Goldman Environmental Prize
Encyclopedia
The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environment
al activists, one from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa
, Asia
, Europe
, Islands and Island Nations, North America
, and South
and Central America
. The prize includes a no-strings-attached award of US$150,000 per recipient. Since the Goldman Environmental Prize was established in 1990, a total of $13.2 million has been awarded to 139 honorees from 79 countries, as of 2010. The Goldman Environmental Prize is headquartered in San Francisco, California
.
The Goldman Environmental Prize was created in 1990 by civic leaders and philanthropists Richard N. Goldman and his wife, Rhoda H. Goldman. Richard Goldman died at age 90 in 2010 and was predeceased by his wife. Richard Goldman founded Goldman Insurance Services in San Francisco. Rhoda Goldman was a great-grand-niece of Levi Strauss
, founder of the worldwide clothing company.
The Goldman Environmental Prize winners are selected by an international jury who receive confidential nominations submitted by a worldwide network of environmental organizations and individuals. Prize winners participate in a 10-day tour of San Francisco and Washington, D.C., for an awards ceremony and presentation, news conferences, media briefings and meetings with political, public policy, financial and environmental leaders. Amy Lyons is executive director of the foundation that awards the prize in 2010.
, 40, Accra
, Ghana
.
Visionary public interest lawyer Rudolf Amenga-Etego of Ghana has gained international recognition for suspending a major water privatization
project backed by the World Bank. The devastating plan would further impede access to clean drinking water, a crisis linked to high rates of disease in low-income communities. The privatization would also place an especially harsh burden on Ghanaian girls, whose school work suffers because they literally shoulder the responsibility of providing water for their families.
Rashida Bee
, 48, and Champa Devi Shukla
, 52, Bhopal, India
.
Despite their poverty and poor health due to toxic gas exposure, Bee and Shukla have emerged as leaders in the international fight to hold Dow Chemical accountable for the infamous 1984 Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal, India that killed 20,000 and left more than 150,000 seriously injured. (Union Carbide became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow in 1999.) They organized the first global hunger strike to draw international attention to Dow's deadly legacy and traveled the world to protest at Dow shareholder meetings. Now on the 20th anniversary of the disaster, Bee and Shukla are plaintiffs in a class action suit demanding a clean up of the noxious factory site and damages to cover medical monitoring and costs incurred from years of soil and water contamination.
Libia Grueso
, 43, Buenaventura
, Colombia
.
In a major victory for the Afro-Colombian civil rights movement, social worker and activist Libia Grueso secured more than 5.9 million acres (24,000 km²) in territorial rights for the country's black rural communities, including those in Colombias lush Pacific rainforest. Years of armed conflict, rapacious development and the narcotics industry have displaced Afro-Colombians and created an ecological catastrophe. Despite life-threatening circumstances, Grueso's brave work passing Law 70, historic legislation that officially grants Afro-Colombians territorial rights on lands they have populated for hundreds of years, gives hope to this environmental justice struggle.
Manana Kochladze
, 32, Tbilisi
, Georgia
.
British Petroleum is leading an international consortium, which includes California-based Unocal, for the construction of the $3 billion BTC project that would establish the largest pipeline in the world, crossing through Georgia, a country mired in poverty and political instability since gaining independence from Russia in 1991. For the U.S., the pipeline is a way to tap oil reserves
in former Soviet states while bypassing Iran and Russia. But the route would run through a national park and pristine mountain gorge, home to Georgia's commercially prized mineral water and one of the few successful enterprises in Georgia's economy. Kochladze's fearless tenacity in the face of widespread government corruption and multinational industry interests has won critical concessions to protect local villagers and the environment and has forced a thorough examination of the project's environmental and health impact.
Demetrio do Amaral de Carvalho
, 37, Dili
, East Timor
.
Demetrio do Amaral de Carvalho is a founding father and environmental hero of East Timor, the world's newest nation. A former resistance leader during the Indonesian occupation, de Carvalho is largely credited for spearheading the progressive inclusion of environmental justice tenets in East Timor's constitution. These principles will play a critical legal and symbolic role in guiding sustainable management of the island's rainforests, coral reefs and vast oil and gas reserves.
Margie Richard, 62, Norco, Louisiana
, USA.
Richard grew up just 25 feet (7.6 m) away from the fence line of a Shell Chemical plant the size of nine American football fields that releases more than 2 million pounds (900 metric tons) of toxic chemicals into the air each year. Four generations of Richard's family have lived in the Old Diamond neighborhood of Norco, Louisiana, located within the area known as "Cancer Alley". High rates of cancer, birth defects and other serious health ailments plague the town's 1,500 predominantly African-American residents. For more than 13 years, Richard led a community campaign demanding fair and just resettlement costs from Shell for her family and neighbors too impoverished to relocate to a safe area. In 2002, thanks largely to Richard's efforts, Shell agreed to cover relocation costs for Old Diamond's residents: the first community relocation victory of its kind in the Deep South. The multinational giant also agreed to reduce their emissions at the Norco plant by 30 percent.
Siakor along with members of the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) Liberia and the SAMFU Foundation, Liberia, exposed evidence that Liberia President Charles Taylor used profits of unchecked, rampant logging to pay the costs of a brutal 14-year war. Such evidence—collected at great personal risk to Silas and members of the SDI and SAMFU—led the United Nations Security Council to ban the export of Liberian timber.
Yu Xiaogang
, 55, China.
Chinese environmentalist Yu Xiaogang spent years creating groundbreaking watershed management programs while researching and documenting the socioeconomic impact dams had on local Chinese communities. His reports are credited as being a primary reason the central government has paid additional restitution to villagers displaced by existing dams and created new guidelines calling for social impact assessments when planning major developments.
Olya Melen
, 26, Ukraine.
Melen used legal channels to challenge the government’s plan to build a major canal that would have cut through protected wetlands in the Danube Delta, one of the most valuable wetlands in Europe. For her efforts, she came under critical scrutiny by officials in the notoriously corrupt pre-Orange Revolution regime, under which few spoke out against the government for fear of death or being “disappeared.”
Anne Kajir
, 32, Papua New Guinea.
Attorney Anne Kajir uncovered evidence of widespread corruption and complicity in the Papua New Guinea government that allowed rampant, illegal logging that is destroying the largest remaining intact block of tropical forest in the Asia Pacific region In 1997, her first year practicing law, Kajir successfully defended a precedent-setting appeal in the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea that forced the logging interests to pay damages to indigenous land owners.
