Six environmental advocates from India, Peru, Russia and three other countries have won this year’s Goldman Prize, which is awarded for grass-roots activism.
The Goldman Environmental Foundation said India’s Ramesh Agrawal received the prize for helping villagers fight coal mining in Chhattisgarh. Peru’s Ruth Buendia was recognised for helping to prevent two dams in the Peruvian Amazon, while Russian zoologist Suren Gazaryan won for defending protected areas from Olympic development in Sochi.
The foundation said American lawyer Helen Slottje was selected for helping to shut down fracking in New York State, South Africa’s Desmond D’Sa for closing a toxic dump site in Durban, and Indonesian biologist Rudi Putra for shutting illegal palm oil plantations in Sumatra.
The winners will each receive $175,000 on Monday.
