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San Francisco Chronicle Monday, April 22nd, 2002
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Honoring Earth's defenders 8 grassroots environmentalists awarded Goldman Prize Glen
Martin, Chronicle Staff Writer Three North American natives who are resisting oil development in the Arctic and a Somali who has fought deforestation in her homeland are among this year's winners of the Goldman Prize, the world's richest and most prestigious environmental award. The other winners are an ecologist working to restore mangroves along the Thai coast, a Guyanese Amerindian who is trying to stop mining in native territories, a Polish farmer who promotes organic agriculture, and an entrepreneur who has stopped open pit mining projects in Puerto Rico's montane forests. Jonathan Solomon, Sarah James and Norma Kassi, the North American recipients of the prize, are Gwich'in natives from the Alaskan and Canadian Arctic. Their efforts to prevent oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge were born out of concern for the porcupine caribou herd, James said. The herd has sustained the Gwich'in historically, she said, and remains critical as a tribal source of food, clothing and religious artifacts. "The caribou are essential to our survival as a people," James said. "For thousands of years, we have cared for the caribou and the caribou have supported us. Drilling would occur at the heart of the herd's calving territory. It's a risk we can't take." Solomon said tribal members were gratified by a Senate vote last week killing a proposal to drill in the refuge. Opening the refuge to oil and gas exploitation was at the heart of the Bush administration's energy plan. "Drilling looks dead for now, but any change in the congressional makeup could (resurrect) it," Solomon said. "Our new focus will be on the congressional races, supporting people who understand the necessity of preserving Arctic ecosystems." Fatima Jibrell, a Somali who directs a regional relief organization, won for her resistance to the charcoal trade in her country. The basis of the Somali economy has changed in recent years from livestock to charcoal, Jibrell said. "Rift Valley fever has infected some stock, and now our usual customers from the gulf states won't buy them," she said. "But charcoal is very much in demand in the gulf, and wealthy entrepreneurs from Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the United Arab Republics are sponsoring massive logging in the acacia savanna. All that wood is turned into charcoal." Jibrell was able to obtain
a national ban on charcoal exports from the acacia scrub region, but
now Persian Gulf charcoal merchants have moved into Somalia's last remaining
equatorial rain forest, home to elephants and other rare fauna. The other recipients are: PSIT CHARNSNOH, Thailand. Charnsnoh is working with local fishermen to restore mangroves and other coastal ecosystems adversely affected by large- scale commercial fishing and logging. Charnsnoh, a Buddhist, overcame religious and cultural differences to forge partnerships with Muslim fishermen. JEAN LA ROSE, Guyana. An Arawak Indian, La Rose helped organize indigenous resistance to mining and logging projects on traditional native lands. She is leading other native activists in fighting the settlement of indigenous lands by thousands of small-scale miners and is seeking aboriginal title to about 3, 000 square miles of rain forest. ALEXIS MASSOL-GONZALEZ, Puerto Rico. Massol-Gonzalez led a local effort to convert a mountainous mining zone to a community-managed forest reserve that features ecologically sustainable commerce. The forest is a United Nations Biosphere Reserve candidate, and Massol-Gonzalez' efforts are now promoted by the Puerto Rican government as a model for future collaborative projects between business and environmentalists. JADWIGA LOPATA, Poland. A former computer programmer, Lopata runs a small organic farm near Krakow and is the founder of an organization that arranges tours of Polish "eco-farms." Thanks in large part to Lopata's efforts, the number of eco-farms in Poland has grown from 14 to 130 since 1993. About 13, 000 tourists have visited the farms during the past three years, and Lopata's program has served as a model for similar ventures in several other European countries. . The prizes will be presented in a ceremony at 5 p.m. today at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco.
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