Craig E. Williams
, 58, Kentucky.
Williams convinced the Pentagon to stop plans to incinerate decaying caches of chemical weapons stockpiled around the United States, and has built a nationwide grassroots coalition to lobby for safe disposal solutions. Williams co-founded the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, which won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for its international campaign to ban landmines.
Tarcisio Feitosa da Silva
, 35, Brazil.
Feitosa has led a successful campaign to create a mosaic of protected areas that together with existing indigenous lands make up a 240,000 square kilometer (93,000 mi²) corridor area that is bigger than the state of Minnesota and is the largest area of protected tropical forest in the world. Despite death threats, he has exposed illegal logging activities to the Brazilian government over the past 10 years.
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
al activists, one from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Islands and Island Nations, North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, and South
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
and Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
. The prize includes a no-strings-attached award of US$150,000 per recipient. Since the Goldman Environmental Prize was established in 1990, a total of $13.2 million has been awarded to 139 honorees from 79 countries, as of 2010. The Goldman Environmental Prize is headquartered in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
.
The Goldman Environmental Prize was created in 1990 by civic leaders and philanthropists Richard N. Goldman and his wife, Rhoda H. Goldman. Richard Goldman died at age 90 in 2010 and was predeceased by his wife. Richard Goldman founded Goldman Insurance Services in San Francisco. Rhoda Goldman was a great-grand-niece of Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss was a German-Jewish immigrant to the United States who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm, Levi Strauss & Co., began in 1853 in San Francisco, California.-Origins:...
, founder of the worldwide clothing company.
The Goldman Environmental Prize winners are selected by an international jury who receive confidential nominations submitted by a worldwide network of environmental organizations and individuals. Prize winners participate in a 10-day tour of San Francisco and Washington, D.C., for an awards ceremony and presentation, news conferences, media briefings and meetings with political, public policy, financial and environmental leaders. Amy Lyons is executive director of the foundation that awards the prize in 2010.
1990
- Robert BrownBob BrownRobert James Brown is an Australian senator, the inaugural Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Greens and was the first openly gay member of the Parliament of Australia...
(Australia) - Lois GibbsLois GibbsLois Marie Gibbs is an American environmental activist.Gibbs's involvement in environmental causes began in 1978 when she discovered that her 7-year-old son's elementary school in Niagara Falls, New York was built on a toxic waste dump. Subsequent investigation revealed that her entire...
(USA) - Janet GibsonJanet GibsonJanet Gibson is a biologist from Belize. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1990 for her efforts on conservation of the marine ecosystems outside the Belizean coast, in particular the barrier reef system...
(Belize) - Harrison Ngau LaingHarrison Ngau LaingHarrison Ngau Laing is a Malaysian environmentalist and politician, a member of the Dayak Kayan tribe. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1990 for his work to prevent deforestation of the Sarawak region. He was a member of the Parliament from 1990.- References :...
(Malaysia) - János VarghaJános VarghaJános Vargha is a Hungarian biologist, environmentalist and photographer. He organized opposition in particular against the projected Nagymaros dam in the Danube river system. He founded Duna Kör, an environmental movement which was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1985. He was also awarded...
(Hungary) - Michael WerikheMichael WerikheMichael Werikhe , also known as “the Rhino Man” was a Kenyan conservationist. He became famous through his long fundraising walks in East Africa and overseas. He started his campaign after learning how drastically Black Rhinos had decreased in Africa. Wherever he walked, his arrival was greeted...
(Kenya)
1991
- Wangari Muta Maathai (Kenya)
- Eha Kern & Roland Tiensuu (Sweden)
- Evaristo NugkuagEvaristo NugkuagEvaristo Nugkuag is an activist for environmental and indigenous people causes. He is a member of the Aguaruna. He organized the Alliance of the Indian Peoples of the Peruvian Amazon and Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica "COICA" to serve indigenous people.-...
(Peru) - Yoichi KurodaYoichi Kurodais a Japanese environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1991 for his campaign against Japan's irresponsible use of tropical hardwoods.He was founder of the activist organization Japan Tropical Forest Action Network ....
(Japan) - Samuel LaBuddeSamuel LaBuddeSamuel LaBudde is an American biologist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1991 for his efforts on preserving wildlife and endangered species....
(USA) - Cath WallaceCath WallaceCatherine C. "Cath" Wallace is a New Zealand environmentalist and academic. She is a lecturer in economics and public policy at Victoria University of Wellington, and has been active in environment organizations in New Zealand...
(New Zealand) - Lois Marie Gibbs (USA)
1992
- Jeton AnjainJeton AnjainJeton Anjain was a Minister of Health and a senator of the Marshall Islands Parliament. He received the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1992, for his efforts to help people from the Rongelap Atoll, which was subject to nuclear contamination after the test of the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb in...
(Marshall Islands) - Medha PatkarMedha PatkarMedha Patkar is an Indian social activist. She is known for her role in Narmada Bachao Andolan. She has also filed a public interest petition in the Bombay high court against Lavasa along with other members of National Alliance of People's Movements , including Anna Hazare.-Personal life:Medha...
(India) - Wadja EgnankouWadja EgnankouWadja Egnankou is a scientist from the Ivory Coast, a researcher at the University of Abidjan. He received the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1992, for his efforts to protect the mangrove forests of the country.-References:...
(Ivory Coast) - Christine JeanChristine JeanChristine Jean is an environmental activist from France. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1992 for her efforts on preserving The Loire River, the longest river in France, from dam constructions.-References:...
(France) - Colleen McCroryColleen McCroryColleen McCrory was a Canadian environmental activist.She was born in New Denver, British Columbia. McCrory founded the Valhalla Wilderness Society, a British Columbia environmental group, in 1975....
(Canada) - Carlos Alberto RicardoCarlos Alberto RicardoCarlos Alberto Ricardo is a Brazilian environment pioneer. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1992, for his contribution to environment policy in Brazil.- References :...
(Brazil)
1993
- Margaret JacobsohnMargaret JacobsohnMargaret Jacobsohn is a Namibian environmentalist. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1993, jointly with Garth Owen-Smith, for their efforts on conservation of wildlife in rural Namibia.She was awarded the Global 500 Roll of Honour in 1994....
