PAST SEACOLOGY PRIZE RECIPIENTS
2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | 1992
2011 - 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)
2010 - Rabary Desiré of Madagascar:
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| 2010 Seacology Prize Recipient Rabary Desiré next to the nature reserve sign (photo credit: Rabary Desiré). |
Mr. Rabary Desiré has been awarded the 2010 Seacology Prize for his tireless efforts to further forest conservation in northeastern Madagascar. Mr. Desiré will receive the $10,000 Prize on October 7, 2010 at a ceremony in Berkeley, California.
Rabary Desiré is recognized by many as a major conservation leader in northeastern Madagascar, and is a highly-sought-after research/eco-tourism guide. Mr. Desiré has almost no possessions (other than books and a little clothing) and shares his small traditional two-room residence with five other family members. With the money he makes from guiding, he buys forested land in order to protect it. Years of work have finally culminated in the establishment of his own small private nature reserve, Antanetiambo ("on the high hill"), likely the only reserve in northern Madagascar that has been entirely created from start to finish by a single local resident.
According to Mr. Desiré, "I am very happy to receive this award and I feel very lucky for myself and Madagascar. After many years of hard work and political instability, finally we are having some local conservation success. I plan to use these funds for such projects as reforestation, developing tourist infrastructure and purchasing the land around Antanetiambo Nature Reserve to increase the size of the reserve and the amount of protected land in this region. This award will help preserve the precious biodiversity and high endemism of Madagascar, as well as fight the ongoing battle against massive deforestation and possible extinction of many beloved species... Thanks Seacology for giving me this prize. The whole region will never forget it."
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.
2008 - Ómar Ragnarsson of Iceland:
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| 2008 Seacology Prize Recipient Ómar Ragnarsson receives the Prize trophy from Seacology Chairman Paul Cox (photo credit: Dadi Gudmundsson). |
Mr. Ómar Ragnarsson was awarded the 2008 Seacology Prize for his efforts to draw attention to massive dam projects taking place in the remote interior of his home island, Iceland. Mr. Ragnarsson received the $10,000 Prize on October 2, 2008 at a ceremony in San Francisco, California.
Through his reporting and independent filming, Ómar Ragnarsson has worked to raise public awareness of massive dam projects being undertaken in the remote interior of Iceland. A large US-based aluminum company persuaded Iceland to build major hydroelectric dams for the purpose of powering the transformation of bauxite into metallic aluminum. The bauxite will be shipped primarily from Australia, as Iceland is devoid of bauxite. Iceland’s first aluminum plant was built in the 1960s; there are now three, with plans for at least two more. Existing smelters rely on hydropower, but Iceland’s abundant geothermal features could also be exploited.
According to Mr. Ragnarsson, “I am very thankful if this prize can bring international attention to the immense value of Icelandic nature, one of the greatest wonders of the world, and let it be known what is at stake now when there are plans to build at least two new huge aluminum smelters in Iceland, that will together with three smelters that have already been built need all the geothermal and hydropower of this island, with huge and irreversible negative environmental impacts. I hope that this prize can help in the fight for preserving and protecting Icelandic natural treasures for future generations and the whole of mankind.”
2007 - Kokichi Kariya of Japan:
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| 2007 Seacology Prize Recipient Kokichi Kariya receives the Prize trophy from Seacology President and Prize sponsor Ken Murdock. |
Mr. Kokichi Kariya was awarded the 2007 Seacology Prize for his efforts to save one of the few remaining ancient forests on Honshu Island, Japan. Mr. Kariya received the $10,000 Prize on October 3, 2007 at a ceremony in San Francisco, California.
After World War II, a logging industry began in Japan, mainly focused on deciduous trees including three to four hundred year old beech trees in the Aizu Mountains above Mr. Kariya’s home village of Fuzawa. In the 1960s, Mr. Kariya, fearing that lack of forest coverage could cause a devastating flood in his village, proposed that logging be halted. He endured harsh criticism from his fellow villagers, who feared they would lose their jobs if the logging stopped. Mr. Kariya and other concerned individuals formed a movement to advocate for the forest. In 1969, Mr. Kariya’s fears were realized when a flood devastated Fuzawa Village. In the ensuing decades, Mr. Kariya continued to work tirelessly to advocate for the protection of the beech forest.
