What do you think the award, especially the recognition of your role in UNCLOS, signifies? 

It is an endorsement of my work to build a world governed by law and not by force.

You took over the presidency of UNCLOS III in 1980, inheriting nearly a decade of negotiation. What were the hardest compromises you had to broker in the final years before the 1982 signing? 

The biggest challenge was the Reagan Administration’s radical demands on seabed mining which were rejected by the developing countries. [U.S. President Ronald Reagan changed the stance of the U.S. taken during the Jimmy Carter era. He objected to UNCLOS Part XI’s treatment of the deep seabed as the “common heritage of mankind” that he saw as going against free-enterprise and private-property norms.]

The U.S. never ratified the Convention despite the 1994 Part XI fix. Many other nations such as Iran haven’t either. Is there a case for UNCLOS IV so all nations are onboard? 

We have 172 countries which are parties to UNCLOS. This is near universal. Even though the U.S. is not a party it regards UNCLOS as the authoritative law of the sea.

Do you think the Malacca-Singapore straits are a model for resolving the Strait of Hormuz? Or do you think status quo before the war is the best solution for the world, if not for Iran? 

The priority is to end the war. Before the war there was no trouble in the Strait of Hormuz.

Do the Malacca-Singapore straits provide transit rights to warships and submarines? Iran seems to be very keen on not allowing that. 

Iran is not a party to UNCLOS. However, the regime of transit passage has become part of customary international law and is binding on Iran.

Given current EEZ (exclusive economic zone) and seabed disputes — South China Sea, Indian Ocean boundary questions — do you think UNCLOS’s core architecture is holding up?

It is still the “constitution” of the world’s ocean.

Countries dub some ships as dark fleet and take punitive, material action against them including in the high seas. Do you agree with that?

This is a big problem for the International Maritime Organization (IMO). It is at the IMO that we should try to tackle this problem.

How has the dispute resolution mechanism worked?

Unlike other treaties under UNCLOS, states parties are bound by a system of compulsory dispute settlement. It has, in my view, worked very well.

The Ramon Magsaysay Awards were established in 1957 to honour the late President of the Philippines who died in a plane crash in March 1957.
| Photo Credit: (RM Award Foundation)

Often called Asia’s Nobel Prize, the Ramon Magsaysay Award was instituted in 1957 in the memory of the late Ramon Magsaysay, the former President of Philippines who died in March that year in a plane crash Mr. Magsaysay was known for leading the charge against the communist Hukbahalap or Huk movement and was popular among his people.

The first awards were given out in 1958, in five categories.

Winning the first award for Community Leadership was Indian freedom fighter Acharya Vinoba Bhave, who led the Bhoodan movement. Dr. Mary Rutnam, who worked for the people of Sri Lanka and introduced women’s institutes known as the Lanka Mahila Samiti, received the inaugural Ramon Magsaysay award for Public Service. Filipino Organisation Operation Brotherhood which provided medical treatment to refugees in Vietnam, received the award for Peace and International Understanding.

The first Ramon Magsaysay award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication was split between Mochtar Lubis, editor-in-chief of Indonesia Raya, who spoke up against government corruption and authoritarianism, and Robert McCulloch Dick, the Scottish founder and publisher of The Philippines Free Press, which reported on social injustices and helped ensure freedom of press in the nation.

Chiang Mon-Lin, the Chairman of the Joint Commission on Rural Reconstrution, who through his work, helped enhance agricultural production and bettered the quality of life of Chinese farmers, won the Award for Government Service.

In 2008, these five categories were discontinued. But a new category, the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership, has been introduced since 2009.

Since its inception, more than 300 people and 26 organisations hailing from 22 Asian nations have won the Award. The honorees this year, who shall be felicitated in a ceremony held in Manila are: beloved Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, Bhutanese scholar and social worker Phuntsho Karma, Vietnamese doctor Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, who works for victims of Agent Orange used during the Vietnam War, Indonesian conservationist Farhan Farwiza, founder of Yayasan Hutan Alam dan Lingkungan Aceh (HAkA), dedicated to preserving the Leuser ecosystem, and the Rural Doctors Movement from Thailand.

