TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Six environmental activists from across Indonesia have been awarded the 8th KEHATI Awards by the Indonesian Foundation for Biodiversity (KEHATI) on Wednesday, January 28, 2015 at Haji Usman Ismail Film Centre in Jakarta.
The event is the eighth such presentation by the KEHATI Foundation, since its' inception in 2000.
A senior member of KEHATI Foundation and renowned environmental activist, Emil Salim, said that the award recipients' achievements needs to be recognized and honoured because as insignificant as it may seem to other people, they are helping to steer public discourse on environmentalism on to the right direction. "My most sincere regards and gratitudes are with them," he said.
The six recipient of the awards include Aziil Anwar from Majene, West Sulawesi - for his reforestation efforts on bleached corals to protect vulnerable coastlines, Januminro from Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan - for his restorative work on peatlands destroyed by wildfires, and Ambarwati Esti from South Tangerang, for training underprivileged housewives to produce gluten-free products, which could be sold for higher prices.
Other recipients include the inventor of Modified Cassava Flour (MOCAF), Achmad Subagio from Jember, East Java; Agustinus Sasundu from Sangihe, a craftsman who specialises in creating musical instruments from bamboo, and the Study on Teluk Awat's Mangrove Ecosystem (KeSeMat) for their active role in promoting and preserving Central Java's mangrove ecosystems.
The executive director for KEHATI Foundation, MS Sembiring, said that he hopes that the award could assist in the promotion of environmentalism among the general public - especially in the field of biodiversity and sustainable growth.
SYARI FANI
