AFRICA

Thuli Brilliance Makama
Swaziland
Thuli Makama, Swaziland’s only public interest environmental attorney, won a landmark case to include environmental NGO representation in conservation decisions and continues to challenge the forced evictions and violence perpetrated against poverty-stricken communities living on the edges of conservation areas.





ASIA

Tuy Sereivathana
Cambodia
Tuy Sereivathana worked to mitigate human elephant conflict in Cambodia by introducing innovative low-cost solutions, empowering local communities to cooperatively participate in endangered Asian elephant conservation.






EUROPE

Małgorzata Górska
Poland
Małgorzata Górska led the fight to protect Poland’s Rospuda Valley, one of Europe’s last true wilderness areas, from a controversial highway project that would have destroyed the region’s sensitive ecosystems.






ISLANDS AND ISLAND NATIONS

Humberto Ríos Labrada
Cuba
A scientist and biodiversity researcher, Humberto Ríos Labrada promoted sustainable agriculture by working with farmers to increase crop diversity and develop low-input agricultural systems that greatly reduce the need for pesticide and fertilizer, encouraging Cuba’s shift from agricultural chemical dependence.






NORTH AMERICA

Lynn Henning
Michigan, USA
A family farmer from rural Michigan, Lynn Henning exposed the egregious polluting practices of CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations), gaining the attention of the federal EPA and prompting state regulators to issue hundreds of citations for water quality violations.






SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA

Randall Arauz
Costa Rica
Drawing international attention to the inhumane and environmentally catastrophic shark finning industry, Randall Arauz led the campaign to halt the practice in Costa Rica, making his country the new international model for shark protection.