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2019 Goldman Environmental Prize winners from each continent:
But when Ana Colovic Lesoka got word of the proposal, she saw a flaw with the environmental benefits ELEM was claiming the plants would deliver. Yes, they would help Macedonia shift away from its reliance on coal and expensive energy imports. But hydropower, while a source of renewable energy, is often built out in ways that damage local water ecosystems. The project Colovic Lesoka learned of was one such example. ELEM wanted to build the hydropower facilities in the 280-square-mile Mavrovo National Park, which is one of Europe’s last truly natural environments, home to diverse species including wolves, bears, eagles, and the critically endangered Balkan lynx, of which there are only 40 left.
...
Former teacher and activist Bayarjargal Agvaantseren identified a similar threat to the habitat of an endangered species in her home country of Mongolia. The South Gobi Desert, which spans southern Mongolia and northern China, is home to the second-largest wild population of snow leopards, of which only around 4,000 to 7,000 remain. But the desert is also a hotspot for growing coal, uranium, gas, copper, and gold mining interests. After learning of a plan to build out extensive mining operations in the Tost Mountains, along the western edge of the South Gobi province, Agvaantseren worked with advocates, the media, and local herding communities to launch a campaign to protect the leopards and the livelihoods of the herders, who work on the same land that the snow leopards inhabit as part of a balanced and diverse ecosystem. The leopards prey on herbivores that, unchecked, would overgraze the grass and flora that many small creatures call home, and that herders depend on for their work. Their presence is an indicator of the overall health of the environment. “Our biggest accomplishment was bringing so many different parties to this issue,” she says. In 2016, in response to her advocacy, the Mongolian parliament voted to designate the 1.8 million-acre span of the Tost Mountains as the country’s first and only protected snow leopard habitat. It’s difficult, Agvaantseren adds, when conservation efforts require combatting powerful economic interests, but she sees the work of protecting the long-term health of the environment as a matter of greater urgency than short-term economic gains.
...
Similar fights have played out across the world. In the Cook Islands in the South Pacific Ocean, marine conservationist Jacqueline Evans launched a five-year campaign to secure protected status for 125,000 square miles around the islands; the designation will protect the ocean ecosystems from overfishing and habitat destruction. Across the ocean in Vancouver, Washington, environmental advocate Linda Garcia worked to block the construction of a massive terminal that would facilitate the transport of 11 million gallons of crude oil each day from North Dakota’s Bakken shale throughout the Pacific Northwest. If it had been built, it would have been the largest oil terminal in North America, and would have transformed the region into a fossil-fuel corridor. In 2018, largely in response to Garcia’s activism, Washington’s governor denied the project’s permits.
...
In 2015, during the height of a substantial drought, Chile’s minister of energy announced a new plan that included 40 hydroelectric projects in Araucanía’s rivers. The projects were designed without consulting the Mapuche, whose water supply and environment would be wrecked by the development, which would divert hundreds of million gallons of water from the rivers each day. Curamil and a broad coalition of supporters–from academics to NGO leaders to lawyers–that he organized launched a strategy to call attention to the impending destruction the project would create. Chilean law holds that indigenous communities must be consulted before projects that infringe on their lands are authorized, and on those grounds, Curamil succeeded in blocking the project, though his activism raised his profile in the country and he is currently in jail. He has been charged with armed robbery, but is fighting the charge, and sources say the imprisonment could have been orchestrated in response to his involvement with the opposition effort. (Pehuen and Curamil’s daughter received the prize on Curamil’s behalf).
https://www.fastcompany.com/90340906/these-6-activists-just-won-a-major-award-for-protecting-natural-resources-around-the-world?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss
...
Former teacher and activist Bayarjargal Agvaantseren identified a similar threat to the habitat of an endangered species in her home country of Mongolia. The South Gobi Desert, which spans southern Mongolia and northern China, is home to the second-largest wild population of snow leopards, of which only around 4,000 to 7,000 remain. But the desert is also a hotspot for growing coal, uranium, gas, copper, and gold mining interests. After learning of a plan to build out extensive mining operations in the Tost Mountains, along the western edge of the South Gobi province, Agvaantseren worked with advocates, the media, and local herding communities to launch a campaign to protect the leopards and the livelihoods of the herders, who work on the same land that the snow leopards inhabit as part of a balanced and diverse ecosystem. The leopards prey on herbivores that, unchecked, would overgraze the grass and flora that many small creatures call home, and that herders depend on for their work. Their presence is an indicator of the overall health of the environment. “Our biggest accomplishment was bringing so many different parties to this issue,” she says. In 2016, in response to her advocacy, the Mongolian parliament voted to designate the 1.8 million-acre span of the Tost Mountains as the country’s first and only protected snow leopard habitat. It’s difficult, Agvaantseren adds, when conservation efforts require combatting powerful economic interests, but she sees the work of protecting the long-term health of the environment as a matter of greater urgency than short-term economic gains.
