Farwiza Farhan - Understanding one another is key to saving the environment

In this podcast Farwiza Farhan, a conservation activist and campaigner working in Sumatra, described her personal journey which grew from a love of nature but then developed into anger at how people and businesses were damaging the environment in the name of profit. However this subsequently evolved as she understood the importance of acknowledging other people’s points of view. “Throughout the years of campaigning and trying to convince people to protect the environment, I learned to find and extend compassion. It’s not enough to know the science about the environment and the climate … we [have to] begin to understand one another.” Farwiza is the chairperson of Forest, Nature and Environment Aceh Foundation (Yayasan HAkA), a grassroots organisation based in Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia that focus on the conservation, protection and restoration of the Leuser Ecosystem. She mainly work on the policy and advocacy aspects, seeking to increase meaningful access and involvement of local community in the development of policy pertaining to their environment and livelihood.