Eight environmental activists tonight will receive the world’s most prestigious environmental award, the Goldman Environmental Prize. Awards of $125,000 will be given to Oscar Olivera, a Bolivian labor leader working for clean and affordable water; Yosepha Alomang, an Indonesian activist trying to preserve land and culture in West Papua; Giorgos Catsadorakis and Myrsini Malakou, two Greek biologists who have helped to save wetlands in the Balkans; Bruno Van Peteghem, a New Caledonian enviro campaigning to protect one of the world’s largest coral reefs; Jane Akre and Steve Wilson, two U.S. journalists who have called attention to the possible health dangers of genetically altered milk; and Eugene Rutagarama, a Rwandan who saved 355 mountain gorillas during a genocidal war in the country. Counting this year’s recipients, the Goldman Prize has been awarded to 80 recipients from 51 countries over 12 years.
