Ambrosius (left) talks to forest people in Muara Tae, East Kalimantan. Courtesy of Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto

Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto braves bulldozers to save Indonesian forest people.

Ambrosius, or Ruwi as he is called, is the co-founder of Telapak, a group that investigates black logging in Indonesia and promotes sustainable forestry.

Since 1998, his group has monitored and investigated timber theft in the nation’s forests, something that the current government cannot do. For his extensive work, he received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership this year.

The award has been given to those who have led social change and have not been recognized outside their communities. Local labor activist Dita Indah Sari received the award in 2001.

Describing his work as being a “best friend” to members of the forest and fishing communities, Ruwi has endured conflicts, death threats and stand-offs as he’s helped forest people in their disputes with companies.

He once spent three days in police detention after slugging it out with crooks during an investigation of illegal logging in Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan.

Now his heart is in Muara Tae, East Kalimantan. The members of the forest community have been resisting a mining company that wants to evict them and clear the last of a forest that they have lived on for generations.

“Forest people think that the land belongs to their ancestors and to God. There are many things to be considered when it comes to forests, not just business. It’s complicated,” he told The Jakarta Post recently at the group’s cafe, Kedai Telapak, in Bogor, West Java.

“From careful thinking we get something precious. If we want to get things easily, we usually stick with the ordinary.”

The 40-year-old first became interested in forests when he joined Lawalata, a nature enthusiasts club, when he was studying at Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB). It inspired him to establish Telapak after he graduated in 1996.

The organization learned how to investigate logging from the Environmental Investigation Agency, a British NGO with similar interests. Telapak started to scrutinize production forest concessions (HPH) in 1998 and was involved in an illegal logging probe in the next year.

In 2003, Ruwi and the group decided to tap into the other side of sustainable forestry — helping forest communities manage their forests. He established a cooperative, Koperasi Hutan Jaya Lestari, which manages teak forests in Konawe Selatan, Southeast Sulawesi.

With local residents, he helped to create eco-friendly teak plantations and assist residents to manage their own timber enterprises that produce certified environmentally friendly timber, earning up four times more income.

He also helped set up two other cooperatives, Koperasi Wana Lestari Menoreh in Kulon Progo, Yogyakarta and Koperasi Giri Mukti Wana Tirta in Lampung, both of which also related to forest management.

“I don’t oppose cutting forests. Irresponsible logging is what should be forbidden. There are many techniques to do it,” said the father of a five-year-old daughter. “We just refuse to do it.”

Ruwi said he could not understand why the government refused to apply the techniques of selective cutting and close monitoring since communities have done it well and have been quite successful.

He has proven that ecological drives can go in line with local economy. In Singaraja, Bali, he helped fishermen cultivate coral fish. Some of the fish were conserved while the rest were exported to the US and Australia.

For his efforts in Konawe Selatan, Ruwi gained recognition as a social entrepreneur from Ernst &Young. He was chosen as the Social Entrepreneur of The Year Award in 2008 along with his business partner Silverius Oscar Unggul. Two years later they received the Skoll Award from Skoll Foundation in Oxford for their social entrepreneurship.

Ruwi said products from the forests should be expensive to reflect the high socio-cultural and ecological cost of obtaining them. Producers should unite to make things more expensive (and sustainable) rather than insisting on keeping prices low, he said.

He was awarded a training program on strategic perspectives on non-profit management from the Harvard Business School in 2009.

Looking back on his achievements, the son of an elementary school teacher from Godong, Central Java, defines his specialty in making friendships and being good company for the marginalized groups.

“I am a friend when they face changes and hard times — a friend to talk to. They know better about catching fish or growing crops,” said Ruwi. “I may not know about legal procedures or other technicalities.”

“But I am surely loyal company when the high tides come.”

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