Medha Patkar
Medha Patkar mobilized massive marches and peaceful protests against the construction of India’s Sardar Sarovar Dam, which displaced thousands of tribal peoples and submerged vast stretches of forests and farmland.
János Vargha
A biologist, János Vargha led a campaign to save the Danube River from the ecologically-devastating Gabcikovo-Nagymaros dam.
Robert Brown
Bob Brown gave up his medical practice to launch a successful national grassroots campaign against the damming of Tasmania’s Franklin River, Australia’s last free-flowing river.
Ruth Buendía
Overcoming a history of traumatic violence, Ruth Buendía united the Asháninka people in a powerful campaign against large-scale dams that would have once again uprooted indigenous communities still recovering from Peru’s civil war.
Azzam Alwash
Giving up a comfortable living and family life in California, Azzam Alwash returned to war-torn Iraq to lead local communities in restoring the once-lush marshes that were turned to dust bowls during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Giorgos Catsadorakis & Myrsini Malakou
Biologists by training, Giorgos Catsadorakis and Myrsini Malakou led the creation of the first trans-boundary protected area in the Balkans, an area better known for conflict than cooperation, at the borders of Greece, Albania and Macedonia.