July 13, 2021
The Goldman Environmental Prize is excited to announce the recipients of the 2021 Grantmaking program.
Launched in 2015, the Grantmaking program supports past Prize winners to further grassroots environmental work. Past grants have supported work in areas such as wildlife conservation, environmental justice, and climate education.
This grantmaking cycle, in addition to regular one-year grants, the Prize will be funding a select number of grants for an extended two-year period.
2021 Goldman Prize Grant Recipients
One-Year Grants
CEDICAM: Food production by small-scale farmers in the Mixteca region of southern Mexico is increasingly threatened by unpredictable and extreme weather events. Jesús León Santos (Mexico, 2008) and his organization, CEDICAM, plan to promote sustainable agriculture systems utilizing native seeds in eight communities in the Mixteca region.
Earthlife Africa: Makoma Lekalakala (South Africa, 2018) and Earthlife Africa are partnering with other NGOs in South Africa to prevent construction of the Musina Makhado Special Economic Zone, a proposed development with 14 metal processing plants and a coal-fired power station. Earthlife Africa has developed a wide-reaching campaign through engagement with surrounding communities.
Foundation for Wildlife and Habitat Conservation (FWHC): Hammer Simwinga (Zambia, 2007) will coordinate the construction of nearly 500 sustainable cook stoves and develop more than 100 communal forest areas in rural Zambia. The introduction of sustainable cook stoves to tribal communities presents a unique opportunity to build environmental stewardship while preventing acute respiratory illnesses among rural families due to smoke inhalation.
Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO): Despite significant progress, including the celebrated closure of the last two urban coal-fired power stations in the country in 2012, the community of Little Village in Chicago continues to campaign against toxic industrial projects in the neighborhood. Kimberly Wasserman (United States, 2013) is launching a campaign with youth leaders to educate the community on the environmental and health effects of a new warehouse and trucking facility in the community.
SOBREVIVENCIA: To protect Paraguay’s Alto Paraná forest and safeguard the local economy, the community of Marina Kue has asked SOBREVIVENCIA to assist in the implementation of a participatory, sustainable land-use plan. Reforestation and agroecology techniques will be applied on a community-identified 1,750-hectare plot of land. This will increase community food production and help restore the forest. Oscar Rivas (Paraguay, 2000) will work as the project coordinator.*
Two-Year Grants
As part of a multi-year grantmaking strategy, the Prize will fund the following grants for the current 2021 and upcoming 2022 grant cycle.
Community In-Power Development Association (CIDA Inc.): CIDA Inc., founded by Hilton Kelley (United States, 2011), has partnered with the American Planning Association and other organizations to implement a green infrastructure plan in the Montrose neighborhood in Port Arthur, Texas. The plan focuses on improving water quality and flooding management, while reducing contamination from industrial runoff.
Center for Rescue of Endangered Marine Species (CREMA): Randall Arauz (Costa Rica, 2010) and CREMA plan to implement new sustainable fishing practices and build community participation to protect an area known as “The Triangle” by creating the first Fisheries Reserve in Costa Rica. Although surrounded by a marine protected area, The Triangle is a 220-square-kilometer patch of unprotected water on the country’s Pacific coast.
Onggi River Movement (ORM): ORM plans to launch a multi-faceted campaign to empower the traditional herder communities in seven soums (counties) in Mongolia to sustainably manage their waste and protect the Onggi River after years of contamination by mining operations. Tsetsegee Munkhbayar (Mongolia, 2007) will directly lead the project in the field.
Wild Earth Allies: The Cardamom Mountains in southwestern Cambodia are home to the country’s largest Asian elephant population. Habitat loss due to deforestation is the greatest threat to this endangered species. Sereivathana Tuy (Cambodia, 2010), Cambodia Program Director for Wild Earth Allies, and his team work in Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary to conduct extensive outreach to nearby communities with the goal of mitigating human-elephant conflict. Their work addresses the sources of conflict by combining field research of elephant populations and environmental education in communities.