We take a look at their journey and their lives.

The forests of Aceh are dense, tropical and threatened— Indonesia is rich in biodiversity but also subject to the demands of a growing population and exploitation of its natural resources.

Growing citizen involvement has helped conserve the forests— and the precarious Leuser Ecosystem— from further encroachment and misuse. Leading the charge are local conservationists like Farwiza Farhan. Ms. Farhran is the co-founder of the non-profit organisation Forest Nature and Environment of Aceh Foundation (Yayasan Hutan Alam dan Lingkungan Aceh) based in Sumatra, and the winner of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership.

The Leuser Ecosystem

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago, rich in resources and bidoversity. On Sumatra Island, a 2.6 million hectare expanse in the Aceh province, called the Leuser Ecosystem, hosts unique and highly endangered species in a varying landscape that includes rainforests, swamps, coastal forests and alpine meadows. This includes critically endangered animals such as orangutans, tigers, elephants and rhinos. Indonesia has the world’s third largest area under rainforests; these rich tropical rainforests also act as a major sink for carbon. The region was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004 and a protected National Strategic Area in 2008.

However, Indonesia is also the world’s fourth most populated country, putting a severe strain on the country’s resouces and environment. The Leuser Ecosystem is under threat due to deforestation, infrastructure, commercialization, and weak law enforcement. Clearing of forested land for palm oil cultivation is another issue; this includes government-owned plantation companies like PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PT PN) I Blang Tualang, PT Tualang Raya, PT Indo Sawit Perkasa and PT Laot Bangko.

A body called the Leuser Ecosystem Management Authority or Badan Pengelola Kawasan Ekosistem Leuser (BPKEL) had been managing the region, and fighting off encroachments by vested interests on the land. But it was abolished by the Aceh government in 2013.

Following this, some former employees of BPKEL came together to a create a new forest watchdog organsation, called the Forest Nature and Environment of Aceh Foundation or Yayasan Hutan Alam dan Lingkungan Aceh (HAkA). Its aim was to continue conservation efforts for the Leuser ecosystem; one of its co-founders was Farwiza Farhan.

Farwiza Farhan’s story

Ms. Farhan was born in 1986 in Aceh. As a child, she dreamed of becoming a marine biologist and working in conservation. She studied abroad, returning with a master’s degree in environmental management.

Seeking to aid conservation efforts in her local forests, Ms. Farhan joined BPKEL. When BPKEL shut down, she co-founded HAkA in 2012. The grouo believes in mobilising the local community to protect the ecosystem and monitor forests, instead of relying on government agencies. HAkA has also mobilized the citizens of Aceh by spreading awareness about the Leuser ecosystem and its importance, both through public outreach and including it in the curriculum of local schools and colleges.

It has deployed a geographic information system and other forest monitoring tools to help local governments, communities, and universities monitor the forests in real-time. HAkA often liases with government officials, donors, and academics to achieve its conservation goals.

HAkA has also promoted community-based sustainable forest management. It runs dedicated programmes for women in which they are given paralegal and citizen-journalism training, engaged in micro-entrepreneurship, and organized into ranger groups that patrol forest areas to destroy traps, and monitor poaching and illegal logging.

It has also engaged in legal battles: HAkA was part of a court battle against a palm oil company clearing local forests, which resulted in a fine of USD 26 million for the company in question. It also halted a hydroelectric dam project which threatened elephant habitats. This money was used by the government for rehabilitation of the affected areas.

In 2016, the central government and Aceh provincial government agreed on a moratorium for palm cultivation and mining.

Ms. Farhan, a young Muslim woman, has had to defy conventions in her quest to conserve the forests of Aceh, proving a role model for other Indonesian women. She was honoured with a Whitley Award in 2016 and was named on Time 100Next list in 2022.