& Garth Owen-SmithGarth Owen-SmithGarth Owen-Smith is a Namibian environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1993, jointly with Margaret Jacobsohn, for their efforts on conservation of wildlife in Namibia, where illegal hunting was threatening species such as elephants and black rhinos.- References :...
(Namibia) - Juan MayrJuan MayrJuan Mayr Maldonado is a Colombian photographer and environmentalist. From 1993 to 1996, Mayr was elected vice-president of the World Conservation Union. In 1998 he became Minister of Environment of Colombia...
(Colombia) - Dai QingDai QingDai Qing, born in August 1941, is a journalist and activist for China-related issues; most significantly against the Three Gorges Dam Project. Dai is also an author who has published many influential books, articles, and journals.-Early life:Dai, also called Fu Ning , was born in Chongqing,...
(China) - John SinclairJohn Sinclair (environmentalist)John Sinclair received the Global 500 Roll of Honour award in 1990, and was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1993....
(Australia) - JoAnn TallJoAnn TallJoAnn Tall is an environmental activist of the Oglala Lakota tribe who has worked to ensure the people have a chance to approve major projects for energy development...
(USA) - Sviatoslav ZabelinSviatoslav ZabelinSviatoslav Zabelin is a Russian biologist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1993 for his role in forming Russian environment policy.-References:...
(Russia)
1994
- Matthew Coon ComeMatthew Coon ComeMatthew Coon Come is a Canadian politician and activist of Cree descent. He was National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations from 2000 to 2003.Born near Mistissini, Quebec, Coon Come was first educated in a residential school...
(Canada) - Tuenjai DeetesTuenjai DeetesTuenjai Deetes received the Global 500 Roll of Honour in 1992, and was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1994. Deetes has been working with the Thai hill tribes since the early 1970s. She co-founded the Hill Area Development Foundation in 1986.-References:...
(Thailand) - Laila Iskander Kamel (Egypt)
- Luis MacasLuis MacasLuis Macas Ambuludí is a Kichwa politician and intellectual from Saraguro Ecuador.Macas has honorary university degrees in anthropology, linguistics and jurisprudence. He was one of the founders of the CONAIE and of the Pachakutik Movement, and was member of the National Congress of Ecuador...
(Ecuador) - Heffa SchückingHeffa SchückingHeffa Schücking is a German environmentalist. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1994, for her works to protect the rainforests.-References:...
(Germany) - Andrew SimmonsAndrew SimmonsAndrew Simmons , better known by his ring name Andy Boy Simmonz, is a British professional wrestler. He is currently working in the independent circuit in the United Kingdom for several promotions. Simmons' most high profile work in the UK came in the Frontier Wrestling Alliance under the face...
(St. Vincent and the Grenadines)
1995
- Aurora CastilloAurora CastilloAurora Castillo was a Mexican-American environmentalist from Los Angeles, California. She co-founded The Mothers of East Los Angeles in 1984. The MELA organization has fought against a scheduled oil pipeline, and against a planned toxic waste incinerator, and they stopped a waste treatment plant...
(USA) - Yul ChoiYul ChoiYul Choi is a South Korean activist, environmentalist and organizer. He chaired the Korean Anti-Pollution Movement from 1988, and led the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement from 1993. He was awarded the Global 500 Roll of Honour in 1994 and the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1995...
(South (Korea) - Noah IdechongNoah IdechongNoah Idechong is an environmental activist from Palau, and former chief of Palau's Division of Marine Resources. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1995 for his efforts in marine conservation. Idechong currently serves as Speaker of the House of Delegates of Palau.-References:...
(Palau) - Emma MustEmma MustEmma Must is an English environmental activist, teacher, and poet who previously worked as a librarian. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1995 for her efforts on land protection, particularly her influence on British road building policies. She brought attention to Twyford...
(England) - Ricardo NavarroRicardo NavarroRicardo Navarro is an engineer from El Salvador. He was founder and president of the environmental organization CESTA . He received the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1995, for his contributions to sustainable development.-References:...
(El Salvador) - Ken Saro-WiwaKen Saro-WiwaKenule "Ken" Beeson Saro Wiwa was a Nigerian author, television producer, environmental activist, and winner of the Right Livelihood Award and the Goldman Environmental Prize...
(Nigeria)
1996
- Ndyakira AmootiNdyakira AmootiNdyakira Ntamuhiira Amooti was a Ugandan children's writer, journalist and environmentalist, awarded the Global 500 Roll of Honour and winner of the Goldman Environment Prize.-Life and career:...
(Uganda) - Bill Ballantine (New Zealand)
- Edwin BustillosEdwin BustillosEdwin Bustillos was an agricultural engineer from Mexico. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1996, for his efforts on preservation of land in the Sierra Madre Occidental.-References:...
(Mexico) - M.C. MehtaMahesh Chandra MehtaMahesh Chandra Mehta is a public interest attorney from India. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1996 for his continuous fights in Indian courts against pollution-causing industries. He received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Asia for Public Service in 1997.-References:...
(India) - Marina SilvaMarina SilvaMaria Osmarina Marina Silva Vaz de Lima is a Brazilian environmentalist and politician. Ms. Silva was a colleague of Chico Mendes, who was assassinated for defending the Amazon environment. She was a member of the Partido dos Trabalhadores until August 19, 2009 and served as a senator before...
(Brasil) - Albena SimeonovaAlbena SimeonovaAlbena Simeonova is a Bulgarian environmental activist. She is a key figure in the opposition to the Bulgarian Belene nuclear power plant.- Education / Profession :...
(Bulgaria)
1997
- Nick CarterNick Carter (Zambia)Nick Carter was a Zambian environmentalist.He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1997, for his efforts on documenting pirate whaling and global wildlife crime, and his contributions to organizing activities leading to the Lusaka Agreement between six African countries in September...
(Zambia) - Loir Botor DingitLoir Botor DingitLoir Botor Dingit was a rattan farmer and Paramount Chief from Indonesia. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1997 for his efforts on forest protection.-References:...
(Indonesia) - Alexander NikitinAlexander NikitinAleksander Nikitin, a Russian former submarine officer and nuclear safety inspector turned environmentalist, started to co-operate with Norwegian environmental Bellona Foundation in 1994. He was arrested in February 1996 by Russian FSB and charged with treason through espionage for his...
(Russia) - Juan Pablo OrregoJuan Pablo OrregoJuan Pablo Orrego is a Chilean environmentalist, president of the activist group Grupo de Acción por el Biobío, which represents the indigenous Pehuenche people in the Biobío Region...