...
Similar fights have played out across the world. In the Cook Islands in the South Pacific Ocean, marine conservationist Jacqueline Evans launched a five-year campaign to secure protected status for 125,000 square miles around the islands; the designation will protect the ocean ecosystems from overfishing and habitat destruction. Across the ocean in Vancouver, Washington, environmental advocate Linda Garcia worked to block the construction of a massive terminal that would facilitate the transport of 11 million gallons of crude oil each day from North Dakota’s Bakken shale throughout the Pacific Northwest. If it had been built, it would have been the largest oil terminal in North America, and would have transformed the region into a fossil-fuel corridor. In 2018, largely in response to Garcia’s activism, Washington’s governor denied the project’s permits.
...
In 2015, during the height of a substantial drought, Chile’s minister of energy announced a new plan that included 40 hydroelectric projects in Araucanía’s rivers. The projects were designed without consulting the Mapuche, whose water supply and environment would be wrecked by the development, which would divert hundreds of million gallons of water from the rivers each day. Curamil and a broad coalition of supporters–from academics to NGO leaders to lawyers–that he organized launched a strategy to call attention to the impending destruction the project would create. Chilean law holds that indigenous communities must be consulted before projects that infringe on their lands are authorized, and on those grounds, Curamil succeeded in blocking the project, though his activism raised his profile in the country and he is currently in jail. He has been charged with armed robbery, but is fighting the charge, and sources say the imprisonment could have been orchestrated in response to his involvement with the opposition effort. (Pehuen and Curamil’s daughter received the prize on Curamil’s behalf).
https://www.fastcompany.com/90340906/these-6-activists-just-won-a-major-award-for-protecting-natural-resources-around-the-world?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss
Plus:
Lawyer forced to flee Liberia hopes to return after Goldman prize win
Two years ago Alfred Brownell was forced to flee Liberia after a successful campaign against a foreign palm oil plantation led to death threats and intimidation. Today, he hopes to return after being named one of this year’s winners of the Goldman environmental prize.
...
Brownell led a campaign to halt clear-cutting of tropical forests after the Liberian government signed concessions with the palm oil company Golden Veroleum. Under the deal, the company were given a 65-year lease on 220,000 hectares (543,600 acres) in Sinoe County, including land used by forest communities. Golden Veroleum is owned by the US-based Verdant Fund LP, whose sole investor is the Singapore-listed Golden Agri-Resources.
...
Armed with a file full of malpractice complaints, Brownell persuaded the global certification organisation Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil to place a stop work order on the company. This froze forest clearance, protecting 207,800 hectares (94%) of the leased land.
Success made him powerful enemies. Brownell said government officials called him an enemy of the state and accused him of preventing investment in the country. He came under surveillance, his office was burgled, colleagues were assaulted and police raided his home.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/29/lawyer-forced-to-flee-liberia-hopes-to-return-after-goldman-prize-win-alfred-brownell-defend-environment
Two years ago Alfred Brownell was forced to flee Liberia after a successful campaign against a foreign palm oil plantation led to death threats and intimidation. Today, he hopes to return after being named one of this year’s winners of the Goldman environmental prize.
...
Brownell led a campaign to halt clear-cutting of tropical forests after the Liberian government signed concessions with the palm oil company Golden Veroleum. Under the deal, the company were given a 65-year lease on 220,000 hectares (543,600 acres) in Sinoe County, including land used by forest communities. Golden Veroleum is owned by the US-based Verdant Fund LP, whose sole investor is the Singapore-listed Golden Agri-Resources.
...
Armed with a file full of malpractice complaints, Brownell persuaded the global certification organisation Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil to place a stop work order on the company. This froze forest clearance, protecting 207,800 hectares (94%) of the leased land.
Success made him powerful enemies. Brownell said government officials called him an enemy of the state and accused him of preventing investment in the country. He came under surveillance, his office was burgled, colleagues were assaulted and police raided his home.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/29/lawyer-forced-to-flee-liberia-hopes-to-return-after-goldman-prize-win-alfred-brownell-defend-environment
And a BBC video on Agvaantseren's fight for the snow leopards in Mongolia: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/science-environment-48091441/how-one-woman-beat-mining-giants-and-saved-rare-snow-leopards