San Francisco - A Chinese researcher who prompted officials to give greater
thought to building dams and an activist who exposed timber plunder in Liberia
were two of six recipients on Monday of one of the world's most prominent
environmental awards.
"These six winners are among the most important people you have not heard
of before," said Richard Goldman, founder of the Goldman Environmental Prize.
"All of them have fought, often alone and at great personal risk, to protect
the environment in their home countries."
Each winner will receive $125 000 (about R756 250). The prizes, established
by a foundation set up by San Francisco insurance brokerage founder Richard
Goldman and his wife, were first awarded in 1990.
Watershed specialist Yu Xiaogang crafted reports on the social effects
of dam building that Chinese officials now use as models for similar assessments
for proposed water projects, and Silas Kpanan'Ayoung Siakor uncovered illegal
logging associated with human rights abuses in Liberia, which led to trade
sanctions against the country.
'All of them have fought to protect the environment'
The other prize recipients
were Olya Melen of Ukraine, Anne Kajir of Papua New Guinea, Craig Williams
of the United States and Tarcisio Feitosa da Silva of Brazil.
Melen, a lawyer, challenged and temporary halted construction of a canal
through wetlands of the Danube Delta.
Kajir, also a lawyer, has fought in court to stop large-scale logging in
tropical forests.
Williams is a Vietnam War veteran who successfully lobbied the US military
to halt plans for incinerating chemical weapons stored across the United
States.
Feitosa is an activist who pressed Brazil's government to act against illegal
logging in tropical forests and to protect rainforests.
