Working Exchange Fellows: Nepal, Indonesia, Honduras

E-LAW U.S. hosts visitors in Eugene to help them gain skills and resources they need to protect the environment, including speaking English, understanding U.S. environmental law, and working with U.S. NGOs and agencies. We have hosted visiting fellows from Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Uruguay, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe.

Prakash Nath Upreti, Biratnagar, Nepal

Prakash Nath Upreti is the Eastern Regional Director of the Forum for Protection of Public Interest (Pro Public), Nepal’s leading public interest law organization. He is the former Vice President of the Nepal Bar Association.

Prakash traveled to Eugene to work with E-LAW U.S. attorneys and scientists on efforts to strengthen the rule of law in Nepal. Pro Public’s Biratnagar office is working to conserve and rehabilitate wetlands around Chimdi Lake, and protect communities from polluting tanneries.

Pro Public has won many court victories protecting the environment and human rights in Nepal. Prakash’s Working Exchange Fellowship is supported by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. For more information about Pro Public, please visit: www.propublic.org.

Windu Kisworo, Jakarta, Indonesia

Windu Kisworo is a staff attorney at the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL). He came to work at E-LAW U.S. after a two-month fellowship at the Center for International Environmental Law in Washington, D.C.

At E-LAW U.S., Windu worked closely with Staff Scientist Mark Chernaik to understand the environmental impacts of dumping mining wastes at sea. Although “marine tailings disposal” is prohibited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, multinational mining companies in Indonesia continue this hazardous practice.

"Proponents of marine tailings disposal claim that heavy metal contaminants stay put in deep water, but studies indicate these contaminants migrate and enter the marine food chain," says Mark. ICEL is using this information to challenge hazardous mining operations and protect local communities.

For the past four years, Windu has managed ICEL’s Environmental Law and enforcement Training Program. The program has worked with the Supreme Court of Indonesia to train 800 judges, 150 police officers, 150 prosecutors, and 200 staff from the Ministry of the Environment.

ICEL has a strong record of protecting the environment and public health in Indonesia, including drafting and passing many laws which have enabled citizens to participate in critical decisions. For example, ICEL helped draft and pass the first Freedom of Information Act, legislation creating a procedure for class action law suits, the Whistle Blower Protection Act, and a law creating a right to participate in and observe decision makers performing their public duties.

Clarisa Vega, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Clarisa Vega is a former environmental prosecutor who now provides legal support to environmental and indigenous rights groups participating in the "Marcha por la Vida." Tens of thousands of indigenous and other Hondurans make this annual pilgrimage to the office of the president in Tegucigalpa to demand land rights and a stop to deforestation and other environmental abuses.

Unsustainable logging, mining, and fishing industries have devastated Honduras and the livelihoods of local communities. “Although Honduras entered a new era of democratic rule in 1981, the government has hardly improved social and economic conditions. There is a concentration of wealth and power, and the indigenous population is marginalized,” says Clarisa.

Clarisa’s ten-week Working Exchange Fellowship includes one-on-one collaboration with E-LAW U.S. attorneys and scientists on efforts to protect natural resources in Honduras, including the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. Clarisa is also taking an intensive English program at the University of Oregon’s American English Institute.

Clarisa has shared her challenging work in Honduras with several local groups, including the Bioneers, the West Cascade Peace Corps Assocation, and the Global Trends-Local Choices program. Her Fellowship is supported by the Summit Foundation and the Spirit Mountain Community Fund.