Submitted by Aristia Hady Wanjaya. Aristia Hady Wanjaya was one of our inspiring youth moderators of the Youth in Southeast Asia session at the Forests Asia Summit held in Jakarta in May this year. During the youth session Aristia led a series of roundtable discussions to come up with recommendations, from youth, for equitable benefit sharing and sustainable management of Southeast Asia’s forests.
Ahead of the youth activities at December’s Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) in Peru, which will focus on building youth skills and knowledge to become leaders and effectively contribute to discussions, we catch up with Aristia to find out what he learnt from his leadership role at Forests Asia, and ask what his advice is for the upcoming youth leaders and participants in the 2014 GLF. Register to attend the youth session here.
- Where were you with your career before the Forests Asia youth session in May 2014? What’s changed the most for you in the last 6 months? What projects are you currently working on?
Prior to the Forest Asia session I was preparing to graduate from my Master’s program and was getting ready to launch my professional career. Since graduating and participating in the Forest Asia session, I have really noticed that people see me differently, especially after obtaining a degree from a reputable university. Even though I am still a youth – a young professional – in the forestry sector, people respect me.
Currently, I am working on a national REDD+ project in Central Kalimantan, supporting several villages as they prepare themselves to implement REDD+ in their village in the near future.
- What was the most concrete benefit or opportunity you gained by participating in the Forests Asia youth session?
The most concrete benefit that I gained from the Forests Asia Youth Session was the experience of being involved in such a big international event. I had the opportunity to network with many important actors in the forestry sector and the feeling I had of being so involved really increased my confidence to step up further. It is important since it will be youth like me who will soon be the ones to take over forest management.
- What do you think has been one of the most important moments for youth engagement in climate change, land use or sustainable development and what should we learn from this?
This is the beginning of the era of youth involvement. Big events like the Forests Asia Summit and GLF in Peru will educate many important actors working in forestry and environmental sectors around the world on how important youth are, especially in tackling current environmental issues. The lesson learned is that youth should be involved further in this sectors and be part of the discussions. Youth should not only be identified as targets for certain activities, they must be recognized as the future. In my current REDD+ project we are developing a Green School in order to prepare youth to be effective agents of change. We see that to create a better environment we need to involve young people immediately.
- Do you have any advice for the youth leaders and participants in the upcoming youth session in Peru? (This could be related to their participation, career advice that you have received etc).
Take the stage and confidently show that youth will be the main actors in the future. Develop a discussion that consists of practical actions on the field. Act now – stop talking about the theory. Moreover, please take this opportunity to talk and network with leading actors in forestry and climate change. Perhaps it will be useful for your future career.
This belongs to a blog series profiling youth leadership in landscapes. Tell us your youth story – submit blogs to landscapes.youth@gmail.com