“We hear a lot about how conservation is fighting a losing battle. Not in the Leuser Ecosystem. We are actually winning,” she said, in an interview with Time Magazine.

This year, Ms. Farhan will receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership. In her citation, the board of trustees commended her “profound understanding of the vital connection between nature and humanity, her commitment to social justice and responsible citizenship through her work with forest communities, and her promotion of greater awareness of the need to protect the beating heart and lungs of her country’s and Asia’s rich but endangered natural resources.”

What is the Ramon Magsaysay Award?

The Ramon Magsaysay Award, considered one of Asia’s top honours, is awarded in recognition of “greatness of spirit shown in selfless service to the peoples of Asia.”

The award was instituted by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in 1957 in honour of the late President of the Philippines Ramon Magsaysay. It was first awarded in 1958. Till 2008, it was awarded in six categories: government service, public service, community leadership, peace and international understanding; emergent leadership, and journalism, literature, and creative communication arts. Except for emergent leadership, which was launched in 2000, all the other categories have now been discontinued.

To date, 322 people and 26 organisations hailing from 22 Asian nations have been awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award.

Among Indian winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Award in Emergent Leadership are Arvind Kejriwal, Indian Forest Servcies Officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi, Carnatic classical musician T.M Krishna and social worker Nileema Mishra, who founded the Sister Nivedita Rural Science Center(Bhagini Nivedita Gramin Vigyan Niketan) in the village of Bahadarpur, Maharashtra. Last year’s winner was Bangladeshi social worker Korvi Rakshand who established the JAAGO Foundation to increase. access to quality education among underpriveleged children.

Additionally, many engaged in conservation efforts have won the Ramon Magsaysay in other categories, including Ladakhi environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk.

The other awardees this year are noted Japanese filmmaker and co-founder of Ghibli studios Hayao Miyazaki, Bhutan’s Phuntsho Karma, a former Buddhist monk, scholar and social worker; Vietnamese doctor Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, who works with the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA); and the Rural Doctors Movement from Thailand.

The 2024 awardees will be honoured in a ceremony in Manila this November.

The forests of Aceh are dense, tropical and threatened— Indonesia is rich in biodiversity but also subject to the demands of a growing population and exploitation of its natural resources.

Growing citizen involvement has helped conserve the forests— and the precarious Leuser Ecosystem— from further encroachment and misuse. Leading the charge are local conservationists like Farwiza Farhan. Ms. Farhran is the co-founder of the non-profit organisation Forest Nature and Environment of Aceh Foundation (Yayasan Hutan Alam dan Lingkungan Aceh) based in Sumatra, and the winner of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership.

The Leuser Ecosystem

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago, rich in resources and bidoversity. On Sumatra Island, a 2.6 million hectare expanse in the Aceh province, called the Leuser Ecosystem, hosts unique and highly endangered species in a varying landscape that includes rainforests, swamps, coastal forests and alpine meadows. This includes critically endangered animals such as orangutans, tigers, elephants and rhinos. Indonesia has the world’s third largest area under rainforests; these rich tropical rainforests also act as a major sink for carbon. The region was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004 and a protected National Strategic Area in 2008.

However, Indonesia is also the world’s fourth most populated country, putting a severe strain on the country’s resouces and environment. The Leuser Ecosystem is under threat due to deforestation, infrastructure, commercialization, and weak law enforcement. Clearing of forested land for palm oil cultivation is another issue; this includes government-owned plantation companies like PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PT PN) I Blang Tualang, PT Tualang Raya, PT Indo Sawit Perkasa and PT Laot Bangko.

A body called the Leuser Ecosystem Management Authority or Badan Pengelola Kawasan Ekosistem Leuser (BPKEL) had been managing the region, and fighting off encroachments by vested interests on the land. But it was abolished by the Aceh government in 2013.

