2011環保金人獎 表彰全球6位草根人物

The Goldman Environmental Foundation today announced the six recipients of the 2011 Goldman Environmental Prize - a group of grassroots leaders who are taking on tough challenges to protect the environment and their communities, often at great personal risk.

The 2011 Goldman Prize recipients come from El Salvador, Germany, Indonesia, Russia, the United States and Zimbabwe and their work is as diverse as their homelands.

The 2011 Goldman Environmental Prize winners are:

Francisco Pineda, El Salvador

Living under the constant threat of assassination, Francisco Pineda has led a citizens' movement that stopped a gold and silver mine from destroying El Salvador's fresh water resources.

A farmer with a degree in sustainable agriculture, Pineda is the founder and president of the Environmental Committee of Cabañas, a community volunteer association. In the process of organizing his community against a waste dump that would have polluted local water supplies, he taught himself about water ecology and became an environmental leader in his region.

In 2009, three of Pineda's colleagues were assassinated, one while under police protection. A month later, a group of assassins targeted another member of the environmental committee, but when they did not find him at home they murdered his pregnant wife instead. Another anti-mining activist was kidnapped and his tortured body was found in a well.

Today, Pineda lives with 24-hour police protection. He has vowed to continue his struggle no matter the consequences.

Due in part to Pineda's leadership, the Salvadoran government has not granted Pacific Rim the necessary extraction permit for their mine and the company has reduced its active exploration area by half.

Ursula Sladek, Germany

In response to Germany's expanded reliance on nuclear energy and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Ursula Sladek created her country's first cooperatively-owned renewable power company.

For Sladek, a mother of five from the small town of Schönau in Germany's Black Forest region, the Chernobyl disaster was a wake-up call about the dangers of nuclear energy. Sladek, her husband, and other parents researched ways to limit their dependence on nuclear power. They found that power companies did not allow citizens to influence energy production decisions.

The group began what would become a 10 year project to take over the local grid, and in a second step, allow people all over Germany to choose safe, eliable, sustainably-produced energy.

She raised 6 million deutschmarks (3 million euros) to purchase the local grid and formed Schönau Power Supply to operate as an energy provider. By 1997, Sladek's company was in control of the Schönau grid.

She took on the role of president and continues in that role today as the company provides power to more than 100,000 homes and businesses throughout Germany.

Prigi Arisandi, Indonesia

Biologist Prigi Arisandi initiated a local movement to stop industrial pollution from flowing into a river that provides water to three million people.

Arisandi created the first experiential environmental education program in the region through river tours that bring children and local residents closer to the river's biodiversity and its pollution. Arisandi's River Detection Program, now in more than 50 schools, teaches children how to monitor the river's water quality and report their findings to the government.

Dmitry Lisitsyn, Russia

Dmitry Lisitsyn fought to protect Sakhalin Island's endangered ecosystems while demanding safety measures from one of the world's largest petroleum development projects.

Lisitsyn campaigned to create the Vostochny Wildlife Refuge on Sakhalin Island, which has led to the protection of nearly 67,000 hectares of ancient forest, salmon spawning grounds and the adjacent marine area.

Hilton Kelley, USA

Hilton Kelley fights for low-income communities living in the shadow of polluting industries on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Located among eight major petrochemical and hazardous waste facilities on the Texas Gulf Coast, the largely African-American West Side neighborhood of Port Arthur endures near constant emissions spewing from smokestacks ringing the community.

Kelley negotiated a now-famous "good neighbor" agreement with Motiva that provided health coverage for the residents of the West Side for three years and established a $3.5 million fund to help entrepreneurs launch new businesses in the community.

Raoul du Toit, Zimbabwe

Raoul du Toit coordinated conservation initiatives that helped develop and maintain the largest remaining black rhino populations in Zimbabwe.

Rhinos have become extinct in 13 African countries in the past 30 years, but rhinos survive in healthy numbers in southeastern Zimbabwe, largely due to the bravery and commitment of du Toit and the Lowveld Rhino Trust.

The Goldman Environmental Prize was established in 1990 by late San Francisco civic leaders and philanthropists Richard and Rhoda Goldman. It has been awarded to 145 people from 80 countries.