The Jantho ranger Wen Rizky Rianda was born in February 2004 in the village of Jantho where he still lives with his sister Nadratul and his parents. After completing mandatory schooling, he attended a vocational college and trained as a welder. Wen’s passion for nature conservation began a few years ago when he regularly visited our Fajar Lestari beekeeping centre with other nature-loving students. In 2024, he took part in a nature conservation camp run by our sister foundation YEL. In the camp young people are made aware of the importance of nature conservation and are encouraged to do something to help protect the precious ecosystem on their doorstep. That’s when he got hooked and wanted to delve deeper into the subject.

Since then, Wen has been campaigning for nature conservation in the Jantho region. He attracts the most attention through his social media account (uteun_raya), where he shares information about nature and biodiversity in the Jantho Nature Reserve. One of his posts highlighted the murky water conditions in the Krueng Aceh River, which were thought to be caused by illegal gold mining upstream. This post caught the attention of the local authorities, who subsequently launched an investigation into the quality of the water.

Wen is involved with IPJL (Ikatan Pemuda Jantho Lestari), a group of young people from the villages around the Jantho Nature Reserve. They are all committed to environmental and nature conservation in their region. Last year, he joined one of the SMART patrol teams that regularly patrol the protected area to identify dangers and threats in the orangutans’ habitat and report them to the authorities.

Wen says he was nervous on his first SMART patrol because he had to sleep in the forest. It is after all the habitat of the Sumatran tiger and other wildlife. At first, he also had to get used to covering long distances on foot every day. Over time, however, he began to enjoy the experience. Encounters with wildlife are now among the highlights of the ten-day patrol. His first encounter with an orangutan in the wild is an unforgettable experience. But spotting a dhole (Cuon alpinus), a critically endangered species, also fills him with pride.

He has almost 1,000 followers on his Instagram account. Through social media, the young conservationist raises awareness of environmental issues in the Jantho region. At the same time, he can also highlight the beauty of nature. He hopes that his enthusiasm will inspire other young people in his community to stand up for the forests and biodiversity and thus secure their livelihoods in the long term.