Jane Akre & Steve Wilson
TV journalists who researched the controversial growth hormone (rBGH) used to stimulate milk production in cows, Jane Akre and Steve Wilson were ultimately fired due to pressure from Monsanto, who manufactures rBGH.
Oscar Rivas & Elías Díaz Peña
Elias Díaz Peña and Oscar Rivas cofounded Sobrevivencia to protect indigenous, marginalized communities and prevent developments that threaten Paraguay’s ecosystems and inhabitants.
Vera Mischenko
In response to post-communist development and resource exploitation, Vera Mischenko cofounded Ecojuris, Russia’s first public interest law organization, and brought the first successful environmental lawsuits against the government.
Rodolfo Montiel
Along with colleague Teodoro Cabrera, Rodolfo Montiel Flores was arrested and tortured for organizing peaceful protests of logging that was devastating farmlands. Both men were jailed for more than two years on trumped-up charges.
Jorge Varela
Cofounder of a wetlands protection organization, Jorge Varela advocated for sustainable shrimping to protect ecosystems in the Gulf of Fonseca, where commercial shrimping destroys mangrove forests and poisons estuaries.
Oral Ataniyazova
An obstetrician, Oral Ataniyazova fought the damage to public health caused by the shrinking of the Aral Sea, which has led to increased salinity and concentrated pollutants, huge dust storms and changes in the regional weather.
Samuel Nguiffo
Using his expertise as an attorney, Samuel Nguiffo founded the Center for Environment and Development, which helps forest-dwelling peoples exercise their legal right to manage traditional lands.
Jacqui Katona & Yvonne Margarula
Jacqui Katona and Yvonne Margarula, both Aboriginal women, stopped a damaging uranium mine at Jabiluka, land traditionally owned by the Mirrar people and at the heart of Australia’s largest national park.
Michal Kravcik
Michal Kravcik galvanized support to halt a dam planned during the Communist era by proposing effective democratic alternatives, including smaller dams, decentralized water management, and restored farmlands.
Bernard Martin
Recognizing the need to prevent a repeat of the 1992 collapse of fish stocks, Bernard Martin advocated for lower fishing quotas and Marine Protected Areas to stem the decimation by factory trawlers in the once abundant Grand Banks.