April 22, 2014
For this week’s Throwback Thursday, we are spotlighting past Goldman Prize winners who will be attending the 2014 Goldman Prize ceremony on Monday, April 28. Ignace Schops, Thuli Makama, Randall Arauz, and Marina Rikhvanova are just a few of the familiar faces we are excited to see.
Ignace Schops was awarded the Prize in 2008 for his efforts to raise more than $90 million by bringing together private industry, regional governments, and local stakeholders to establish Belgium’s first national park, protecting one of the largest open green spaces in the country.
2010 Goldman Prize winner Thuli Makama, Swaziland’s only public interest environmental attorney, was awarded the Prize for her precedent-setting work to include environmental NGO representation in the Swaziland Environment Authority, reinforcing the right to public participation in environmental decision making.
Randall Arauz, a conservationist who founded the Association for the Restoration of Sea Turtles (PRETOMA) in 1997, was awarded the Prize in 2010 for his work to draw international attention to the inhumane and environmentally catastrophic shark finning industry.
2008 Goldman Prize winner Marina Rikhvanova was awarded the Prize for her work to protect Siberia’s Lake Baikal, one of the world’s most important bodies of fresh water, from environmental devastation brought on by Russia’s polluting petroleum and nuclear industries.
These are just a few of the past Goldman Prize winners that we hope to see at the 2014 ceremony. Through their activism, each and every one of them has had an enormous impact on the global environmental movement. We know they are as excited as we are to welcome the 2014 Prize recipients to the Goldman Prize family.