Finally, after years of lobbying and education, the logging in the Aizu Mountains was halted. In 2000, the forest ministry decided to designate over 200,000 acres of the mountains as a protected area, the largest in Japan. In 2003, 2,300 acres of Fuzawa’s forest was designated a “Home Forest.” Thanks to Mr. Kariya’s selfless commitment, the beech forests are protected in perpetuity.
According to Mr. Kariya, "We have been protecting our forests for a long time. We are both surprised and moved that you valued our work and awarded us with honor. Forests protect human lives, nurture all living things, and sustain abundant oceans and beautiful earth. Now the earth is in danger. As more forests are destroyed, the land turns into a desert. We are determined to continue our work to protect forests for our mother earth and humankind in the future."
2006 - Ketut Sarjana Putra of Indonesia:
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| Seacology Chairman Dr. Paul Cox, 2006 Seacology Prize Recipient Ketut Sarjana Putra and Seacology President and Prize sponsor Ken Murdock. |
Ketut Sarjana Putra was awarded the 2006 Seacology Prize for his efforts to protect endangered sea turtles in his native Bali, Indonesia. Mr. Putra received the $10,000 Prize on October 18, 2006 at a ceremony in San Francisco, California.
According to Mr. Putra, "I am really delighted to receive this award and I am sure that this is not only for me but for Balinese people and their government who have been working very hard to adopt and implement the true turtle conservation and successfully putting them in the ground (from policies to practices). I am glad and proud to have been part of those efforts."
2005 - Patrick Pate of Papua New Guinea:
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| Seacology President and Prize sponsor Ken Murdock, 2005 Seacology Prize Recipient Patrick Pate, and Seacology Chairman Dr. Paul Cox. |
Patrick Pate was awarded the 2005 Seacology Prize for his outstanding efforts to organize local indigenous communities in the highlands of his native Papua New Guinea. Mr. Pate received the $7,500 Prize on October 25, 2005 at a ceremony in San Francisco, California.
"It is a great honor for me to be the recipient of the 2005 Seacology Prize," said Mr. Pate. "It is a recognition for the hard work we all put to conserve the natural environment of Mt Bosavi, Papua New Guinea. This prize that I am receiving is not just for my work but the efforts of many others that have contributed their ideas and tremendous support towards conserving the environment against the existing threat from intensive logging. I feel that this prize has encouraged and shaped me to continue to work harder with my people the "Bosavians" in our struggle and effort to protect our rich environment for future generations."
2005 - Dr. Felix Sugirtharaj of India:
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| Chairman Dr. Paul Cox and Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Dr. Felix Sugirtharaj. |
Dr. Felix Sugirtharaj was awarded a special Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedication in protecting the mangrove forests and livelihoods of fisherpeople in the Andaman Islands, and particularly for his tireless work coordinating relief efforts in the wake of the devastating December 26, 2004 tsunami. Dr. Felix also received a $7,500 award on October 25, 2005 at the ceremony in San Francisco, California.
"I am greatly honoured for being chosen to receive a special Lifetime Achievement Award," said Dr. Felix. "When the west was discovering the outer space, the Islands in Andaman were making the inner journey into the evergreen forests and deep blue sea to discover the riches of God given nature. These people, having suffered at the beginning of this year by Tsunami and a series of earthquakes, have the ability and capacity to laugh at themselves and sublimate personal grief to a concern for humanity at large by saving the culture of rich biodiversity as precious as their lives. I once again rededicate my mission to the poor people who live around mangrove swamps to ensure food security with legal entitlement to land, water and forests."
