SEACOLOGY PRIZE
Many foundations recognize exemplary achievements by scientists, educators, business leaders and other individuals who work towards conservation. Seacology has chosen to recognize heroic achievement by people who seldom receive any publicity: indigenous leaders who risk their own lives and wellbeing to protect their island's ecosystems and culture.
The Seacology Prize is underwritten by Ken Murdock, President of Seacology, in honor of his mother, Lalovi Fish Murdock.
2009 - Filip Damen of Papua New Guinea:
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| 2009 Seacology Prize Recipient Filip Damen with President Ken Murdock and Chairman Paul Cox (photo credit: Mary West). |
Mr. Filip Damen was awarded the 2009 Seacology Prize for his noble efforts to protect the lowland rainforests surrounding his home village of Wanang in Papua New Guinea. Mr. Damen received the $10,000 Prize on October 8, 2009 at a ceremony in San Francisco, California.
Wanang is a small village surrounded by vast lowland rainforests in Papua New Guinea. The villagers practice shifting agriculture, fish in the Wanang River and hunt for wild pigs and cassowaries in their forests. Ten years ago, when the entire area of Lower Ramu was proposed by the PNG government as a logging concession, Filip Damen, an unschooled rural subsistence farmer with deep respect for his forest wilderness and traditions, recognized the threat. He taught himself to read and write and led a group of 11 Wanang village clans to sign a historic conservation deed. This communal deed bound the clans in their refusal to allow loggers or the PNG government to exploit approximately 25,000 acres of their forests.
The video below shows Mr. Damen concluding his presentation and acceptance of the Prize. Dr. George Weiblen, who accompanied Filip to the United States, translates.
