Impact Productions

Sumatra's Forest Guardian

Indonesia's Leuser Ecosystem is among the most biodiverse habitats on Earth. It is the last place on the planet where orangutans, tigers, elephants, sun bears and rhinos exist in the same habitat. But industrial development - paper plantations, mining and palm oil - threatens the entire ecosystem as well as the wellbeing and livelihoods of the native Acehnese people. At just 24 years old, born-and-raised Acehnese eco-activist and Whitley Award winner, Farwiza Farhan, built a grassroots community movement. Together they launched a citizen lawsuit empowering local communities to have meaningful involvement in policy making. For the first time ever in Indonesian law, grassroots defenders of the environment won a legal battle against the corporations that wreak havoc on the rainforest. Palm oil barons were fined US $26million and new protections were enshrined in Indonesian law.

04:41 | 2021

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