ORDINARY PEOPLE. EXTRAORDINARY IMPACT.
Raising more than $90 million by bringing together private industry, regional governments, and local stakeholders, Ignace Schops led the effort to establish Belgium’s first and only national park, protecting one of the largest open green spaces in the country.
In the shadow of polluting factories in Cataño, Rosa Hilda Ramos led the movement to permanently protect the Las Cucharillas Marsh, one of the last open spaces in the area and one of the largest wetlands ecosystems in the region.
As Russia expanded its petroleum and nuclear interest, Marina Rikhvanova worked to protect Siberia’s lake Baikal, one of the world’s most important bodies of fresh water, from environmental devastation brought on by these polluting industries.
Using traditional music, grassroots outreach and innovative technology to bring sanitation to the most remote corners of Mozambique, Feliciano dos Santos empowered villagers to participate in sustainable development and rise up from poverty.
In the Ecuadorian Amazon, Pablo Fajardo and Luis Yanza led one of the largest environmental legal battles in history against oil giant Chevron, demanding justice for the massive petroleum in the region.
In Oaxaca, where unsustainable land-use practices have made it one of the world’s most highly-eroded areas, Jesús León Santos led a land renewal program that employs ancient indigenous practices to transform depleted soil into arable land.
