Congratulations, Global Greengrants grantees!

The 2014 Goldman Environmental Prizewinners have just been announced. Five out of five of the winners from outside the United States are current or former Global Greengrants grantees. Read about their work and be inspired:

RUTH BUENDIA MESTOQUIARI | Peru

The Peruvian Amazon is home to diverse plants, animals, and indigenous people. In 2010, regional powerhouse Brazil signed an energy agreement with Peru that would allow it to build dozens of dams in the region to power its economic expansion. Ruth Buendía successfully united the Asháninka indigenous people to campaign against the large-scale dams that would have destroyed their homeland.

The Greengrants connection: Global Greengrants provided Ruth Buendía’s organization CARE with a pair of grants in 2011 to develop communications and legal strategies, and to launch national and international campaigns, to protect the Asháninka from the mega dams.

You can directly support Ruth’s ongoing work by clicking here.

DESMOND D’SA | South Africa

Desmond D’Sa rallied south Durban’s diverse and disenfranchised communities to shut down a toxic waste dump that was exposing residents to dangerous chemicals and robbing them of their constitutionally protected right to a safe and clean environment. He is now mobilizing grassroots opposition to a massive expansion of the city’s port, which would displace thousands of people and exacerbate pollution and traffic in the region.

The Greengrants connection: Over the past decade, Global Greengrants has provided seven grants to the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, the organization Desmond D’Sa coordinates. The funds have been used to mobilize communities impacted by pollution, create alternative city plans, and more. Most recently, the group used a grant to raise awareness about the human rights impacts of a planned port expansion and to catalyze a national debate on economic alternatives.

You can donate directly to Desmond D’sa’s current efforts by clicking here.

RAMESH AGRAWAL | India

With a small Internet café as his headquarters, Ramesh Agrawal organized villagers to demand their right to information about industrial development projects near their homes and succeeded in shutting down one of the largest proposed coal mines in Chhattisgarh. He continues to represent marginalized farming communities and villagers against illegal mining and energy development projects that are destroying their environment.

The Greengrants connection: In 2008, Global Greengrants made a grant to Ramesh Agrawal, essentially to build a movement to halt pollution. Funds were used to organize meetings and trainings, visit communities that had been successful at halting pollution, distribute literature and videos, encourage interaction with other environmental groups, and support community members to participate in public hearings.

To donate directly to Ramesh Agrawal’s current projects, click here.

SUREN GAZARYAN | Russia

An internationally recognized bat expert and zoologist, Suren Gazaryan has led multiple campaigns exposing government corruption and illegal use of federally protected forestland along Russia’s Black Sea coast. He played a critical role in drawing attention to the environmental devastation of the Sochi Olympics. Currently he lives in exile, while he continues his fight against environmentally destructive development projects in Russia.

The Greengrants connection: Global Greengrants supported Suren’s organization, Environmental Watch on North Caucasus, to research and publish a report on the environmental impacts of the 2014 Sochi Olympics. When Russian authorities got wind of the project, they began harassing, detaining, and imprisoning the group’s members. Environmental Watch asked Global Greengrants to help get the world out, so we launched a media campaign and ultimately wrote an open letter to the International Olympic Committee, calling on it to ensure future Olympics are sustainable and protect human rights.

To support Suren Gazaryan’s current efforts, click here.

RUDI PUTRA | Indonesia

A biologist by training, Rudi Putra is coordinating a large-scale effort to dismantle 24 illegal palm oil plantations that are causing massive deforestation in northern Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, protecting the habitat of the critically endangered Sumatran rhino.

The Greengrants connection: The Leuser Ecosystem is one of the only remaining habitats for endangered species, such as Sumatran orangutans, tigers and rhinos. But in 2012, the government disbanded the agency designed to ensure compliance with environmental laws, and palm oil companies began illegally cutting down the rich rainforests to install new manicured plantations.

The former employees of the dismantled government agency are so fiercely dedicated to preserving this important forest that they have formed an independent organization dedicated to working with community members to remove 24 illegal palm oil plantations from the protected area. Global Greengrants supported these efforts last year.

You, too, can support Rudi Putra’s efforts, by clicking here.

Thank you to the Goldman Environmental Prize for 25 years of honoring individuals’ extraordinary work to protect people and our planet. As the world’s largest prize recognizing grassroots environmentalists, it is a vital investment in local leaders who strive for a just and sustainable world.

Global Greengrants is proud to partner with the Goldman Environmental Prize to support the 2014 prizewinners’ ongoing work to stop mega dams in the Peruvian Amazon, illegal palm oil in Indonesia, land grabs in Russia, coal mines in India, environmental racism in South Africa, and fracking in New York state.

We congratulate these five inspiring leaders for their hard work, achievements,
and now, their recognition by our colleagues at the Goldman Environmental Prize.
Thank you for your courageous work!