Programme Manager of the Amerindian People's Association, Jean La Rose, has won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her work in organising and defending the rights of indigenous communities in Guyana.
A press release issued by the Goldman Environmental Prize foundation said with La Rose's assistance, six Upper Mazaruni communities have filed for the first time ever an indigenous land rights lawsuit in Guyana's High Court, hoping to annul all mining concessions in the area.
The release said that as vice-chair of Guyana's Constitutional Reform Commission, La Rose pushed through an amendment recognising some Amerindian rights, including the right to a healthy environment.
She continues to work for recognition of Amerindian rights and to end the destructive mining that is affecting Guyana's rain forest and indigenous communities, the release stated. It noted that dredging and other mining operations have destroyed several ancestral fishing grounds and contaminated rivers.
It also recalled that in 1995 an accident spilled billions of litres of cyanide effluent into the Essequibo River, in what was described as one of the world's worst mining disasters.
According to the release, transnational companies own concessions on approximately 30% of Guyana's land and government has declared the entire Mazaruni River -- the homeland of 11 Akawaio and Arecuna communities -- a mining district.
The release quoted La Rose as saying: "Transnational mining companies may have more money and political power, but we have the passion and courage to defend our homelands. We will use the courts, the Constitution and strength of our conviction to reclaim our land and our way of life, and to protect Guyana's natural resources."
Richard N. Goldman, founder of the Goldman Environmental Prize, stated: "Jean's work is a strong reminder of the power of the community organising and education. Whether you are working to protect your local river or the Amazon rainforest, Jean's campaign is an inspiration."
La Rose is one of eight 2002 winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize. The prize, now in its thirteenth year, was presented on April 22 at an awards ceremony in San Francisco.
The prize is given annually to grassroots environmentalists from Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands/Island Nations, North America, and South and Central America. The prize includes a no-strings-attached award of US$125,000, and as the largest award of its kind, it has been called the (Nobel Prize for the Environment(, the release said. Three winners shared the North American prize this year.
The other winners this year were:
* Fatima Jibrell, Somalia -- a Somali woman who saved the north-east region of Somalia from the massive logging of old growth acacia trees by persuading the regional government to create and enforce a ban on exports of charcoal to the Gulf States.
* Pisit Charnsnoh, Thailand -- an ecologist who works with fishers to protect and restore Thailand's coastal eco-systems devastated by industrial fishing and increased logging.
* Jadwiga Lopata, Poland -- a conservationist who has used eco-tourism to preserve and promote Poland's traditional family farms. She created an eco-tourism programme to spread the word about the environmental, economic and health advantages of sustainable farming.
* Alexis Massol-Gonzalez, Puerto Rico -- an engineer who led his community in a successful fight to convert a mining zone into Puerto Rico's first community-managed forest reserve.
* Jonathan Solomon, Sarah James and Norma Kassi, United States and Canada -- tribal leaders who successfully defended the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling.
Civic leaders and philanthropists Richard N.Goldman and his late wife Rhoda H. Goldman created the prize in 1951. Richard Goldman was the Chairman of Goldman Insurance Services in San Francisco. Rhoda Goldman was a descendant of Levi Strauss, the founder of a worldwide clothing company.
The prize winners were selected by an international jury from confidential nominations submitted by a worldwide network of environmental organisations and individuals representing 55 nations.