An American Jewish World Service-funded greening project in Ethiopia was one of
the winners of this year’s Goldman Environmental Prize, announced on Monday
evening.
Philanthropists Richard and Rhoda Goldman established the San
Francisco-based prize in 1989 with a goal of recognizing grassroots
environmental heroes who strive to protect the planet, according to the prize’s
website. One winning candidate is selected every year from each of six world
regions, and the winners all receive awards of $150,000, the largest prize that
grassroots environmentalists receive anywhere, the project says.
The
awards are aimed to coincide approximately with Earth Day – April 22 this year –
and recipients participate in a 10-day tour of San Francisco and Washington,
DC.
For the past two years, Ikal Angelei has been working to combat the
ongoing construction of a large dam called Gibe III in southern Ethiopia. Her
organization, Friends of Lake Turkana, aims to keep the lake area
environmentally sound. Lake Turkana begins in southwestern Ethiopia and
stretches south into neighboring Kenya.
Upon completion, the Gibe III dam
is slated to span 610 meters in the Turkana Basin and would generate 6,500
gigawatt-hours of power per year, according to Friends of Lake Turkana. Despite
the electricity production benefits, however, the dam would also cause the
retreat of the lake, an increase in lake salinity, harm to aquatic life,
destruction of indigenous economies and potential transboundary issues among
Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya, the organization reported.
“Ikal Angelei has
achieved what many thought was absolutely impossible,” said AJWS President Ruth
Messinger, in a statement released by her office, upon Angelei’s win. “She
brought together Lake Turkana’s deeply divided and marginalized indigenous
communities to speak with a unified voice to thwart this project that would
block their access to water and destroy their livelihoods.
“And because
of her genius, major banks, including the World Bank, have withdrawn their
considerations for financing the Gibe III dam. AJWS is overjoyed that the
Goldman Environmental Prize selected her for this pivotal award and is hopeful
that it will aid her work in halting this socially and environmentally untenable
project.”
This year, in addition to Angelei, winners include Ma Jun from
China – representing Asia – for his work cleaning up the environmental practices
of Chinese corporations, Evgenia Chirikova from Russia – representing Europe –
for mobilizing an effort to reroute a proposed highway that would cut through
Moscow’s Khimki Forest, Edwin Gariguez from the Philippines – representing the
“Islands” – for his movement against a nickel mine in the biologically diverse
Mindoro Island, Caroline Cannon from the United States – representing North
America – for her battles against offshore drilling in Arctic waters and Sofia
Gatica from Argentina –representing South America – who has been fighting
against the spraying of toxic agrochemicals after her baby died as a result of
pesticide poisoning.
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