Ben has been living and working in Indonesia since 1995. In 2000, Ben founded a grassroots organization, the Yayasan Akar Rumput Laut (YARL) in Yogyakarta, which later became the forerunner to the Blue Forests establishment. YARL officially became MAP Indonesia in 2007. MAP Indonesia, under the supervision of Ben, successfully managed the mangrove rehabilitation and Coastal Field Schools in various regions in Indonesia. After that, MAP-Indonesia transformed into Blue Forests. Ben is a co-author of several peer-reviewed papers, a peer-reviewed mangrove rehabilitation manual and recent UNEP guidelines for coastal carbon projects. Ben is currently a member of the IUCN Mangrove Specialist Group, and a Ph.D. Candidate at Charles Darwin University – Research Institute for Environment and Livelihoods.
