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A Super Youth In the Making: Being the Last Line of Defence for the Earth. |
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by Rosa Domingos | 29-12-2018 14:44
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There is only one place in the world where orangutan, rhinos, elephants and tigers still co-exist in the wild. Environmental activist Farwiza Farhan is fighting to protect this last wilderness, Sumatra's Leuser Ecosystem. In 2012, her NGO, Yayasan HAkA, sued an oil palm company that had cleared forest under an illegally issued permit (Briggs, 2018). She says she is driven by a sense of injustice that no-one is speaking up for the wildlife. On the pristine tropical rainforest… Imagine standing under a very large canopy and you look up - you can hear hornbill whizzing past. And then you look around and you hear the sound of gibbons echoing through the forest, calling out their territories.  Large male Sumatran orangutan(Briggs, 2018). "You see the orangutan - the mother and baby swinging from tree to tree - and amongst all this different wildlife you see all these different macaques screaming at you. But then from moment to moment, you get silence when you hardly hear anything, before the echo of the forest comes back to life." "In the distance sometimes you can hear the sound of chain saws, you can hear the sound of destruction coming in closer. You know that there's something you can do to prevent that from happening. You know there's something you can do to stop the chainsaw from going deeper into the forest"(Briggs, 2018). On falling in love with nature…. Farwiza became a conservationist initially because she watched too many BBC Blue Planet [programmes]. She fell in love with the ocean, with the coral reef, when she was quite young she set in my heart that this was what she was going to do for the rest of her life.  Deforestation in Indonesia(Briggs, 2018). "Then, when I actually graduated as a marine biologist, I came back to the same patch of reef where I fell in love with the ocean the first time, to see it completely destroyed - all because of climate change - and that really made me angry" (Briggs, 2018). On threats to the ecosystem…. "The main threat to the Leuser Ecosystem has been pressure for exploitation and unsustainable development. Big companies that want to grow palm oil - one of the most profitable crops in the world - threaten to decimate this very fragile ecosystem."  Local people are being empowered to help protect the forest(Briggs, 2018). When it comes to palm oil it's quite a complex issue. It's very difficult to narrow it down to say, 'Don't buy palm oil, or only buy sustainable ones' or 'boycott everything altogether'. The way we see palm oil - it's just a crop that is so profitable, and the problem is how the demand has driven the expansion (Briggs, 2018). The main problem with palm oil is its governance - how consumers in the developed world could push for a true conflict-free palm oil in their mode of consumption. Because we often look for short cuts. We want a sustainable product, but we are not willing to pay for it. On what consumers can do… We live in the age of information overload. In the past, I would say read more or find out more. Now I would encourage people to pledge to see more or experience more of places that are going extinct (Briggs, 2018). Places like Sumatra, the Amazon, Madagascar. Those are the places that are under tremendous threat from exploitation, including palm oil. If you come to the place and see how it is now and you hear about that place in the future, you would have a stronger connection to know what to do when it comes to palm oil and deforestation (Briggs, 2018). Source: By Helen Briggs. BBC News. 2018. Palm oil: One woman's fight to save 'the last place on Earth'. https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/science-environment-46227763. Nov 18, 2018. Accessed: Dec 26,2018.
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9 Comments
Greetings Rosa
I hope you are doing well
Thank you so much for this report
Keep writing
Green cheers
Regards
Sus
Posted 15-03-2020 16:44
Hi M. Joon!
The role of youth in our societies is really important and I concur with your statement!
Thank you for reading!
Posted 08-01-2019 19:47
Hey Deepak! First of all. Thank you for reading! She truely is a super youth!
Posted 08-01-2019 19:46
Hi M. Gyeongrin!
It would be tragic to have a forest cut down of his trees and I do not ever want to see that day. With the efforts of many. Such an incident will not occur.
Thank you for commenting!
Posted 08-01-2019 19:45
Hey Kushal!
Thank you Kushal. I really appreciate your kind words! Farwaiza has been doing amazing work and I commend her as well. The youth are the key to a better future!
Posted 08-01-2019 19:37
Hello Rosa, I once saw the movie called 'Green' featuring orangutans long time ago and it still deeply remains in my mind and heart :)
documentary films and reports were thought to be boring before but as I get old, they started to look different comparing to my old memories.
Adopting the truth and acknowledging the fact are totally different however understanding environmental problems as 'individual problems', then it will change :)
Thanks for your report, role of youth is really important and valid these days
Posted 02-01-2019 14:54
Hello, Rosa, My friend
Namaste from Nepal, Country of Mt Everest
I wish for your healthy body, peace mind and happy face in coming days, I wish you always can serve for this beautiful earth,
Happy New Year 2019,
In this Year
Donate Red (Blood)
Spread Green (Plants)
Save Blue (Water)
Thank You so much for your report about A Super Youth In the Making: Being the Last Line of Defence for the Earth, i heartly appreciate the work of her.
Keep writing :)
Posted 01-01-2019 16:56
Hello Rosa
To imagine a forest where silence exists and where the only sound that could be heard is the sawing and chaining noise of what is destructing the forest really depresses me.
We, individuals, play a diverse role in this society.
We are consumers, providers, educators and so much more at the same moment.
And when we think once more of what we can do in each position, we can find what we can do to save this planet!
Thanks for sharing about Sumatra's Leuser Ecosystem :)
Posted 31-12-2018 22:34
Thank you for such a motivational report @Rosa
Our acts are what defines how our future generations will be. So, we must be responsible on the activities we conduct.
The activities Farwiza Farhan really motivates people to take a step forward so that we can protect the earth. She and her organization have really done great works and thank you for writing such a great report. Youth are really the super force who can make resilient earth for future
Keep writing great report.
Posted 30-12-2018 20:40