(Chile) - Fuiono SenioFuiono SenioFuiono Senio was a chief and environmentalist from Savai'i in Western Samoa. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1997, shared with Paul Alan Cox, for their contributions to the protection of rainforests of Falealupo....
& Paul Alan CoxPaul Alan CoxDr. Paul Alan Cox is an ethnobotanist whose scientific research focuses on the ecology of island plants and the uses of plants by island peoples. After receiving his B.S. in Botany from Brigham Young University, he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to read for his M.Sc. in Ecology at the...
(Western Samoa) - Terri SwearingenTerri SwearingenTerri Swearingen is a nurse from the state of Ohio.She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1997, for organizing the protests against Waste Technologies Industries toxic waste incinerator in the Appalachian town of East Liverpool, Ohio. Swearingen's efforts influenced stricter nationwide...
(USA)
1998
- Anna GiordanoAnna GiordanoAnna Giordano is a Sicilian conservationist. A leader of Sicily's World Wide Fund for Nature, she won the Goldman Prize in 1998. She's known because of her work for the protection of wild birds and against the damages that the bridge over the Strait of Messina would cause in the environment.She...
(Italia) - Kory JohnsonKory JohnsonKory Johnson is an American environmentalist from Arizona.In 1991, while still a young girl, Johnson led a successful effort by Children for a Safe Environment to stop a hazardous waste dump being built in her local area...
(USA) - Berito Kuwaru'waBerito Kuwaru'waBerito Kuwaru'wa is a member of the Colombian U'wa people. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1998 for his role as spokesperson in conflicts between the U'wa people and the petroleum industry.-References:...
(Colombia) - Atherton MartinAtherton MartinAtherton Martin is a Dominican agronomist and environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1998, for his efforts on protecting tropical forests from environments threats due to planned large copper mining operations.- References :...
(Commonwealth of Dominica) - Sven "Bobby" Peek (South Africa)
- Hirofumi YamashitaHirofumi YamashitaHirofumi Yamashita was a Japanese ichthyologist and environmentalist.He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1998 for his efforts on marine protection.-References:...
(Japan)
1999
- Jacqui KatonaJacqui KatonaJacqui Katona is a western-educated Aboriginal woman who led the campaign to stop the Jabiluka uranium mine in the Northern Territory. In 1998 the Mirrar Aboriginal people, together with environmental groups, used peaceful on-site civil disobedience to create one of the largest blockades in...
& Yvonne MargarulaYvonne MargarulaYvonne Margarula won the 1998 Friends of the Earth International Environment Award and the 1998 Nuclear-Free Future Award. She also won the 1999 U.S...
(Australia) - Michal KravcikMichal KravčíkMichal Kravčík is a Slovak hydrologist and environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1999, for his contributions to the water management of the Torysa River.- References :...
(Slovakia) - Bernard MartinBernard MartinHon. Bernard Martin MLC was appointed to the New Zealand Legislative Council in 1936, and was Speaker from 1948 to 1950.He was a pioneer of the Labour Party. Born in England, he migrated to New Zealand in 1900, and was a member of the first Executive of the Labour Party in 1916. From Auckland, he...
(Canada) - Samuel NguiffoSamuel NguiffoSamuel Nguiffo is a Cameroonian lawyer. He is manager of the Center for Environment and Development in Yaoundé. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1999, for his efforts on protection of the tropical rainforests of Central Africa.- References :...
(Cameroon) - Jorge VarelaJorge VarelaJorge Varela is an environmentalist from Honduras. He received the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1999, for his contribution to marine conservation in the Gulf of Fonseca.-References:...
(Honduras) - Ka Hsaw WaKa Hsaw WaKa Hsaw Wa is a Burmese human rights activist. He is a member of the Karen indigenous group. Along with his wife, environmental and human rights attorney Katie Redford, he is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of , an organization that focuses on human rights in Burma and other areas "where...
(Burma)
2000
- Oral AtaniyazovaOral AtaniyazovaOral Ataniyazova is an obstetrician and medical scientist from Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan. She is the director of Perzent, the Karakalpak Center for Reproductive Health and Environment. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2000. She currently lives in Nukus, Uzbekistan...
(Uzbekistan) - Elias Diaz PeñaElias Diaz PeñaElias Diaz Peña is a Paraguayan environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1992, jointly with Oscar Rivas, for their efforts to protect the ecosystems of the Paraná River and the Paraguay River.- References :...
& Oscar RivasOscar Rivas (environmentalist)Oscar Rivas is a Paraguayan environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1992, jointly with Elias Diaz Peña, for their efforts to protect the ecosystems of the Paraná River and the Paraguay River, in particular consequences from the Yacyretá Dam project.- References :...
(Paraguay) - Vera MischenkoVera MischenkoVera Mischenko is a Russian attorney. She introduced the concept of public interest environmental law in Russia and in 1991 co-founded Ecojuris, Russia's first public interest law firm. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2000.-References:...
(Russia) - Rodolfo Montiel FloresRodolfo Montiel FloresRodolfo Montiel Flores is a campesino, a subsistence farmer, from the Guerrero village El Mameyal, Mexico.He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2000 for organizing campesinos to protest against rampant logging in their district.-References:...
(Mexico) - Alexander Peal (Liberia)
- Nat QuansahNat QuansahNat Quansah is a botanist from Ghana, and a doctorate in philosophy. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2000, for his works on health care, cultural tradition and forest conservation, based in Ambodisakoana, Madagascar.- References :...
(Madagascar)
2001
- Jane AkreJane AkreJane Akre is a former Florida journalist and current editor-in-chief of InjuryBoard.com. She is best known for the whistleblower lawsuit by herself and her husband, Steve Wilson, against Fox Broadcasting Company station WTVT in Tampa, Florida...
& Steve Wilson (reporter)Steve Wilson (reporter)Steve Wilson is an American news reporter. Currently running his own nonprofit investigative reporting group, he is best known for his whistleblower lawsuit with then-wife Jane Akre against WTVT in 1997 and his work as WXYZ-TV's Chief Investigative Reporter in Detroit, Michigan in the late...
(USA) - Yosepha AlomangYosepha AlomangYosepha Alomang is from the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya , one of the most biologically diverse places on the planet....
