In today's episode of Forest Builders, we are interviewing online with Farwiza Farhan .

Farwiza is well known as a conservation hero. You may have seen her on the cover of the Times as the leader of the Time 100 list. She received multiple accolades for her work with HAKA foundation and her dedication to save the Leuser ecosystem : National Geographic Wayfinder Award, Whitley Award, the Ramon Magsasay Award in the Emergent Leadership, just to name a few.

But what is the daily life of a conservation hero, and what is Farwiza’s specific philosophy about conservation ? A lot is being said about the importance of local communities, but what can organization like HAKA do on the ground to involve them in conservation efforts? Join me to find out Farwiza’s take on that.

For a deeper dive in Farwiza’s world, you can listen to her Ted Talk here

Forest Builders is a podcast hosted by Khanh-Linh bringing to you the stories of people who dedicate their work to the preservation of our forests. From guerilla activists to venture capitalists, from law makers to community volunteers, our guests come in all kind of shapes but they share one common thing – they found their way to action. Forest Builders is a podcast by Nature Builders Podcasts, a podcast series bringing the spotlight on conservation heroes and their stories. Listen to our brother podcast Blue Builders, hosted by the amazing Romain Joly for ocean conservation stories!

Did you enjoy the episode? Don't hesitate to shoot stars, or a comment to let me know how to make it even better .

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In today's episode, we are interviewing online with Dimitri Moreels. Dimitri’s entrepreneurship journey started 20 years ago, and took him from Belgium to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he currently lives. Today, he is the founder and co-CEO of Envirium Life Sciences, a group that encompasses several businesses : Virunga Enzymes, COPAK and Virunga Origins.

Dimitri shared his story of building business ventures in Congo, the challenges of building for the long run in a place where basic infrastructures and safety are not a given, but also the rewards of being able to make a difference for the communities and for nature with the Virunga National Park (the one that made it on Netflix)

Our discussion explored the role of economic development and for-profit companies in the preservation of nature. Here’s the angle of an entrepreneur who believes that sustainability starts with profits, and that the restauration of the park is deeply rooted in the economic development of the region. We also talked about Dimitri’s latest venture Virunga Origins, where he got onboard a famous Belgian chocolatier, Dominique Persoone, and the Virunga National Park itself as co-founders.

For a deeper dive in Dimitri's world, order a piece of Virunga Origins Chocolate here to chew on while you watch the Virunga documentary on netflix

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In this episode of Forest Builders, we are listening to Dr Ryan Merrill, the co-founder of the Global Mangrove Trust (GMT)

GMT is a non profit organization based in Singapore whose mission is to enable the preservation and development of mangroves – all around the world. Because you will learn in this episode how mangrove forestry is an effective, yet overlooked, solution against climate change (and that is not only because mangrove are carbon sinks – 4 to 5 times more powerful than rainforests in capturing carbon)

Effective blue carbon projects are not many to come by, and scaling them is today’s challenge. But Dr. Ryan is also a researcher on the topic of sustainability, strategy and innovation, topics on which he taught at Singapore Management University and University of Southern California. So the solution he designed with the founders of the Global Mangrove Trust is actually all about scale.

Forest Builders is a podcast hosted by Khanh-Linh bringing to you the stories of people who dedicate their work to the preservation of our forests. From guerilla activists to venture capitalists, from law makers to community volunteers, our guests come in all kind of shapes but they share one common thing – they found their way to action.

Did you enjoy the episode? Let me know how to make it even better here. You can also find deeper dives on topics mentioned

Dr Ryan's "Miracle Mangroves" Business Case from where his story started

Arnie Fjortoft's pioneering work on mangrove restoration in Myanmar

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