2004 - Adrian Lasimbang of Borneo, Malaysia:
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| Seacology President and Prize sponsor Ken Murdock, 2004 Seacology Prize Recipient Adrian Lasimbang, and Seacology Chairman Dr. Paul Cox. |
Adrian Lasimbang was awarded the 2004 Seacology Prize for his outstanding efforts to organize local indigenous communities and implement innovative alternative energy programs in his native Borneo, Malaysia. Mr. Lasimbang received the $5,000 Prize on October 12, 2004 at a ceremony in San Francisco, California.
“I am truly honored for being chosen to receive the Seacology Prize for 2004,” said Mr. Lasimbang. “This will greatly boost our motivation to continue our work effectively in communities in Borneo and the rest of Asia as a whole. I would take this prize not just for my work but also to the indigenous communities in Borneo for their efforts to conserve the environment from the intense threat from logging and mass expansion of oil palm plantations in our beautiful island called Borneo.”
2003 - Dr. Elisabeth Rabakonandrianina of Madagascar:
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| Seacology Chairman Dr. Paul Cox, 2003 Seacology Prize Recipient Dr. Elisabeth Rabakonandrianina, and Seacology President and Prize sponsor Ken Murdock. |
Dr. Elisabeth Rabakonandrianina was awarded the 2003 Seacology Prize for her outstanding efforts to protect Madagascar's "Orchid Mountain," Mt. Angavokely, home to over 120 rare and endangered orchid species. Dr. Rabakonandrianina received the $5,000 Prize on November 17, 2003 at a ceremony in San Diego, California. Located 13 miles east of Antananarivo, the nation's capital, Mt. Angavokely is a former French Forest Station and has one of the last remaining intact tracts of high-altitude rainforest in all of Madagascar. Dr. Rabakonandrianina has taken on the mission of saving the Orchid Mountain for future generations. In 2001, Dr. Rabakonandrianina successfully negotiated with the Malagasy government a legal framework for protection and sustainable development of Mt. Angavokely and the surrounding communities. In conjunction with Seacology and the local nonprofit organization ARC VERT, the government is establishing a 927-acre reserve on Orchid Mountain.
2002 - Meity Mongdong of Indonesia:
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| Seacology Chairman Dr. Paul Cox, 2002 Seacology Prize Recipient Meity Mongdong and Seacology Vice President Sandie Tillotson at the 2002 ceremony on Maui, Hawaii. |
Ms. Meity Mongdong of Sulawesi, Indonesia has worked tirelessly to save the mangrove forests and coral reefs of her native Bunaken National Marine Park while simultaneously improving park villager livelihoods. As both a founding member of the local marine conservation NGO Kelola and as community facilitation specialist for the Natural Resources Management Project in North Sulawesi, she helped develop a 25-year management plan for the park. Since 2000, she has worked closely with fishers and farmers from all 22 villages within the park to form and strengthen the Bunaken National Park Concerned Citizen's Forum (FMPTNB).
Bunaken National Park is a 90,000-hectare marine reserve off the northern tip of the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Encompassing five islands and an expansive Sulawesi mainland section, Bunaken is located in the epicenter of global marine biodiversity and supports a wealth of endangered species such as green and hawksbill turtles, dugongs, coelacanths, and sperm whales. Bunaken is world-renowned amongst scuba divers for its stunning drop-off coral reefs teaming with brightly colored fishes. Its mangrove forests are among the most diverse in the world and harbor some of the largest mangrove trees in the northern hemisphere. Unfortunately, both Bunaken's reefs and mangrove forests have come under increasing threat over the past decade as destructive fishing practices such as dynamite and cyanide fishing have become commonplace and mangrove cutting for charcoal production has increased.
In response to these threats, Ms. Mongdong has worked very closely with the fisher-farmer communities that live within the park borders to educate them on the importance of sustainable use practices and empower them to improve management policies and enforce the regulations governing the park. Ms. Mongdong helped to forge a joint patrol system between the FMPTNB and park rangers and water police, which has virtually eliminated bomb and cyanide fishing in the park over the last two years. With support from Seacology, Ms. Mongdong and the FMPTNB have also worked with villagers in the park to set aside "no-take" zones where fishing is not allowed in order to provide overexploited fish stocks with an opportunity to recover. A grant from Seacology to one of the villages Ms. Mongdong works with on Bunaken Island is funding the construction of a much-needed community landing dock, which will greatly facilitate daily operations of local fishers while removing intense pressure on the shallow reefs which have faced daily boat groundings and trampling for the past two decades.