(Indonesia) - Giorgos CatsadorakisGiorgos CatsadorakisGiorgos Catsadorakis is a Greek biologist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2001, for his contributions to the protection of the wetlands of Préspa, jointly with fellow biologist Myrsini Malakou. Their efforts resulted in an agreement between Greece, Macedonia and Albania on...
& Myrsini MalakouMyrsini MalakouMyrsini Malakou is a Greek biologist. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2001, for her contributions to the protection of the wetlands of Préspa, jointly with fellow biologist Giorgos Catsadorakis.- References :...
(Greece) - Oscar OliveraOscar OliveraOscar Olivera Foronda was one of the main leaders of the protesters against the water privatization in Bolivia. The result of these protests was an event known as the Cochabamba Water Wars. Now he is one the main leaders of the protests in the Bolivian gas conflict.Oscar Olivera was awarded the...
(Bolivia) - Eugène RutagaramaEugène RutagaramaEugène Rutagarama was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2001, for his efforts on saving the population of mountain gorillas in the Volcanoes National Park in the Virungas mountains, during the war and recent conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo.-References:...
(Rwanda) - Bruno Van PeteghemBruno Van PeteghemBruno Van Peteghem was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2001, for his campaign to place the island's coral reef on UNESCO's World Heritage List in order to protect the reef against destruction from nickel mining industries.-References:...
(New Caledonia)
2002
- Pisit CharnsnohPisit CharnsnohPisit Charnsnoh from the Trang Province, Thailand, cofounded the Yadfon Association in 1985. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2002, for his efforts on protecting the coastal ecosystems of Thailand...
(Thailand) - Sarah JamesSarah JamesSarah James is a native Gwich'in from Arctic Village, Alaska, USA, and a board member of the International Indian Treaty Council. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2002, together with Jonathon Solomon and Norma Kassi. They received the prize for their struggles for protection of...
& Jonathon SolomonJonathon SolomonJonathon Solomon was a native Gwich'in from Fort Yukon, Alaska, USA, and a member of the U.S. delegation to the International Porcupine Caribou Agreement between Canada and U.S. He served as the Traditional Chief of the Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich'in, a lifetime designation, from 2002 until his passing...
(USA) - Fatima JibrellFatima JibrellFatima Jibrell is a prominent Somali-American environmental activist. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Horn of Africa Relief and Development Organization , co-founder of Sun Fire Cooking, and was instrumental in the creation of the Women’s Coalition for Peace.-Biography:Jibrell...
(Somalia) - Alexis Massol-GonzálezAlexis Massol-GonzálezAlexis Massol-González is a civil engineer and environmentalist from Puerto Rico. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2002, for his efforts on the protection of mountain forests, due to threats from mining interests. The forest reserve Bosque del Pueblo was established in 1996.-...
(Puerto Rico) - Norma KassiNorma KassiNorma Kassi is a native Gwich'in from Yukon Territory, Canada, and a former member of the Yukon Legislative Assembly and current chief of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation . She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2002, together with Sarah James and Jonathon Solomon...
(Canada) - Jean La RoseJean La RoseJean La Rose is an indigenous Arawak from Georgetown, Guyana. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2002 for her struggles to halt mining in their territories, to secure inhabitants full rights to traditional lands, and to save Guyana's forests....
(Guyana) - Jadwiga LopataJadwiga LopataJadwiga Lopata, is an organic farmer living near Cracow, Poland. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2002, for her works on rural protection. She is co-founder and co-director of the International Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside .-External links :*...
(Poland)
2003
- Julia BondsJulia BondsJulia "Judy" Bonds was an organizer and activist from the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, United States. Raised in a family of coalminers, she worked from an early age at minimum wage jobs. Bonds was the director of Coal River Mountain Watch...
(USA) - Pedro Arrojo-AgudoPedro Arrojo-AgudoPedro Arrojo-Agudo is a Spanish physicist, economist and environmentalist, a professor at the University of Zaragoza. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2003, for his contributions to conservation of water.- References :...
(Spain) - Eileen Kampakuta BrownEileen Kampakuta BrownEileen Kampakuta Brown is an Aboriginal elder from Australia. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2003 together with Eileen Wani Wingfield, for efforts to stop governmental plans for nuclear waste dump in Australia's wild desert land, and for protection of their land and...
& Eileen Wani WingfieldEileen Wani WingfieldEileen Wani Wingfield is an Aboriginal elder from Australia. She was jointly awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2003 with Eileen Kampakuta Brown, for efforts to stop the plans for nuclear waste dump in Australia's wild desert land, and for protection of their land and culture.Wingfield ...
(Australia) - Von HernandezVon HernandezVon Hernandez is a former literature professor and environmental activist from the Philippines. He has spoken up against the processing of imported garbage, when waste incinerators pump out clouds of dioxin and other harmful chemicals...
(Philippines) - Maria Elena Foronda FarroMaria Elena Foronda FarroMaria Elena Foronda Farro is a Peruvian sociologist and environmentalist. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2003, for her campaigns of improving waste treatment from the country's fishmeal industry.- References :...
(Peru) - Odigha OdighaOdigha OdighaOdigha Odigha is a Nigerian educator, environmentalist and activist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2003, for his efforts on protection of the rainforests of Cross River State from industrial logging.- References :...
(Nigeria)
2004
Rudolf Amenga-EtegoRudolf Amenga-Etego
Rudolf Amenga-Etego is a Ghanaian lawyer and environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2004, for his efforts on keeping water supplies affordable for the population, and campaigning against privatization of water in Ghana....
, 40, Accra
Accra
Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an urban population of 1,658,937 according to the 2000 census. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
.
Visionary public interest lawyer Rudolf Amenga-Etego of Ghana has gained international recognition for suspending a major water privatization
Water privatization
Water privatization is a short-hand for private sector participation in the provision of water services and sanitation, although sometimes it refers to privatization and sale of water resources themselves . As water services are seen as such a key public service, water privatization is often...
project backed by the World Bank. The devastating plan would further impede access to clean drinking water, a crisis linked to high rates of disease in low-income communities. The privatization would also place an especially harsh burden on Ghanaian girls, whose school work suffers because they literally shoulder the responsibility of providing water for their families.
Rashida Bee
Rashida Bee
Rashida Bee is an Indian activist from Bhopal. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2004, together with Champa Devi Shukla. The two have struggled for justice for the surviving victims of the 1984 Bhopal disaster, when 20,000 people were killed, and organized campaigns and trials...
