Rudi Putra

Rudi Putra is an Indonesian biologist who received a Goldman Environmental Prize in 2014 for his efforts to combat illegal logging, forest encroachment for palm oil production, and policies that open endangered ecosystems to mining and plantation industries. Putra is a biologist who worked in Aceh Province, and who received a prize of $175,000 from his winning of the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2014. Putra was selected as the winner in the category 'Island and Island Nations'. He was recognized for his campaign to reclaim the land under illegal palm oil plantations in the Leuser Ecosystem, Sumatra, and to clear them in order to re-establish habitat for endangered orangutans, tigers, rhinoceros, and elephants, as well as lobbying against political plans to remove protected status from Aceh's primary forests. In 2013, these activities culminated in the establishment of a petition that asked the Indonesian government to enforce conservation law and reject the proposals in Aceh. The petition received more than 1.4 million signatures, increasing awareness of environmental issues in Indonesia and attracting widespread international condemnation.