Indonesian activist Farwiza Farhan awarded a “Green Oscar” for her work to protect the endangered Leuser Ecosystem, a major conservation priority for Leonardo Dicaprio Foundation
Press Release – London – Just weeks after famed Academy Award-winning actor Leonardo Dicaprio highlighted the global biodiversity hotspot known as the Leuser Ecosystem as a top priority conservation landscape, a community leader in the Indonesian province of Aceh, in Northernmost tip of Sumatra, has been awarded the highly prestigious Whitley Award.
Farwiza Farhan was one of 7 Whitley Award winners chosen from close to 130 applicants from all over the world in recognition of her project to empower community to protect the Leuser Ecosystem.
Held by UK-based charity the Whitley Fund for Nature, the distinguished award is referred to as the “Green Oscars” and winners are each granted GBP 35,000 in project funding over one year. Farwiza was presented with her Award by WFN Patron HRH The Princess Royal. At the ceremony, Farwiza gave a speech about the importance to protect the Leuser Ecosystem, both for wildlife and for the people. The award ceremony took place on April 27 in London.
Farwiza Farhan responded to the announcement by saying “I feel humbled and honoured to be selected as one of the Whitley Award winners, but I also recognize that this award will help amplify our voices and strengthen our work to protect the Leuser Ecosystem.” When asked about what she would do if she won, the 29-year-old PhD candidate said “I’ll use the money granted to me to fund community empowerment through Citizen Lawsuits that challenge plans to open this unique habitat up to development, and to establish a wildlife protection unit to monitor and protect these iconic species.”
The nine plaintiffs of the Citizen Lawsuits are all community and local leaders who live within and around the Leuser Ecosystem. They are part of Gerakan Rakyat Aceh Menggugat (Aceh Society Action Movement, or GERAM), a grassroots movement that started last year after numerous failed attempts to encourage the Aceh administration and Legislative Council to revise the Aceh Provincial Spatial Plan. The movement wants the spatial plan to designate the Leuser Ecosystem as a “national strategic area” for its environmental value.
Farwiza is the co-founder of Forest, Nature and Environment of Aceh (HAkA), an NGO that aims to create long-term sustainability in the region. Her organization and the Leuser Ecosystem have recently become the subjects of attention after Leonardo DiCaprio posted photos of his visit to the area.
This Whitley Award will support grassroots activist Farwiza Farhan to enable her to scale up the work her NGO, Forest, Nature and Environment Aceh, are doing with communities and to conserve wildlife within the Leuser Ecosystem.
The Whitley Awards are made annually by the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) to recognise and celebrate effective national and regional conservation leaders across the globe. The awards particularly seek to recognise contributions to wildlife conservation made from outside the developed world, and to bring to international attention the work of deserving individuals committed to precipitating long-lasting conservation benefits on the ground.