, 48, and Champa Devi Shukla
Champa Devi Shukla
Champa Devi Shukla is an Indian activist from Bhopal. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2004, together with Rashida Bee. Shukla and Bee have struggled for justice for those who survived the 1984 Bhopal disaster, when 20,000 people were killed, and organized campaigns and trials...
, 52, Bhopal, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Despite their poverty and poor health due to toxic gas exposure, Bee and Shukla have emerged as leaders in the international fight to hold Dow Chemical accountable for the infamous 1984 Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal, India that killed 20,000 and left more than 150,000 seriously injured. (Union Carbide became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow in 1999.) They organized the first global hunger strike to draw international attention to Dow's deadly legacy and traveled the world to protest at Dow shareholder meetings. Now on the 20th anniversary of the disaster, Bee and Shukla are plaintiffs in a class action suit demanding a clean up of the noxious factory site and damages to cover medical monitoring and costs incurred from years of soil and water contamination.
Libia Grueso
Libia Grueso
Libia Grueso is a social worker and civil rights activist from Buenaventura, Colombia, fighting for civil rights of Afro-Colombian communities.She is also co-founder of the Process of Black Communities...
, 43, Buenaventura
Buenaventura
-Myths and legends:*Buenaventura River , a legendary but non-existent river that was once believed to run from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean in what is now the western United States-People:...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
.
In a major victory for the Afro-Colombian civil rights movement, social worker and activist Libia Grueso secured more than 5.9 million acres (24,000 km²) in territorial rights for the country's black rural communities, including those in Colombias lush Pacific rainforest. Years of armed conflict, rapacious development and the narcotics industry have displaced Afro-Colombians and created an ecological catastrophe. Despite life-threatening circumstances, Grueso's brave work passing Law 70, historic legislation that officially grants Afro-Colombians territorial rights on lands they have populated for hundreds of years, gives hope to this environmental justice struggle.
Manana Kochladze
Manana Kochladze
Manana Kochladze is a Georgian environmentalist. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2004 for her environmental campaigns, in particular regarding oil pipelines through vulnerable areas.- References :...
, 32, Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
.
British Petroleum is leading an international consortium, which includes California-based Unocal, for the construction of the $3 billion BTC project that would establish the largest pipeline in the world, crossing through Georgia, a country mired in poverty and political instability since gaining independence from Russia in 1991. For the U.S., the pipeline is a way to tap oil reserves
Oil reserves
The total estimated amount of oil in an oil reservoir, including both producible and non-producible oil, is called oil in place. However, because of reservoir characteristics and limitations in petroleum extraction technologies, only a fraction of this oil can be brought to the surface, and it is...
in former Soviet states while bypassing Iran and Russia. But the route would run through a national park and pristine mountain gorge, home to Georgia's commercially prized mineral water and one of the few successful enterprises in Georgia's economy. Kochladze's fearless tenacity in the face of widespread government corruption and multinational industry interests has won critical concessions to protect local villagers and the environment and has forced a thorough examination of the project's environmental and health impact.
Demetrio do Amaral de Carvalho
Demetrio do Amaral de Carvalho
Demetrio do Amaral de Carvalho is an environmentalist from East Timor. He is a former resistance member from the period of Indonesian occupation, and a founder of the environmental organization the Haburas Foundation. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2004.- References :...
, 37, Dili
Dili
Dili, spelled Díli in Portuguese, is the capital, largest city, chief port and commercial centre of East Timor.-Geography and Administration:Dili lies on the northern coast of Timor island, the easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands....
, East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
.
Demetrio do Amaral de Carvalho is a founding father and environmental hero of East Timor, the world's newest nation. A former resistance leader during the Indonesian occupation, de Carvalho is largely credited for spearheading the progressive inclusion of environmental justice tenets in East Timor's constitution. These principles will play a critical legal and symbolic role in guiding sustainable management of the island's rainforests, coral reefs and vast oil and gas reserves.
Margie Richard, 62, Norco, Louisiana
Norco, Louisiana
Norco is a census-designated place in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,579 at the 2000 census. The community is home to a major Shell petroleum refinery. Its name is derived from the New Orleans Refining Company....
, USA.
Richard grew up just 25 feet (7.6 m) away from the fence line of a Shell Chemical plant the size of nine American football fields that releases more than 2 million pounds (900 metric tons) of toxic chemicals into the air each year. Four generations of Richard's family have lived in the Old Diamond neighborhood of Norco, Louisiana, located within the area known as "Cancer Alley". High rates of cancer, birth defects and other serious health ailments plague the town's 1,500 predominantly African-American residents. For more than 13 years, Richard led a community campaign demanding fair and just resettlement costs from Shell for her family and neighbors too impoverished to relocate to a safe area. In 2002, thanks largely to Richard's efforts, Shell agreed to cover relocation costs for Old Diamond's residents: the first community relocation victory of its kind in the Deep South. The multinational giant also agreed to reduce their emissions at the Norco plant by 30 percent.
2005
- Isidro Baldenegro LópezIsidro Baldenegro LópezIsidro Baldenegro López is a subsistence farmer and community leader of Mexico's indigenous Tarahumara people in the country's Sierra Madre mountain region.He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2005 for his efforts on defending old...
(Mexico) - Kaisha AtakhanovaKaisha AtakhanovaKaisha Atakhanova is a biologist from Karaganda, Kazakhstan, specializing in the genetic effects of nuclear radiation. By political reasons she was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2005 for "leading" a quasi-campaign to prevent nuclear waste from being commercially imported into the...
(Kazakhstan) - Chavannes Jean-Baptiste (Haiti)
- Stephanie Danielle RothStephanie Danielle RothStephanie Danielle Roth is a French and Swiss citizen, former researcher and editor of the magazine The Ecologist. She received the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2005 for her efforts to stop construction of Europe's largest open cast gold mine in Romania....
(Romania) - Corneille EwangoCorneille EwangoCorneille Ewango is a Congolese environmentalist, and was responsible for the Okapi Faunal Reserve's botany program in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1996 to 2003. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2005 for his efforts to protect the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Ituri...
(Congo) - José Andrés Tamayo CortezJosé Andrés Tamayo CortezJosé Andrés Tamayo Cortez is a Honduran Catholic priest and environmentalist, a leader of the Environmental Movement of Olancho. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2005, for his efforts of organizing resistance against commercial logging in the Olancho Department.- References :...
