2012 Goldman Environmental Prize winners risk their lives

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The Goldman Environmental Foundation Monday announced the six winners of the 2012 Goldman Environmental Prize, people who protect the environment and their communities, often at risk of their lives.

2012 Goldman Prize winners: from left, front: Edwin Gariguez, Caroline Cannon, rear: Evgenia Chirikova, Ma Jun, Ikal Angelei, Sofia Gatica. [Goldman Environmental Foundation]

2012 Goldman Prize winners: from left, front: Edwin Gariguez, Caroline Cannon, rear: Evgenia Chirikova, Ma Jun, Ikal Angelei, Sofia Gatica. [Goldman Environmental Foundation]

Now in its 23rd year, the Goldman Environmental Prize, is awarded annually to "grassroots environmental heroes" from each of the world's six inhabited regions. It is the largest award for grassroots activism with an individual cash prize of $150,000 for each winner.

The winners will be awarded the Prize at an invitation-only ceremony on Monday, April 16, 2012 at 5 p.m. at the San Francisco Opera House. A smaller ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. will follow on Wednesday, April 18.

This year's winners are:

IKAL ANGELEI, Kenya Risking her life, Ikal Angelei is fighting the construction of the massive Gibe 3 Dam that would block access to water for indigenous communities around Lake Turkana.

MA JUN, China Ma Jun is working with corporations to clean up their practices with an online database and digital map that shows Chinese citizens which factories are violating environmental regulations in their country.

EVGENIA CHIRIKOVA, Russia Challenging rampant political corruption, Evgenia Chirikova is mobilizing her fellow Russian citizens to demand the rerouting of a highway that would bisect Khimki Forest, Moscow's "green lungs."

EDWIN GARIGUEZ, Philippines A Catholic priest, Father Edwin Gariguez is leading a grassroots movement against a large-scale nickel mine to protect Mindoro Island's biodiversity and its indigenous people.

CAROLINE CANNON, USA Caroline Cannon is bringing the voice and perspective of her Inupiat community in Point Hope to the battle to keep Arctic waters safe from offshore oil and gas drilling.

SOFIA GATICA, Argentina A mother whose infant died as a result of pesticide poisoning, Sofía Gatica is organizing local women to stop indiscriminate spraying of toxic agrochemicals in neighboring soy fields.

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