Following this, some former employees of BPKEL came together to a create a new forest watchdog organsation, called the Forest Nature and Environment of Aceh Foundation or Yayasan Hutan Alam dan Lingkungan Aceh (HAkA). Its aim was to continue conservation efforts for the Leuser ecosystem; one of its co-founders was Farwiza Farhan.

Farwiza Farhan’s story

Ms. Farhan was born in 1986 in Aceh. As a child, she dreamed of becoming a marine biologist and working in conservation. She studied abroad, returning with a master’s degree in environmental management.

Seeking to aid conservation efforts in her local forests, Ms. Farhan joined BPKEL. When BPKEL shut down, she co-founded HAkA in 2012. The grouo believes in mobilising the local community to protect the ecosystem and monitor forests, instead of relying on government agencies. HAkA has also mobilized the citizens of Aceh by spreading awareness about the Leuser ecosystem and its importance, both through public outreach and including it in the curriculum of local schools and colleges.

It has deployed a geographic information system and other forest monitoring tools to help local governments, communities, and universities monitor the forests in real-time. HAkA often liases with government officials, donors, and academics to achieve its conservation goals.

HAkA has also promoted community-based sustainable forest management. It runs dedicated programmes for women in which they are given paralegal and citizen-journalism training, engaged in micro-entrepreneurship, and organized into ranger groups that patrol forest areas to destroy traps, and monitor poaching and illegal logging.

It has also engaged in legal battles: HAkA was part of a court battle against a palm oil company clearing local forests, which resulted in a fine of USD 26 million for the company in question. It also halted a hydroelectric dam project which threatened elephant habitats. This money was used by the government for rehabilitation of the affected areas.

In 2016, the central government and Aceh provincial government agreed on a moratorium for palm cultivation and mining.

Ms. Farhan, a young Muslim woman, has had to defy conventions in her quest to conserve the forests of Aceh, proving a role model for other Indonesian women. She was honoured with a Whitley Award in 2016 and was named on Time 100Next list in 2022.

“We hear a lot about how conservation is fighting a losing battle. Not in the Leuser Ecosystem. We are actually winning,” she said, in an interview with Time Magazine.

This year, Ms. Farhan will receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership. In her citation, the board of trustees commended her “profound understanding of the vital connection between nature and humanity, her commitment to social justice and responsible citizenship through her work with forest communities, and her promotion of greater awareness of the need to protect the beating heart and lungs of her country’s and Asia’s rich but endangered natural resources.”

What is the Ramon Magsaysay Award?

The Ramon Magsaysay Award, considered one of Asia’s top honours, is awarded in recognition of “greatness of spirit shown in selfless service to the peoples of Asia.”

The award was instituted by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in 1957 in honour of the late President of the Philippines Ramon Magsaysay. It was first awarded in 1958. Till 2008, it was awarded in six categories: government service, public service, community leadership, peace and international understanding; emergent leadership, and journalism, literature, and creative communication arts. Except for emergent leadership, which was launched in 2000, all the other categories have now been discontinued.

To date, 322 people and 26 organisations hailing from 22 Asian nations have been awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award.

Among Indian winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Award in Emergent Leadership are Arvind Kejriwal, Indian Forest Servcies Officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi, Carnatic classical musician T.M Krishna and social worker Nileema Mishra, who founded the Sister Nivedita Rural Science Center(Bhagini Nivedita Gramin Vigyan Niketan) in the village of Bahadarpur, Maharashtra. Last year’s winner was Bangladeshi social worker Korvi Rakshand who established the JAAGO Foundation to increase. access to quality education among underpriveleged children.

Additionally, many engaged in conservation efforts have won the Ramon Magsaysay in other categories, including Ladakhi environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk.

The other awardees this year are noted Japanese filmmaker and co-founder of Ghibli studios Hayao Miyazaki, Bhutan’s Phuntsho Karma, a former Buddhist monk, scholar and social worker; Vietnamese doctor Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, who works with the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA); and the Rural Doctors Movement from Thailand.

The 2024 awardees will be honoured in a ceremony in Manila this November.