When Rwanda’s bloody civil war broke out in the 1990’s, conservationist Eugène Rutagarama risked his life to ensure the safety of the world’s last remaining mountain gorillas. At that time, only about 650 mountain gorillas existed worldwide, over half of which lived in the Volcano National Park in the Virungas mountains straddling Rwanda, Uganda, and…
Goldman Prize winners Jonathan Deal (2013) and Ikal Angelei (2012) recently attended the Climate Reality Project training program in Johannesburg, South Africa as guest speakers. The three-day intensive training program, held March 12-14, was designed to “equip individuals from Africa and around the globe with the communications skills, knowledge, tools and drive to educate and…
Olya Melen, an environmental lawyer, was awarded the Goldman Prize in 2006 for using legal channels to temporarily halt construction on a deep-water shipping channel that would have destroyed fragile ecosystems in the heart of the Danube Delta, one of the most valuable wetlands in the world. At the time, Melen was working at for…
Last week, Goldman Prize winners Kimberly Wasserman (2013) and Maria Gunnoe (2009) joined Goldman Prize Board members John and Doug Goldman for “The Goldman Prize at 25,” a public event at the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco. In the first half of the two part program, John and Doug Goldman discussed the history…
Maria Gunnoe was awarded the Goldman Prize in 2009 for leading a campaign against the environmentally devastating practice of mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR). In the five years since winning the Prize, Gunnoe’s fight has continued to gain momentum, resulting in regional mine closures and stricter regulations for the industry. In the excerpts below, Gunnoe…
The Goldman Prize recently had the opportunity to engage with local students from Creative Arts Charter School in San Francisco. Liz Means, Communications Coordinator at the Prize, was invited to the school to give a presentation about the history of the Goldman Prize, grassroots environmental activism and the work of the Prize winners. Means introduced students…
1995 Goldman Prize winner Noah Idechong, hailing from the island nation of Palau, recently stopped by the Goldman Prize office in San Francisco, where he gave us a great update on his work and what he has been up to since winning the Prize almost 20 years ago. Palau is an archipelago of 340 islands…
On behalf of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF), representing Icelandic and Faroese fisherman, 2007 Goldman Prize winner Orri Vigfusson wrote a strongly worded letter to all Members of Scottish Parliament accusing the country of contributing to a catastrophic decline in north Atlantic wild salmon populations. The letter came as the strongest international criticism yet…
Madagascar native Nat Quansah was awarded the Goldman Prize in 2000 for his work to educate his community about the need for forest conservation by reintroducing the use of native plants as medicine to thousands of Malagasy people in an Ambodisakoana clinic he opened. We caught up with Quansah to see what he’s been doing since…
As part of the Goldman Prize’s 25th anniversary celebration, we invite you to join us for “The Goldman Prize at 25,” an event featuring Goldman Prize winners Maria Gunnoe (USA, 2009) and Kimberly Wasserman (USA, 2013) and Goldman Prize President, John Goldman and Vice President, Doug Goldman. John and Doug Goldman, whose parents Richard and…