SAN FRANCISCO, April 19, 2010 — The Goldman Environmental Foundation has announced the six recipients of the 2010 Goldman Environmental Prize, a group of fearless emerging leaders taking on some of the world’s most pressing environmental problems affecting not only local communities but the entire planet.

The recipients are successfully dealing with issues surrounding factory livestock farming in the US, shark finning in Costa Rica and beyond, the protection of Europe’s dwindling wilderness in Poland, sustainable agriculture in Cuba, conservation that focuses on human rights in Swaziland and wild elephant conservation in Cambodia.

“I am motivated and inspired by the courage of these leaders,” said Goldman Prize founder Richard N. Goldman. “Their commitment to fighting for a better future illustrates the perseverance of the grassroots environmental movement around the world.”

The Goldman Environmental Prize, now in its 21st year, is awarded annually to grassroots environmental heroes from each of the world’s six inhabited continental regions and is the largest award of its kind with an individual cash prize of $150,000. The winners will be awarded the Prize at an invitation-only ceremony Monday, April 19, 2010 at 5 p.m. at the San Francisco Opera House and will also be honored at a smaller ceremony on Wednesday, April 21 at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.

This year’s winners are:

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.

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.

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.

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.

Lynn Henning, USA
Family farmer in 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.

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.

About the Goldman Environmental Prize
The Goldman Environmental Prize was established in 1989 by San Francisco civic leader and philanthropist Richard N. Goldman and his late wife, Rhoda H. Goldman. It has been awarded to 139 people from 79 countries.

Prize winners are selected by an international jury from confidential nominations submitted by a worldwide network of environmental organizations and individuals.

Previous Prize winners have been at the center of some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges, including seeking justice for victims of environmental disasters at Love Canal and Bhopal, India; leading the fight for dolphin-safe tuna and fighting oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Since receiving a Goldman Prize, eight winners have been appointed or elected to national office in their countries, including several who became ministers of the environment. The 1991 Goldman Prize winner for Africa, Wangari Maathai, won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.