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Microbiologist, forester, and soil scientist Smits shares his personal journey: from witnessing firsthand environmental and human crises in Indonesia, to making the economic case for sustainable crops, to the power of a Village Hub--Smits' own invention--a cooperative combination health, communications, and business center for rural agricultural communities.
The founder of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation and Chairman of the Masarang Foundation in Indonesia, Willie Smits has rescued tens of thousands of animals from the illegal wildlife trade and planted several million trees. He uses his knowledge of diverse scientific fields, including plant propagation and microbiology, forestry, carbon issues, social agroforestry, environmental monitoring, and alternative energy, for the betterment of people and their living environment. Masarang Foundation’s most well-known project is its palm sugar factory, a zero-waste facility that provides sustainable jobs and saves 200,000 trees each year. Smits directs a university in Indonesia, his home for 30 years, and has trained more than 1,000 Indonesian environmental experts and hundreds of Ph.D. students. He is the recipient of many awards and was knighted in his country of origin, The Netherlands.
To learn more about Smits' orangutan conservation efforts, visit Orangutan Outreach and TED.
What is your momentum? Nature is beautiful. Destroying its complexity is suicidal for mankind. I want to contribute to a better and fair future for people and nature.
