Wadja Egnankou
A scientist from the Ivory Coast, Wadja Egnankou was, for a long time, the lone voice in the struggle to protect the remains of this West African country’s once abundant coastal mangrove forests.
Yoichi Kuroda
Yoichi Kuroda coordinated Japan Tropical Action Network’s campaign to publicly expose and reform Japan’s role in tropical deforestation.
Wangari Maathai
Starting with a small tree nursery in her backyard, Wangari Maathai (d. 2011) launched Kenya’s Green Belt Movement
Eha Kern & Roland Tiensuu
Eha Kern, a teacher in rural Sweden, and her 9-year-old student, Roland Tiensuu, started a children’s movement to raise millions of dollars to purchase and preserve rainforests.
Harrison Ngau Laing
A Kayan tribe member and organizer in the indigenous people’s fight to save the Sarawak rainforests, he used his prize money to finance an election campaign that won him a seat in Malaysia’s parliament.
Rudi Putra
A biologist by training, Rudi Putra led communities in dismantling illegal palm oil plantations that are causing massive deforestation in northern Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, protecting the habitat of the critically endangered Sumatran rhino.
Suren Gazaryan
An internationally recognized bat expert and zoologist, Suren Gazaryan led multiple campaigns exposing government corruption and illegal exploitation of federally protected forestland along Russia’s Black Sea coast.
Tuenjai Deetes
Tuenjai Deetes’ sustainable agriculture and reforestation projects with northern Thailand hill tribes have become national models in resource conservation.