Emmanuel Peni, aka Manu, is an LGBTI and environmental activist from Sepik, in the coastal region of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Manu is also the Coordinator of Project Sepik, an environmental group which conducts lobbying on behalf of some 400,000 people living along the Sepik River, a large freshwater wetland system in PNG. Manu is fighting to halt a mining project that, he believes, could result in tailings entering into the river system, and which could also damage the tropical rainforest. The mine has been proposed by Frieda River Limited, a company wholly owned by PanAust, a Singaporean arm of Chinese state-owned Guangdong Rising Assets Management. Manu claims that “exploration work for the mine has already caused unprecedented sedimentation, damaging the livelihoods, food and water sources of local communities”. Manu reportedly has faced threats and violence because of his work.