Cik Manan

Abdul Manan, also known as Cik Manan, hails from Sungai Tohor village, a small community in fire-ravaged Riau province. Manan petitioned President Joko Widodo to come witness for himself the devastating impacts on the province of decades of forest and peatland destruction by the pulp and palm oil industries. Manan’s village on the east coast of Sumatra is situated where clearing was at its worst, and he started a petition on change.org to urge the Indonesian President to visit and see for himself. 28,000 signatures later, President Jokowi was indeed in Manan’s town, having flown over charred and cleared rainforest to get there.