We are thrilled to congratulate Global Greengrants grantee Berta Cáceres on winning the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize.
She and the five other grassroots environmental leaders accepted the prize this week for their brave dedication to protecting vulnerable people and ecosystems. We honor them for their outstanding leadership and commitment.
Berta waged a grassroots campaign that successfully pressured the world’s largest dam builder to pull out of the Agua Zarca Dam. The dam on Honduras’ Gualcalque River would have cut off water and food to hundreds of Lenca people and violated their right to sustainably manage and live off their land.
As the General Coordinator for the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras, Berta confronts governmental patriarchy, the military, and corporations that want to exploit the Lenca people’s ancestral territory.
Honduras’ male-dominated government has become increasingly adversarial toward activists, however, and Berta is frequently stopped by police, has been arrested numerous times, and was put on trial for her political work. Her colleagues have been seriously injured and killed for their activism.
Listen to our 2014 conversation with Berta. Her story is also featured in our new report, Climate Justice and Women’s Rights: a guide to supporting grassroots women’s action.
Congratulations to Berta and to all of the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prizewinners! Read about them here.