The Significance of the Goldman Environmental Prize

The Goldman Environmental Prize is more than just an award. It serves as a beacon of recognition for the tireless work of grassroots activists dedicated to preserving the environment and fostering sustainability.

• The Prize acknowledges individuals who, in their quest to safeguard and enhance the natural environment, often put their own safety at risk.
• By celebrating these individual grassroots leaders, the Prize aims to motivate others to take extraordinary actions to protect our natural world.
• The Goldman Environmental Foundation established the award in 1989 to recognize and celebrate environmental heroes from around the globe.
• The prize recognizes environmental champions from the world’s six inhabited continental regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands & Island Nations, North America, and South & Central America.

Meet the 2023 Goldman Environmental Prize Winners

• Alessandra Korap
  • Born in an indigenous village nestled within the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, Alessandra Korap witnessed firsthand the threats posed by the encroachment of non-indigenous outsiders on her village.
  • A surge of settlers, illegal gold miners, and loggers, facilitated by nearby highways, began to infiltrate and exploit the region’s vast indigenous territories.
  • This influx posed a serious threat to Korap’s Munduruku people, who inhabit the Tapajos River Basin, in Para and Mato Grosso states.
  • The advent of illegal mining, hydroelectric dams, a major railway and river ports exerted considerable pressure on their lands.
  • In response, Korap and other Munduruku women defied traditional all-male leadership customs and took up the mantle to defend their territories.
  • They rallied their communities, staged protests, and presented evidence of environmental crime to federal police and the federal attorney general.
  • The Goldman Environmental Prize recognized this courageous act. Studies have shown that indigenous-controlled forests like those defended by Korap are the best preserved in the Brazilian Amazon.
  • Due to the scale of destruction, the eastern Amazon near Munduruku no longer functions as a carbon sink .
  • The Brazilian government has since established the country’s first Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and initiated operations to evict illegal miners.
• Tero Mustonen
  • This professor and environmental activist from Finland spearheaded the acquisition of peatland that had suffered damage due to state-sponsored industrial activity.
• Delima Silalahi
  • Hailing from north Sumatra in Indonesia, Delima Silalahi mobilized indigenous communities across the country to stand up for their rights.
• Chilekwa Mumba
  • A community organizer from Zambia, Chilekwa Mumba secured compensation for residents affected by copper mining in a landmark case before the UK supreme court.
• Zafer Kizilkaya
  • A Turkish marine conservationist, Zafer Kizilkaya established Turkey’s first community-managed marine protected area in the Mediterranean.
• Diane Wilson
  • A shrimp boat captain from the US, Diane Wilson successfully took Formosa Plastics to court over the discharge of plastic waste on the Texas Gulf Coast.