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2023 Goldman Environmental Prize ceremony back in person following pandemic hiatus
The Goldman Environmental Prize was awarded to six winners on Monday as the ceremony returned in person to San Francisco after a three-year hiatus because of the pandemic.
SAN FRANCISCO - The buzz was back at San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House. The stage was set for the 2023 Goldman Environmental Prize Ceremony.
"The first in-person ceremony since 2019," Rue Map the founder of Outdoor Afro.
The prize has honored grassroots environmental activists for 34 years now.
"Social justice has risen to be much more important. There's a greater number of indigenous peoples who are represented and a better understanding of our interconnectedness," said John Goldman, President of The Goldman Environmental Foundation.
Marine biologist Zafer Kizilkaya, from Turkey, was honored for his work protecting local fishing communities and creating the largest marine protected area in the Mediterranean.
"We have sent up a network of marine reserves designated no fishing zones," said Kizilkaya.
That's resulted, he said, in a ten-fold increase in fish stocks, in just five years.
Indigenous activists were also honored from North Sumatra in Indonesia. Delima Silalahi led a 9-year battle by the indigenous Batak people against deforestation and paper and pulp producers
From South America, prizewinner Alessandra Korap Munduruku, was honored for stopping the mining company Anglo-American from building dozens copper mines on the Munduruku people's indigenous land in Brazil.
In Europe, Tero Mustonen, became the first activist from Finland to win a Goldman Prize.
"We are seeing the biggest restoration in Finnish history," said Mustonen.
His work saving and restoring 130,000 acres of peat lands.
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Two environmentalists from Africa and North America were honored for winning landmark legal battles.
Chilekwa Mumba battled six years, to get a legal settlement for villagers in Zambia, against Vedanta Resources, which operated the second-largest open pit mine in the world.
"I want to acknowledge the communities for standing up for themselves," said Mumba, who gave his acceptance speech via live video link.
The North America prizewinner, Diane Wilson of San Antonio, Texas was honored for investigating toxic spills from Formosa Plastics, leading to the largest civil settlement in Clean Water history, a 34-year grassroots battle.
"I was forty-years-old...now, I am 74-years old. It should tell you, you're never too old to do this," said WIlson, to big applause.
The six prizewinners travel to Washington DC Tuesday and will be honored at another ceremony Wednesday at the Kennedy Center.