Ms. Mongdong has worked particularly closely with those village women who are directly involved in resource-destructive activities such as mangrove harvesting for charcoal production and coral and shell collection for the tourist curio trade. She has worked to educate these women while also developing alternative livelihoods for them.
2001 - Anuradha Wickramasinghe of Sri Lanka:
Anuradha Wickramasinghe of Sri Lanka was selected to receive the 2001 Seacology Prize for his outstanding efforts in mangrove conservation. Anuradha has worked in community-based natural resource management for the past 25 years. As the executive director of forestry, water resource management and conservation programs in the 1980s, he mobilized more than 1200 community leaders to conduct forest conservation campaigns in Sri Lanka. In 1991 Anuradha became one of the founding members and the first director of the Small Fishers Federation of Lanka (SFFL), a fisher folk-based nongovernmental organization that represents over 20 percent of fisher folk communities on Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka is a small but biologically diverse island nation located in the Indian Ocean. Despite its size, Sri Lanka has an exceptional amount of mangrove species diversity and contains over half of the mangrove species found on the world's islands. In response to threats to Sri Lanka's mangroves, Anuradha and SFFL developed a mangrove conservation program in 1994. Since that time more than 100,000 seedlings have been planted in degraded lagoon areas of Sri Lanka.
With support from Seacology, Anuradha and SFFL have expanded their program and established the Kiralakele mangrove conservation program on Sri Lanka's severely degraded southern coast. Working very closely not only with traditional fishermen but also with the active fisherwomen community, Anuradha created a program that combines rehabilitation of degraded mangrove areas with the establishment of a mangrove arboretum as an eco-tourism project, and the construction of the south coast's first mangrove resource center. This new center is providing training for 800,000 school children in Southern and Uva provinces and is benefiting thousands of fisher folk.
2000 - Doris Matsuda-Saromines and Edwin "Take" Matsuda of Hana, Maui, Hawaii:
This brother and sister pair received the Seacology Prize for their commitment and sacrifice associated with the restoration of the Pi'ilanihale heiau in Hana. The Matsuda family is the inherited owner of the land that encompasses Pi'ilanihale, Hawaii's largest heiau (a man-made, elevated platform associated with ritual activity in the Pacific Islands). The heiau is an extraordinary example of ancient Hawaiian drywall masonry and is internationally renowned.
In the 1960s, a local rancher, claiming partial ownership of the property on which the heiau is located, successfully applied to have Pi'ilanihale designated as a National Historic Landmark. Under the leadership of Mileka Kahanu (mother of Doris and Take), the family formed a nonprofit called Ho'olina Kahunu Hui to oversee the changes that were about to take place. The 60-acre site was dedicated as an NHL in 1970, and the heiau was cleared and mapped by an archaeologist. In 1972, the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) was granted the land for the creation of the Kahanu Garden, to insure that the heiau would be properly cared for in perpetuity. By granting their nine-acre parcel, the Matsuda family sacrificed large sums of money that would have resulted from the land's sale to developers along this spectacular coastline. Doris worked diligently to insure that the NTBG fulfill their promise to complete the restoration of the heiau. In April 1999, the NTBG and Ho'olina Kahunu Hui celebrated the completion of the Pi'ilanihale Heiau Restoration Project, the crown jewel of the Kahanu Garden of Maui.
