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.
The 2011 Seacology Prize Winner is Irman Meilandi of Indonesia. Meilandi is an environmental activist and journalist who helped his village of Mandalamekar, on the island of Java, conserve and replenish nearly 400 acres of surrounding highland forest. Watch a video highlighting Meilandi’s conservation work here:
About Irman Meilandi
After spending years traveling across Indonesia pursuing environmental causes –first as an environmental journalist and later as an outreach coordinator for Conservation International Indonesia – Meilandi returned to his home village of Mandalameker concerned about the future of the surrounding rainforest. Loggers had already clear cut many acres, and the land had been left to fallow.
“For years I’ve worked with villages around eastern Indonesia on these kinds of issues,” said Meilandi. “The goal is always to see how people can live harmoniously with nature.”
He convinced villagers to protect over 250 acres of the rainforest, home to a variety of wildlife including the endangered Javan surili monkey. Next he helped the village revive 74 acres of degraded land by planting 12,000 native tree seedlings. In 2009 Meilandi collaborated with Seacology to lead an expansion of that effort with 15,000 more tree seedlings across an additional 72 acres while using Seacology funds to build a new community center. (The community center was completed in the summer of 2011. For more info about this project, click here)
