The Goldman Environmental Prize

Desmond D’Sa is opposed to the $10 billion project to expand Durban’s port, which he says would displace thousands of people, exacerbate waste management problems and increase pollution. (Goldman Environmental Prize)

Desmond D'Sa addresses a meeting of fisherman in Chatsworth, Durban, South Africa. (Goldman Environmental Prize)

Biologist Rudi Putra is coordinating efforts to save rainforest habitat in Sumatra, among the most bio-diverse places on the planet. (Goldman Environmental Prize)

Rudi Putra supervises a forest restoration team cutting down a palm oil tree in the Leuser Ecosystem, Indonesia. (Goldman Environmental Prize)

At a community meeting in Aceh, Indonesia, Rudi Putra demonstrates his skill in getting local leaders to work together on forest projects. (Goldman Environmental Prize)

Ramesh Agrawal tells villagers that they have legal rights to block a mining project slated for development on their land. (Goldman Environmental Prize)

Ramesh Agrawal successfully thwarted one of the largest proposed coal mines in an area already replete with mining activity like this one near a village near Raigarh, India. (Goldman Environmental Prize)

Russian zoologist Suren Gazaryan has led multiple campaigns exposing government corruption and illegal exploitation of protected lands. (Goldman Environmental Prize)

In order to avoid a prison sentence, Suren Gazaryan escaped to Estonia, where he continues his activism. (Goldman Environmental Prize)

Helen Slottje in Ithaca NY, which sits on the Marcellus Shale, the largest known deposit of underground shale gas in the United States. (Goldman Environmental Prize)

Attorney Helen Slottje has given free legal help to dozens of cities and towns to establish bans on hydraulic fracturing, the controversial practice of gas extraction from shale deposits deep underground. (Goldman Environmental Prize)

Ruth Buendia fled her native land as a child during Peru’s civil war. Reconnecting with her people through environmental issues, she’s shown here on the banks of the Ene River. (Goldman Environmental Prize)

In efforts against large scale dams, Peruvian activist Ruth Buendia has united the indigenous Ashaninka people in campaigns to protect their native lands. (Goldman Environmental Prize)