1999
- Madison Nena of Kosrae:
Nena was awarded the Seacology Prize for his longtime commitment to protecting Kosrae's environment. After working to promote sustainability and ecotourism from within Kosraen government, Nena played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Utwa-Walung Conservation Area. This Conservation Area now protects important rivers, mangrove swamps, coral reefs, and marine resources crucial to livelihoods of local residents. When the Conservation Area was threatened by an unsustainable development project, Nena facilitated community education and dialogue, ultimately convincing local landowners to sacrifice their short term gain in favor of protecting the long term sustainability of local ecosystems. In addition, Nena has promoted cultural conservation through helping to revitalize historic methods of both house and boat construction.
1998 - Saula Vodonaivalu, Sr., Fiji:
Vondonaivalu was honored for his work to conserve the flora and fauna of his native country. Beginning as a young man assisting British foresters over thirty years ago, he has discovered over 30 new species of plants. Two species - one fern and one flowering plant - have been named after him.
1997 - Mary Thomas, British Columbia:
Mary Thomas, an elder of the Secwepemc tribe, was chosen to receive the Seacology award for her heroic efforts to protect the salmon fisheries and watersheds of her tribal lands.
1996 - His Majesty King
Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, Tonga:
His Majesty was honored for his efforts in protecting the flying foxes of Kolovai village. In Kolovai, several hundred endangered flying foxes roost and forage safe from interference or danger. As a result, the flying foxes hang in village trees and can be observed from a close distance. Seacology scientists have determined that flying foxes are the major pollinators and seed dispersers of tropical rainforest ecosystems in the Southwest Pacific, so Seacology has been deeply involved in their conservation. The King was also recognized for his efforts to protect the rainforests and indigenous culture of Tonga.
1995 - A.P. Lutali, Governor of American Samoa:
Governor Lutali was awarded for his efforts to create the National Park of American Samoa, a 9,000-acre park that includes four separate islands separated by 60 miles of ocean. He played a key role in working with Samoan chiefs and the U.S. Congress to create agreements regarding the park that were in keeping with the wishes of the Samoan people. As well, Governor Lutali helped to pass landmark legislation to protect Pacific Island Flying Foxes. The remarkable park is home to the only live coral reef in a national park in the entire world.
1994 - Chief Va'asilifiti Moelagi Jackson, President of Fa'asao Savai'i, Samoa:
Va'asilifiti was honored for her efforts in creating Fa'asao Savai'i, one of the first indigenous conservation organizations in the South Pacific. Through her efforts, more than 50 villages have joined the organization. Va'asilifiti required creation of a village rainforest preserve as the admission price from all villages that wished to join. The resultant patchwork of reserves throughout her home island of Savai'i proved so frustrating to the loggers that they gave up and left.
1993 - Chief Fuiono
Senio, Falealupo Village Chief, Samoa:
Chief Senio was awarded the Seacology Prize for
his courageous efforts in saving a 30,000-acre rainforest, thereby creating
an indigenous-controlled reserve. Falealupo Village chiefs, driven to
let logging companies into their forests only because they had no other
way of raising funds for a badly-need school, were approached by Seacology
cofounder Paul Cox, who said that he would raise funds for the school
if the chiefs promised to leave their rainforest intact. Chief Fuiono
ran six miles to stand in front of the bulldozers and ordered the loggers
to stop. Even after a hurricane impoverished the village, Chief Senio
refused any overtures from the loggers. Seacology provided the funds
to rebuild the school, as well as construct an aerial rainforest canopy
walkway to provide ecotourism revenue to the village. The village chiefs
recently decided to use revenues from the walkway to fund a modest retirement
fund for elderly villagers (see October 1999 newsletter article).
Chief Fuiono Senio passed away in 1997, shortly after receiving the
Goldman Environmental Prize with Paul Cox.
1992 - Ulu Taufa'asisina Tausaga, Tafua Village Chief, Samoa:
Chief Ulu courageously honored a pledge made on his father's deathbed to protect the rainforest of his home, Tafua village. He resisted the overtures of loggers for over a decade, despite the village's need for revenue. Chief Ulu has also stood for the rights of Tafua villagers to make their own decisions and control their own destinies. He is cofounder of Fa'asao Savai'i, a truly indigenous conservation organization working to protect the environment and culture of the island of Savai'i.
