Farwiza Farhan | Conservationist from Indonesia, Magsaysay awardee

The winner of the Ramon Magsaysay award for Emergent Leadership this year is Farwiza Farhan, an Indonesia conservationist working to preserve the rich bidoveristy in Sumatra Island’s Leuser Ecosystem

The forests of Aceh are dense, tropical and threatened— Indonesia is rich in biodiversity but also subject to the demands of a growing population and exploitation of its natural resources.

Growing citizen involvement has helped conserve the forests— and the precarious Leuser Ecosystem— from further encroachment and misuse. Leading the charge are local conservationists like Farwiza Farhan. Ms. Farhran is the co-founder of the non-profit organisation Forest Nature and Environment of Aceh Foundation (Yayasan Hutan Alam dan Lingkungan Aceh) based in Sumatra, and the winner of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership.

The Leuser Ecosystem

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago, rich in resources and bidoversity. On Sumatra Island, a 2.6 million hectare expanse in the Aceh province, called the Leuser Ecosystem, hosts unique and highly endangered species in a varying landscape that includes rainforests, swamps, coastal forests and alpine meadows. This includes critically endangered animals such as orangutans, tigers, elephants and rhinos. Indonesia has the world’s third largest area under rainforests; these rich tropical rainforests also act as a major sink for carbon. The region was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004 and a protected National Strategic Area in 2008.

However, Indonesia is also the world’s fourth most populated country, putting a severe strain on the country’s resouces and environment. The Leuser Ecosystem is under threat due to deforestation, infrastructure, commercialization, and weak law enforcement. Clearing of forested land for palm oil cultivation is another issue; this includes government-owned plantation companies like PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PT PN) I Blang Tualang, PT Tualang Raya, PT Indo Sawit Perkasa and PT Laot Bangko.

A body called the Leuser Ecosystem Management Authority or Badan Pengelola Kawasan Ekosistem Leuser (BPKEL) had been managing the region, and fighting off encroachments by vested interests on the land. But it was abolished by the Aceh government in 2013.

Following this, some former employees of BPKEL came together to a create a new forest watchdog organsation, called the Forest Nature and Environment of Aceh Foundation or Yayasan Hutan Alam dan Lingkungan Aceh (HAkA). Its aim was to continue conservation efforts for the Leuser ecosystem; one of its co-founders was Farwiza Farhan.

Farwiza Farhan’s story

Ms. Farhan was born in 1986 in Aceh. As a child, she dreamed of becoming a marine biologist and working in conservation. She studied abroad, returning with a master’s degree in environmental management.

Seeking to aid conservation efforts in her local forests, Ms. Farhan joined BPKEL. When BPKEL shut down, she co-founded HAkA in 2012. The grouo believes in mobilising the local community to protect the ecosystem and monitor forests, instead of relying on government agencies. HAkA has also mobilized the citizens of Aceh by spreading awareness about the Leuser ecosystem and its importance, both through public outreach and including it in the curriculum of local schools and colleges.

It has deployed a geographic information system and other forest monitoring tools to help local governments, communities, and universities monitor the forests in real-time. HAkA often liases with government officials, donors, and academics to achieve its conservation goals.

HAkA has also promoted community-based sustainable forest management. It runs dedicated programmes for women in which they are given paralegal and citizen-journalism training, engaged in micro-entrepreneurship, and organized into ranger groups that patrol forest areas to destroy traps, and monitor poaching and illegal logging.

It has also engaged in legal battles: HAkA was part of a court battle against a palm oil company clearing local forests, which resulted in a fine of USD 26 million for the company in question. It also halted a hydroelectric dam project which threatened elephant habitats. This money was used by the government for rehabilitation of the affected areas.

In 2016, the central government and Aceh provincial government agreed on a moratorium for palm cultivation and mining.

Ms. Farhan, a young Muslim woman, has had to defy conventions in her quest to conserve the forests of Aceh, proving a role model for other Indonesian women. She was honoured with a Whitley Award in 2016 and was named on Time 100Next list in 2022.

“We hear a lot about how conservation is fighting a losing battle. Not in the Leuser Ecosystem. We are actually winning,” she said, in an interview with Time Magazine.

This year, Ms. Farhan will receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership. In her citation, the board of trustees commended her “profound understanding of the vital connection between nature and humanity, her commitment to social justice and responsible citizenship through her work with forest communities, and her promotion of greater awareness of the need to protect the beating heart and lungs of her country’s and Asia’s rich but endangered natural resources.”

What is the Ramon Magsaysay Award?

The Ramon Magsaysay Award, considered one of Asia’s top honours, is awarded in recognition of “greatness of spirit shown in selfless service to the peoples of Asia.”

The award was instituted by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in 1957 in honour of the late President of the Philippines Ramon Magsaysay. It was first awarded in 1958. Till 2008, it was awarded in six categories: government service, public service, community leadership, peace and international understanding; emergent leadership, and journalism, literature, and creative communication arts. Except for emergent leadership, which was launched in 2000, all the other categories have now been discontinued.

To date, 322 people and 26 organisations hailing from 22 Asian nations have been awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award.

Among Indian winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Award in Emergent Leadership are Arvind Kejriwal, Indian Forest Servcies Officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi, Carnatic classical musician T.M Krishna and social worker Nileema Mishra, who founded the Sister Nivedita Rural Science Center(Bhagini Nivedita Gramin Vigyan Niketan) in the village of Bahadarpur, Maharashtra. Last year’s winner was Bangladeshi social worker Korvi Rakshand who established the JAAGO Foundation to increase. access to quality education among underpriveleged children.

Additionally, many engaged in conservation efforts have won the Ramon Magsaysay in other categories, including Ladakhi environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk.

The other awardees this year are noted Japanese filmmaker and co-founder of Ghibli studios Hayao Miyazaki, Bhutan’s Phuntsho Karma, a former Buddhist monk, scholar and social worker; Vietnamese doctor Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, who works with the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA); and the Rural Doctors Movement from Thailand.

The 2024 awardees will be honoured in a ceremony in Manila this November.

Published - September 12, 2024 02:17 pm IST