Odisha activist awarded Goldman Environmental Prize

BHUBANESWAR: Prafulla Samantara of Odisha on Monday became one of the six activists from across the world to receive the Goldman Environmental Prize 2017, the world’s biggest award for grassroots environmental activists.
The Goldman Environmental Foundation salutes environmental heroes from each of the world’s six inhabited continents annually and recognizes grassroots activists for significant achievement to protect the environment and their communities.
An iconic leader of social justice movements in India, Samantara led a historic 12-year legal battle that affirmed the indigenous Dongria Kondh’s land rights and protected the Niyamgiri Hills from a massive, open-pit aluminum ore mine, by Vedanta.
The thick forest lands of Niyamgiri Hills are of vital importance to the Dongria Kondh, an 8,000-member indigenous tribe with deep ties to the surrounding environment. The Dongria are renowned fruit farmers with an encyclopedic knowledge of the forest’s medicinal plants.
The other winners include Rodrigue Mugaruka Katembo, Democratic Republic of Congo; Uros Macerl, Slovenia; Wendy Bowman, Australia; Mark Lopez, United States and Rodrigo Tot, Guatemala.