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ORDINARY PEOPLE. EXTRAORDINARY IMPACT.

Watch the 2023 Goldman Environmental Prize ceremony.

Introducing the 2016 Goldman Prize Winners

The 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize winners.

April 18, 2016

Congratulations to the 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize Winners!

Destiny Watford, Curtis Bay Area, Baltimore, MD

Destiny Watford, United States

Prize winner for North America

In a community whose environmental rights had long been sidelined to make room for heavy industry, Destiny Watford inspired residents of a Baltimore neighborhood to defeat plans to build the nation’s largest trash-burning incinerator less than a mile away from her high school.

Zuzana Čaputová (in the middle), 2016 Goldman Enviromental Prize winner for Europe, in her office of NGO Via Iuris - Center for public advocacy in Pezinok, Slovakia.

Zuzana Čaputová, Slovakia

Prize winner for Europe

A public interest lawyer and mother of two, Zuzana Čaputová spearheaded a successful campaign that shut down a toxic waste dump that was poisoning the land, air and water in her community, setting a precedent for public participation in post-communist Slovakia.

Leng Ouch, Cambodia

Prize winner for Asia

In one of the most dangerous countries in the world for environmental activists, Leng Ouch went undercover to document illegal logging in Cambodia and exposed the corruption robbing rural communities of their land, causing the government to cancel large land concessions.

At every step of the way in the 16-year battle to protect the corridor, Rivera Herrera was there to challenge government corruption and advocate for the public’s right to demand protection for the environment. (Photo: Goldman Environmental Prize)

Luis Jorge Rivera Herrera, Puerto Rico

Prize winner for Islands & Island Nations

Luis Jorge Rivera Herrera helped lead a successful campaign to establish a nature reserve in Puerto Rico’s Northeast Ecological Corridor—an important nesting ground for the endangered leatherback sea turtle—and protect the island’s natural heritage from harmful development.

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Máxima Acuña, Peru

Prize winner for South & Central America

A subsistence farmer in Peru’s northern highlands, Máxima Acuña stood up for her right to peacefully live off her own land, a property sought by Newmont and Buenaventura Mining to develop the Conga gold and copper mine.

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Edward Loure, Tanzania

Prize winner for Africa

Edward Loure led a grassroots organization that pioneered an approach that gives land titles to indigenous communities—instead of individuals—in northern Tanzania, ensuring the environmental stewardship of more than 200,000 acres of land for future generations.


Don’t miss watching these activists receive their awards and join us as we stream live on April 18.

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