2006
Silas Kpanan’ Siakor, 36, Liberia.Siakor along with members of the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) Liberia and the SAMFU Foundation, Liberia, exposed evidence that Liberia President Charles Taylor used profits of unchecked, rampant logging to pay the costs of a brutal 14-year war. Such evidence—collected at great personal risk to Silas and members of the SDI and SAMFU—led the United Nations Security Council to ban the export of Liberian timber.
Yu Xiaogang
Yu Xiaogang
Yu Xiaogang is a Chinese environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2006 for his efforts in "creating groundbreaking watershed management programs while researching and documenting the socioeconomic impact dams had on local Chinese communities"...
, 55, China.
Chinese environmentalist Yu Xiaogang spent years creating groundbreaking watershed management programs while researching and documenting the socioeconomic impact dams had on local Chinese communities. His reports are credited as being a primary reason the central government has paid additional restitution to villagers displaced by existing dams and created new guidelines calling for social impact assessments when planning major developments.
Olya Melen
Olya Melen
Olya Melen is a Ukrainian attorney and environmental activist. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2006 for her use of legal channels to halt the construction of the Danube-Black Sea Canal...
, 26, Ukraine.
Melen used legal channels to challenge the government’s plan to build a major canal that would have cut through protected wetlands in the Danube Delta, one of the most valuable wetlands in Europe. For her efforts, she came under critical scrutiny by officials in the notoriously corrupt pre-Orange Revolution regime, under which few spoke out against the government for fear of death or being “disappeared.”
Anne Kajir
Anne Kajir
Anne Kajir is an attorney from Papua New Guinea. She has uncovered evidence of widespread corruption in the Papua New Guinea government, that allowed illegal logging in tropical forests. Kajir was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2006.-References:...
, 32, Papua New Guinea.
Attorney Anne Kajir uncovered evidence of widespread corruption and complicity in the Papua New Guinea government that allowed rampant, illegal logging that is destroying the largest remaining intact block of tropical forest in the Asia Pacific region In 1997, her first year practicing law, Kajir successfully defended a precedent-setting appeal in the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea that forced the logging interests to pay damages to indigenous land owners.
Craig E. Williams
Craig E. Williams
Craig E. Williams is an American Vietnam War veteran from Kentucky and co-founder of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. Williams was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2006 for his efforts on convincing The Pentagon to stop plans to incinerate decaying caches of chemical weapons...
, 58, Kentucky.
Williams convinced the Pentagon to stop plans to incinerate decaying caches of chemical weapons stockpiled around the United States, and has built a nationwide grassroots coalition to lobby for safe disposal solutions. Williams co-founded the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, which won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for its international campaign to ban landmines.
Tarcisio Feitosa da Silva
Tarcisio Feitosa da Silva
Tarcísio Feitosa da Silva is a prominent environmental activist from Brazil, where he is director of the Roman Catholic Church's Pastoral Land Commission...
, 35, Brazil.
Feitosa has led a successful campaign to create a mosaic of protected areas that together with existing indigenous lands make up a 240,000 square kilometer (93,000 mi²) corridor area that is bigger than the state of Minnesota and is the largest area of protected tropical forest in the world. Despite death threats, he has exposed illegal logging activities to the Brazilian government over the past 10 years.
2007
- Sophia RabliauskasSophia RabliauskasSophia Rabliauskas is an environmental activist and member of the Poplar River First Nation in Manitoba, Canada. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2007 for her efforts to secure protection of two million acres of undisturbed forests in the boreal region of Manitoba.-References:...
(Manitoba, Canada) - Hammerskjoeld SimwingaHammerskjoeld SimwingaHammerskjoeld Simwinga is a Zambian environmentalist. He received the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2007 for his efforts to stop elephant poaching through community economic initiatives...
(Zambia) - Tsetsegee MunkhbayarTsetsegee MunkhbayarTsetsegee Munkhbayar began the Onggi River Movement environmental group in 2001. This Mongolian herdsman struggled against mining companies and lawsuits to protect the natural resources of his homeland....
(Mongolia) - Julio Cusurichi PalaciosJulio Cusurichi PalaciosJulio Cusurichi Palacios is a leading Peruvian environmentalist from the Madre de Dios region of Peru. He was one of the recipients of the 2007 Goldman Environmental Prize.-External links:* ....
(Peru) - Willie CorduffWillie CorduffWillie Corduff is an Irish environmental activist from the farming community of Rossport, parish of Kilcommon, Erris. Corduff's parents first arrived in Rossport in 1947, and reclaimed a farm by hand out of bogland. He became a campaigner against Shells' activities in his local area...
(Ireland) - Orri VigfússonOrri VigfússonOrri Vigfússon is an Icelandic entrepreneur and environmentalist. In 2004 Time Magazine named him a "European Hero". He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2007 for his efforts on saving endangered species...
(Iceland)
2008
- Pablo FajardoPablo FajardoPablo Fajardo Mendoza is an Ecuadorian native of Cofán descent, who was raised in extreme poverty. With the help of the Roman Catholic Church, he put himself through law school...
and Luis YanzaLuis YanzaLuis Yanza is an environmental activist from Ecuador, of Cofán descent. He serves as president of the Frente de Defensa de la Amazonia , an NGO representing the interests of the campesinos and indigenous peoples in Ecuador.-Honors:...
(EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
) - Jesus Leon SantosJesús León SantosJesús León Santos is a Mexican environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2008, for his efforts on a sustainable development of agriculture in the Mixtec region of the state of Oaxaca.- References :...
(OaxacaOaxacaOaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...
, MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
) - Rosa Hilda RamosRosa Hilda RamosRosa Hilda Ramos is the second Puerto Rican recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize, a prestigious award given to grassroots environmentalists from around the world and popularly known as the "Green Nobel prize". A housewife and environmental activist based in Cataño, Puerto Rico, Ramos...
(Puerto RicoPuerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
) - Feliciano dos SantosFeliciano dos SantosFeliciano dos Santos is a Mozambican musician and environmentalist, hailing from the Niassa Province. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2008, for his use of music to promote the need of improving water and sanitation infrastructure in the Niassa region.- References :...
(AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
) - Marina RikhvanovaMarina RikhvanovaMarina Rikhvanova is a Russian ecologist and leader of the Baikal Ecological Wave organization which protects Siberia’s Lake Baikal from ecological damage. Lake Baikal, the world’s biggest reservoir of fresh water, is currently under threat from industrial pollution...
(AsiaAsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
) - Ignace SchopsIgnace SchopsIgnace Schops is a Belgian environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2008, for his contributions to the establishment of the Hoge Kempen National Park, the first National Park of Belgium.- References :...
from "Hoge Kempen National ParkHoge Kempen National ParkThe Hoge Kempen National Park is the first National Park in the Flemish Region in Belgium. It is located in the East of the Province of Limburg, between Genk and the Meuse Valley....
" (BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
)
2009
- Maria GunnoeMaria GunnoeMaria Gunnoe is an environmentalist who opposes mountaintop removal mining. She is featured in the 2008 documentary film Burning the Future: Coal in America and the 2007 documentary film Mountain Top Removal...
, Bob White, West Virginia, USA - Marc OnaMarc OnaMarc Ona is president and founder of the environmental NGO Brainforest and president of Environment Gabon. Gabon is a country in West Central Africa and Marc Ona, who uses a wheelchair for mobility, is leading efforts to expose agreements behind a Chinese mining project that threatens equatorial...
, Libreville, Gabon - Rizwana HasanRizwana HasanSyeda Rizwana Hasan is an attorney and environmentalist from Bangladesh. She has particularly focused on regulations for the shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh, and was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2009.-Education:She attended Viqarunnisa Noon School for her secondary education and...
, Dhaka, Bangladesh - Olga SperanskayaOlga SperanskayaOlga Speranskaya has been Director of the Chemical Safety Program at the Eco-Accord Center for Environment and Sustainable Development since 1997. Speranskaya has led many campaigns against the use of organic pollutants, fought to ban the burial and transport of hazardous chemicals, and provided...
, Moscow, Russia - Yuyun IsmawatiYuyun IsmawatiYuyun Ismawati is an Indonesian environmental engineer. She has worked on design of city and rural water supply systems, and later on designing systems for safe waste management. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2009.-References:...
, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia - Wanze EduardsWanze EduardsWanze Eduards is a Saramaka leader from the Republic of Suriname. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2009, jointly with Hugo Jabini, for their efforts to protect their traditional land against logging companies, by bringing the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights,...
and Hugo JabiniHugo JabiniHugo Jabini is a Saramakan from the Laduani village by the Suriname River. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2009, jointly with Wanze Eduards, for their efforts of protecting their traditional land and tropical rainforests against industrial logging, supported by the Inter-American...
, Pikin Slee Village and Paramaribo, Suriname
2010
- Thuli Brilliance MakamaThuli Brilliance MakamaThuli Brilliance Makama is a Swazi environmental attorney. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2010.- References :...
, SwazilandSwazilandSwaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique... - Tuy SereivathanaTuy SereivathanaTuy Sereivathana is a Cambodian ranger and environmentalist, who has worked to solve conflicts between elephants and people in Cambodia. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2010.- References :...
, CambodiaCambodiaCambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia... - Małgorzata GórskaMałgorzata GórskaMałgorzata Górska is a Polish activist and conservationist, who played an integral role in the movement to protect the Rospuda Valley in north-eastern Poland, one of Europe’s last true wilderness areas....
, PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... - Humberto Ríos LabradaHumberto Ríos LabradaHumberto Ríos Labrada is a Cuban folk musician, agricultural scientist and environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2010, for his work for biodiversity and sustainable development of Cuban agriculture.- References :...
, CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city... - Lynn HenningLynn HenningLynn Henning is a farmer and environmentalist from Michigan, United States. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2010, for her focus on water quality, fighting pollution from concentrated animal feeding facilities.- References :...
, USA - Randall ArauzRandall ArauzRandall Arauz is an environmentalist from Costa Rica. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2010, for his efforts on the protection of the sharks, and banning of the shark finning industry. Arauz was awarded The Gothenburg Award for Sustainable Development for 2010, shared with Ken...
, Costa RicaCosta RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
2011
- Raoul du Toit, ZimbabweZimbabweZimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
- Dmitry Lisitsyn, RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
- Ursula SladekUrsula SladekUrsula Sladek owns a small local power company, Schönau Power Supply, that provides electricity from renewable energy sources to the German electrcity grid...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... - Prigi Arisandi, IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
- Hilton Kelley, USA
- Francisco PinedaFrancisco PinedaFrancisco Pineda García is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a forward.-Football career:Pineda started playing professionally at La Liga giants Real Madrid...
, El SalvadorEl SalvadorEl Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
See also
- Environmental Media AwardsEnvironmental Media AwardsThe Environmental Media Awards have been awarded by the Environmental Media Association since 1991 to the best television episode or film with an environmental message....
- Global 500 Roll of HonourGlobal 500 Roll of HonourThe United Nations Environment Programme established the Global 500 Roll of Honour in 1987 to recognize the environmental achievements of individuals and organizations around the world.The last Global 500 Roll of Honour awards were made in 2003...
- Goldman School of Public PolicyGoldman School of Public PolicyThe Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy is a public policy school and one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. Originally named the Graduate School of Public Policy, it was founded in 1969 as one of the first public policy institutions in the United...
- Grantham Prize for Excellence in Reporting on the EnvironmentGrantham Prize for Excellence in Reporting on the EnvironmentThe Grantham Prize is an annual literary award established in September 2005 by Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham and the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting to annually recognize and honor the work of one journalist or team of journalists for exemplary reporting on the...
- Heroes of the EnvironmentHeroes of the EnvironmentHeroes of the Environment is a list published in Time Magazine. The inaugural list was published in October 2007. The list contains 43 entries, individuals or groups that have contributed substantially to the preservation of environment, and is divided into four categories: Leaders & Visionaries,...
- Presidential Environmental Youth AwardsPresidential Environmental Youth AwardsThe Presidential Environmental Youth Awards is a program that recognizes students in America for their efforts and commitment to help the environment. This award was started by President Richard Nixon and was hosted and sponsored by the United States Environmental Protection Agency since 1971...
- Tyler Prize for Environmental AchievementTyler Prize for Environmental AchievementThe Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement is an award for environmental science, environmental health and energy. Tyler Laureates receive a $200,000 annual prize and a gold medallion...
External links
- Goldman Prize website
- Anti-logging activist wins award
- Grist Magazine interviews the winners: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,