will also broadcast the documentary, which will be screened during the evening at the Grimaldi Forum, “Brothers of the trees,” the film made by Marc Dozier and Luc Marescot. The film carries a message dedicated to all mankind: our forest is a universal heritage that produces the oxygen we all breathe and must be safeguarded. It is a call to protect all the primary forests of the globe that reminds us that we are all brothers of the trees.

As the preservation of the planet also involves younger generations, in the morning Grimaldi Forum, in collaboration with the Directorate of National Education, Youth and Sports of Monaco, a private screening of a special documentary film on the Chief for fourth and fifth grade Monaco students who will also have the chance to talk to Chief Kepanga.

Free entry on reservation (+377 99 99 30 00).

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