Mariamah Achmad, a native of the West Kalimantan, Indonesia, is a forest management graduate, a leader of Sekolah Lahan Gambut, or the Peatlands School, and the Palung Foundation’s Coordinator for Environment Awareness Education. She is working to end the exploitation of forest resources by multinational logging and palm oil companies who cut mangrove trees to make charcoal, overfish shrimp, burn forestlands and drain peat swamps to construct plantations. As a result of the indiscriminate exploitation of the forest resources, rural people have been affected by health issues such as asthma, bronchitis, heart disease and lung cancer. With Sekolah Lahan Gambut, Achmad focuses on creating awareness among rural people about these challenges. The organization focuses on the importance of forests, biodiversity, mangrove swamps, and wildlife through arts, communication, and education. Photo credit: Nobel Women’s Initiative
