The Goldman Environmental Foundation announced the six recipients of the 2010 Goldman Environmental Prize, including the first Cuban award winner.
The recipients are successfully dealing with issues surrounding factory livestock farming in the US, shark finning in Costa Rica and beyond, the protection of Europe’s dwindling wilderness in Poland, sustainable agriculture in Cuba, conservation that focuses on human rights in Swaziland and wild elephant conservation in Cambodia.
The Goldman Environmental Prize, now in its 21st year, is awarded annually to grassroots environmental heroes from each of the world’s six inhabited continental regions and is the largest award of its kind with an individual cash prize of $150,000.
Since receiving a Goldman Prize, eight previous winners have been
appointed or elected to national office in their countries, including
several who became ministers of the environment. The 1991 Goldman Prize
winner for Africa, Wangari Maathai, won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.
This year’s winners are:
Thuli Brilliance Makama, Swaziland
Thuli Makama, Swaziland’s only public interest environmental attorney, won a landmark case to include environmental NGO representation in conservation decisions and continues to challenge the forced evictions and violence perpetrated against poverty-stricken communities living on the edges of conservation areas.
Tuy Sereivathana , Cambodia
Tuy Sereivathana worked to mitigate human elephant conflict in Cambodia by introducing innovative low-cost solutions, empowering local communities to cooperatively participate in endangered Asian elephant conservation.
Ma?gorzata Górska, Poland
Ma?gorzata Górska led the fight to protect Poland’s Rospuda Valley, one of Europe’s last true wilderness areas, from a controversial highway project that would have destroyed the region’s sensitive ecosystems.
Humberto Ríos Labrada, Cuba
A scientist and biodiversity researcher, Humberto Ríos Labrada promoted sustainable agriculture by working with farmers to increase crop diversity and develop low-input agricultural systems that greatly reduce the need for pesticide and fertilizer, encouraging Cuba’s shift from agricultural chemical dependence.
Lynn Henning, USA
Family farmer in rural Michigan, Lynn Henning exposed the egregious polluting practices of CAFOs–concentrated animal feeding operations–gaining the attention of the federal EPA and prompting state regulators to issue hundreds of citations for water quality violations.
Randall Arauz, Costa Rica
Drawing international attention to the inhumane and environmentally catastrophic shark finning industry, Randall Arauz led the campaign to halt the practice in Costa Rica, making his country the new international model for shark protection.
Additional Coverage…
Reuters explains the significance Humberto Rios’s work in post-Soviet Cuba, as the country has had to relearn sustainable agriculture practices after being cut off from its supply of agrchemicals.
Read the full story at the link below.
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