The Borneo x Ireland Cultural Exchange is a timely partnership between the Dayak tribe of the Borneo rainforest and the Irish people, forged by Our Story Founder Melanie Lynch and Indigenous activist Plorentina Dessy Elma Thyana.
In this polarising era when racism is on the rise, this unusual friendship between the Irish and Dayak is a celebration of our shared humanity and the gifts of diversity. United in our love for the forest, we are empowering environmental education and regenerating our ecosystems. In the spirit of reciprocity, we are sharing Indigenous wisdom and sustainable solutions, whilst celebrating our nature-centred cultures.
This inspired environmental education programme celebrates and amplifies the emerging forest schools in Ireland and Borneo. We are empowered by the dream to inspire more families to join their local forest school, to become environmental activists in their communities, learn about biodiversity and how to plant native species.
Photo by David Metcalf
Photo by Karen Cox
Photo by Karen Cox
Photo by Karen Cox
Photo by David Metcalf
Photo by Karen Cox
Photo by David Metcalf
Photo by Karen Cox
Photo by Karen Cox
Photo by Karen Cox
HOW IT BEGAN…
As a child, Our Story Founder Melanie Lynch was captivated by photos of the Dayak tribe and Borneo in the National Geographic magazine. She always dreamed of travelling there one day…
The Dayak people are guardians of the Borneo rainforest - the Asian Amazon and the oldest rainforest in the world - protecting 140 million years of extraordinary evolution and biodiversity.
In the spirit of the Irish and Choctaw Nation friendship that started during the Famine, we began forging a cultural partnership with the Dayak tribe in 2021 when Melanie visited the Borneo rainforest on an adventure led by Indigenous ambassador and photographer David Metcalf. There she witnessed the pioneering Arus Kualan forest schools founded by Dessy Elma Thyana and her family to preserve and revitalise their incredible Indigenous culture. RTÉ Culture published Melanie’s reflective article about her expedition to Borneo and what she learned from the Dayak people.
Melanie also witnessed the destruction of the rainforest; “we drove for hours through palm oil plantations before we reached the healthy rainforest. It made me reflect on what our ancestors endured centuries ago, watching Irish forests felled by colonisers. In the last 50 years 50% of this rainforest has been destroyed. However, what’s left of the breathtaking Borneo rainforest is 5 times the size of Ireland, with over 10,000 species of plants, including over 3000 tree species and 2,000 types of orchids. And at the heart of this ecosystem is the extraordinary Dayak culture who have lived in harmony with their environment for millennia.”
Ireland was once 80% Atlantic temperate rainforest. Our ancestors were forest people who spoke in the language of trees - every letter of the Ogham alphabet was named after a sacred native tree. By the time of Irish Independence in 1922, only 1% of Ireland was native forest. Now there is a growing environmental movement to regenerate our forests.
“The Dayak people can learn a lesson from Ireland’s experience of losing your forests, culture and traditional knowledge during colonisation,” Dessy says.
There are many synergies between Dayak and Irish culture. Together we share a deep love for the earth, and we have an ancient, spiritual connection to the forest. The Dayak are also passionate about traditional music, dance, boat-building, weaving, & crafts. Inspired by nature & the ornate design of ferns, the Dayak art patterns are similar in style to Celtic motifs. For example, the pattern on the Dayak boy’s headband (left) is very similar to the art carved on the kerbstone at the Newgrange megalithic tomb in Ireland.
In Ireland, there are forest schools popping up across the country, where children are reconnecting with nature and planting trees, learning Celtic wisdom and the art of foraging. Simultaneously, in Borneo, there’s a rise in forest schools to protect and preserve local indigenous cultures.
DESSY VISITS IRELAND
Dessy and her sisters were celebrated in the Herstory Light Show on Brigid’s Day 2022, illuminating the GPO and Trinity College Dublin with portraits created by NCAD students.
In October 2024, Dessy visited Ireland to participate in the Borneo and Ireland Cultural Exchange, thanks to the support of the Lifes2Good Foundation. This offered a rare chance for Irish people to learn from an advanced Indigenous culture who are masters of organic, circular economic and sustainable agricultural practices.
