A three day photo exhibition entitled ‘Heroes of Our Forests’ was officially launched by His Royal Highness Raja Nazrin Shah, the Raja Muda of Perak in Petaling Jaya on 4 March 2006. The launch was witnessed by the Head of European Commission Delegation to Malaysia, His Excellency Mr. Thierry Rommel and Dr. Richard Leete, Resident Representative of UNDP Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.

The exhibition was aimed to showcase the work of EC UNDP Small Grants Programme for Operations to Promote Tropical Forests (SGP PTF) in Malaysia to the general public. The focus was on conservation of tropical forests, efforts in reducing poverty among indigenous groups, preservation of oral indigenous traditions through documentation as well as gender empowerment. It also demonstrated the benefits of EC-UNDP collaboration in assisting indigenous groups while attempting to create interest among the different stakeholders on indigenous groups in Malaysia and their role in forest management.   

SGP PTF’s celebrity partners, Joanna Bessey, Na’a Murad, Reshmonu and Zahim Albakri lent their support to the efforts of SGP PTF by advocating these objectives through their appearance on the photos.

European Commission Head of Delegation to Malaysia, H.E. Thierry Rommel said ‘This exhibition celebrates the indigenous communities of Malaysia, their plight, their rights and their precious traditional knowledge about biodiversity and forestry and their sustainable use'.   

Meanwhile, Dr. Richard Leete observed that ‘the collaborative effort of EC and UNDP, through its 21 projects in poor communities in different parts of Malaysia, is contributing towards improving the lives and livelihoods of some of the indigenous people. These people, especially the women, are among the poorest of Malaysia's poor. Through this exhibition, we are trying to let the public know how community forestry can assist in reducing poverty.’