2008 Goldman Prize

The Goldman Environmental Prize is the world's largest prize honoring grassroots environmentalists.  Founded in 1990 by Richard and Rhoda Goldman, the Goldman Environmental Prize annually awards US$150,000 to grass roots environmental heroes from each of the world's six inhabited continental regions.  [For more about the prize, see the Goldman Environmental Prize]

Video Clips from the Ceremony

 [Forgive the less than perfect videography.]

Prize winner for Europe, Ignace Schops, won for establishing Belgium's first and only national park. (Speech in English)

Prize winner for North America, Jesus Leon Santos, won for leading a land renewal and economic development program that employs ancient indigenous agricultural practices to transform depleted soil into rich, arable land. (Speech in Spanish)

Prize winner for Asia, Marina Rikhvanova, won for successfully campaining to reroute a hazardous petroleum pipeline away from one of the most important watersheds in Siberia. She continues her work of protecting Lake Baikal and its people from environmental hazards. (Speech in Russian)

The prize for South and Central America was given to Pablo Fajardo Mendoza and Luis Yanza for leading one of the largest community-driven legal battles in history against global oil giant Chevron, demanding cleanup of the massive petroleum pollution wreaking havoc on the region.  The above clip shows Pablo Fajardo Mendoza's speech.  (Speech in Spanish)

The above clip shows Luis Yanza, one of the winners of the prize for South and Central America.  (Speech in Spanish)

Prize winner for Africa, Feliciano dos Santos, won for empowering villagers to participate in sustainable development and rise up from poverty.  He uses traditional music, grassroots outreach, and innovative technology to bring sanitation to Mozambique. (Speech in Portuguese)

Feliciano dos Santos sang this song with the help of the 3,000 audience members at the Opera House. Essentially, the meaning of the song is, "Wash your hands!"

Prize winner for Islands and Island Nations, Rosa Hilda Ramos, won for leading a movement that has permanently protected a large swath of Las Cucarillas Marsh, one of the last open spaces in the area and one of the largest wetlands ecosystems in that region of Puerto Rico. (Speech in English)

2008 Prize Ceremony

The 2008 Goldman Environmental Prize awards ceremony took place April 14, 2008 in the San Francisco Opera House.  The event was by invitation only.  Two Huddler staff members (Stins and Deej) were present at the event and were able to meet all of the award winners immediately following the ceremony.

[Photo 1: Lola, Deej, and Brent in the Opera House]                                                                      

[Photo 2: Richard Goldman and granddaughter Jess Goldman]

About the 2008 Prize Winners

[source: Goldman Prize]

Europe: Ignace Schops

After years of campaigning, Ignace Schops has led the effort to establish Belgium’s first and only national park. Raising more than US$90 million by bringing together private industry, regional and European Union (EU) government, local stakeholders, and NGOs, Schops has created a new model for land conservation in the EU and beyond.

North America: Jesus Leon Santos

In the Mixteca region of Oaxaca, Mexico, Jesús León Santos leads an unprecedented land renewal and economic development program that employs ancient indigenous agricultural practices to transform this barren, highly eroded area into rich, arable land. With his organization, the Center for Integral Small Farmer Development in the Mixteca (CEDICAM), a democratic, farmer-led local environmental organization, León has united the area’s small farmers. Together, they have planted more than one million native-variety trees, built hundreds of miles of ditches to retain water and prevent soil from eroding, and adapted traditional Mixteca indigenous practices to restore the regional ecosystem. Efforts are paying off as barren hillsides turn green again, aquifers are recharged, and the high rate of migration slows as indigenous farming families find they are able to make a living at home.

Asia: Marina Rikhvanova

Lake Baikal in Siberia is one of the most important bodies of fresh water in the world. However, Russia’s increasingly authoritarian government and rapidly growing oil and nuclear economy threaten the health of this cherished natural resource. Lake Baikal native Marina Rikhvanova, a long-time figure in Russia’s environmental movement, leads efforts to protect the region from potential environmental disaster brought on by industry. After successfully campaigning to reroute a destructive petroleum pipeline from the lake’s watershed, Rikhvanova is now working to prevent the construction of a uranium enrichment facility in the region.

South and Central America: Pablo Fajardo Mendoza and Luis Yanza

Fighting for justice after what has been called one of the most catastrophic environmental disasters in history, Luis Yanza and Pablo Fajardo are leading an unprecedented community-driven legal battle against a global oil giant. According to the plaintiffs, beginning in 1964 and through 1990, Texaco dumped nearly 17 million gallons of crude oil and 20 billion gallons of drilling wastewater directly into the Ecuadorian Amazon. Allegedly suffering from the health effects of the pollution, the region's inhabitants are demanding a complete cleanup in potentially the largest environmental lawsuit ever filed in the world. Yanza co-founded the Amazon Defense Front to organize 30,000 inhabitants of the northern Ecuadorian Amazon in a class-action lawsuit against Texaco, which was acquired by Chevron in 2001. The lead lawyer, Pablo Fajardo, a resident of one of the affected communities, has become the public voice of the plaintiffs.

Africa: Feliciano dos Santos

Using music to spread the message of ecological sanitation to the most remote corners of Mozambique, Feliciano dos Santos is empowering villagers to participate in sustainable development and rise up from poverty. In Niassa province, many villages lack even basic sanitation infrastructure. Without reliable access to clean water and waste management systems, the population is highly susceptible to disease. Santos, who grew up in the region, today heads an innovative program that is bringing new hope to Niassa. With his internationally-recognized band, Massukos, Santos uses music to promote the importance of water and sanitation in Mozambique. His program is now serving as a model for other sustainable development programs around the world.

Islands and Island Nations: Rosa Hilda Ramos

In the shadow of polluting factories surrounding San Juan’s low income community of Cataño, the wetlands and mangroves of Las Cucharillas Marsh provide important habitats for aquatic and migratory birds as well as flood protection and much needed open space for nearby residents. After leading a movement to hold nearby polluting industry accountable for Cataño’s high incidence of respiratory disease, Rosa Hilda Ramos successfully convinced the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to direct millions of dollars in pollution fines to establish long term protection of the Las Cucharillas Marsh.