Joe Joyce, master boat builder and member of the Galway Hooker Sailing Club said that “It was a learning experience for me to meet with Dessy and hear the great challenges that the Indigenous people of Borneo face. A courageous, soft-spoken woman who is trying to make us aware that life as we know it in the West has a direct impact on the rainforest and the Dayak people who have lived there in harmony with nature for centuries.”
Dessy gave talks and joined in knowledge sharing workshops locally with the Down to Earth Forest School in Brigit’s Garden Connemara, HomeTree, Galway Hooker Sailing Club, Dr. Dilis Clare’s apothecary, nature artist Roisin Coyle, musical instrument maker Paul Doyle, & UCD Innovation Academy. Read the Clare Champion article 'From Borneo to the Burren' and watch Dessy’s interview on RTÉ News2Day.
Photo by Karen Cox
Photo by Karen Cox
Photo by Karen Cox
Photo by Karen Cox
Photo by Karen Cox
Photo by Karen Cox
Photo by Karen Cox
Photo by Karen Cox
Photo by Karen Cox
Photo by Karen Cox
Photo by Karen Cox
The Kinvara Ballinderreen Tree Gang hosted a brilliant event, demonstrating how they are using the Japanese Miyawaki method to rapidly grow native Irish forest that is predicted to absorb 30 times more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than traditional tree planting methods.
Jess Williams, Hometree’s former Rainforest Project Manager says; “Hometree was delighted to collaborate with Our Story to welcome Dessy, an inspiring guest from the Borneo Rainforest. Despite the many many miles of ocean between Borneo and Ireland, the similarities between our cultures and work were incredible to share.
We are both island peoples, and forest peoples. In Ireland we’ve all but lost our forest and we're trying desperately to reconnect with the land and the forest lore that's embedded in our culture.
In Borneo they are watching as the rainforests disappear and indigenous culture disappears with it. The Dayak community and Dessy's project are trying to change this. We have so much to learn from them.”
Dessy on RTÉ News2Day
Dessy and Melanie visited the Down to Earth forest school in Brigit’s Garden and participated in some brilliant games and activities with local children in the Connemara woods. Together with award-winning photographer Karen Cox and teachers Carol Barrett (Down to Earth) and Jazz Patel-Bolger (Wild Earth), we developed a programme of workshops to create a mirror portrait series of the children in their forest schools in Galway and Clare. The children started by foraging for natural materials, like autumn leaves, pine cones, feathers, straw, sheep wool, and acorns.
In Clare, we teamed up with artist Maeve Collins who ran creative foraging workshops with the children to make mummers costumes, masks, and a few surprises! In Galway, Carol was busy in her studio creating incredible headdresses, collars and tools inspired by Ogham and Celtic art. Carol Barrett is one of the pioneers of forest school education in Ireland and she has already trained over 200 facilitators nationwide. She offers Ireland’s first nationally accredited, QQI Level 6 certificate in Forest School leadership, delivering training in Galway, Kildare and Kerry.
Indigenous Ambassador and photographer David Metcalf was the guide on Melanie’s adventure to Borneo. David has taken many incredible photographs of the Dayak tribe over the last decade and he is delighted to have his photos featured in this exhibition.
Our long-term goal is to inspire other countries to forge genuine friendships with Indigenous cultures, to support each other to heal the earth, to learn from Indigenous wisdom and the kinship worldview that cultivates sustainable societies and and thriving ecosystems. Together we demonstrate the potential for a partnership future based on respect, equality, reciprocity, and mutual flourishing of people and nature across continents and cultures.
The Borneo x Ireland Cultural Exchange and photography exhibition was showcased at the world-renowned Bioneers conference in California in March 2026. The Irish tour begins at HomeTree’s Summer School in Clare from 15-17th May, followed by the Baboró International Arts Festival for Children in Galway city from 9th – 18th October 2026. If you are interested in hosting the exhibition and workshops please contact us.
