Emmanuela Shinta
Founder, Ranu Welum Foundation
she, her, hers
“I believe that technology in the hands of Indigenous people is very powerful; I choose storytelling and activism as my methods to help Indigenous communities reclaim their narratives and assert their rights on the global stage.”
Emmanuela Shinta is a Dayak leader, environmentalist, filmmaker, and writer who works toward environmental justice and Indigenous rights at the grassroots and international levels. Collaborating with Indigenous youths, she uses digital storytelling and social media to amplify their voices and center Indigenous strategies in environmental justice decision-making.
In 2014, Emmanuela founded Ranu Welum Foundation, an Indigenous-led organization that combines traditional wisdom with modern technology to ensure these communities’ cultural survival, forest protection and restoration, and economic and land rights. Ranu Welum amplifies Indigenous digital storytelling campaigns, which have mobilized youth activists in urban areas and across villages in four provinces. These young people have created youth fire brigades, reforested peatlands with more than 28,000 trees while saving 2,962 hectares of land and forest from commercial extraction practices, created an Indigenous-based conservation model to protect 4,400 hectares of forest in South Barito, Kalimantan, Indonesia. Emmanuela has also trained more than 180 Indigenous filmmakers and produced and directed 18 films.
Emmanuela believes that funding and resources must become more accessible to Indigenous communities and grassroot organizations working on sustainable forest and land management. For the future of the earth and of humanity, we must honor the practices and leadership of Indigenous communities by following their lead in stewarding our priceless natural resources.