Aleta Baun

Aleta Baun is an Indonesian environmental activist. She has been described as the Indonesian Avatar.

She won the 2013 Goldman Environmental Prize for organizing hundreds of local villagers to peacefully occupy marble mining sites in “weaving protests,” to stop destruction of sacred forest land on Mutis Mountain on the island of Timor.

Biography A leader of indigenous Mollo people, she was born to a family of farmers. Having lost her mother at a young age, she was raised by other women and elders in the village who taught her to respect the environment as a source of their spiritual identity and livelihood. As a community leader sharing traditional knowledge, she eventually became known as “Mama Aleta.” To help with this, she obtained a law degree in 2011 from Universitas Tritunggal Surabaya.

In 2014, Aleta Baun was elected as a member of the regional council (regional parliament) in East Nusa Tenggara. According to the advocacy group Peace Women Across the Globe (PWAG) activist Olin Monteiro, Baun founded an anti-mining organization and has promoted weaving with more environmentally friendly, natural yarns.