Liberia human rights lawyer Alfred Brownell has received the 2019 prestigious Goldman Environmental Award.

Brownell, 53, and one of the world’s leading defenders of human rights and the environment in Africa was among five other individuals who received the award, at a ceremony held in San Francisco on Monday.

The prize honors grassroots environmental heroes across the world, recognizing their sustained and significant efforts to protect and enhance the natural environment, often at great personal risk. Through recognizing these individual leaders, the prize seeks to inspire other ordinary people to take extraordinary actions to protect the natural world.

Recipients are selected by an international jury from confidential nominations submitted by a global group of environmental organizations and individuals and were announced on April 29 to coincide with Earth Day.

The Liberian lawyer, who is also founder and lead campaigner of Green Advocates International and currently serves as a distinguished scholar in residence at Northeastern University’s School of Law Program on Human rights and the Global Economy, was forced into exile in the U.S. after facing intimidations and death threats for mounting a campaign against a Southeast Asia-based agro-industrial company, Golden Veroleum Liberia. The company is one of the world’s biggest palm oil producing companies.

The company entered into a 65-year agreement with the government in 2010 to lease and develop 543,600 acres of forestland for oil palm cultivation. The company cleared community forests and sacred sites without notice or adequate compensation, as well as destroyed farmlands and polluted local water sources.

Shortly after the company launched its operations, residents began a protest over allegations that it was clearing rainforests and operating on their land without their permission. They among other things complained that their sacred bushes and ancestral graves were being destroyed, by the company. It also polluted community water sources as well as destroyed their crops.

Locals who criticized the decision were harassed, threatened and arbitrarily detained by the government, without being formally charged.

Brownell believes that the forest is a primary resource for rural dwellers. He campaigned fiercely for the recognition of customary land and property rights of local communities and indigenous peoples throughout in Liberia and across the West African region.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Brownell attributed his selection for the prize to the mixture of luck, his Christian faith, and the protection of nature and the shield of his ancestors.

“Yes, I survived to tell this story, but many defenders around the world who are part of our community, murdered at the rate of four per week, have not been so lucky,” he said.

He said his victory of being presented the international recognition was possible because he built an army of local and international NGOs. He extended appreciation to his family, Goldman Environmental Foundation, Green Advocates, the Sustainable Development Institute, Global Witness, and several other partners.

He hopes that the honor will elevate the status of the forests of West Africa and the struggle of communities protecting the forest. He also hopes that the recognition will help the global community to better understand the dangers of palm oil.

“Unsustainable palm oil, which I refer to as Frankenstein palm oil, is a major cause of environmental destruction, deforestation, ethnic cleansing, human rights violations and economic exploitation in Liberia and elsewhere,” he added.

The environmental rights award winner also said he was on the stage as a messenger of the indigenous people and local forest communities of Liberia, with a request and a message.

“I’m here among others, to talk about Ma Anna Tue, an indigenous Kru women’s leader from Liberia, a grandmother, who was flogged, stripped completely naked and thrown onto the back of a police jeep and imprisoned – her only crime being to protect her customary land,” he explained.

“She wants me to say that despite the stress she faced, all hope is not lost. But, it is time to commit to protecting the tropical forest of West Africa, which is still under serious threat from commercial oil palm operations.”

He further noted that the time is now to invest in community-driven innovation and business modeled designed by indigenous peoples who have coexisted with nature for centuries. He said it is time to rethink development and investment.

“We too, are investors and development experts and very successful ones at it, too,” he advanced. He added that it was also time for financial and investment institutions to stop financing destructive investments, such as what was practiced by Golden Veroleum in Liberia.

The Goldman Environmental Award amplifies the voices of recipients and provides them with international recognition that enhances their credibility and worldwide visibility for the issues they champion. It also comes with financial support to pursue their vision of a renewed and protected environment.

The winners also participate in a 10-day tour of San Francisco and Washington, D.C.—highlighted by award ceremonies, including media interviews, funder briefings, and meetings with political and environmental leaders.

In October 2018, Brownell was also presented with Northeastern University’s Institute of International Education Scholar Rescue Fund’s inaugural Beau Biden Chair, a fellowship that aims to preserve the lives and knowledge base of scholars who are in danger.

Featured photo by (AP Photo/Steven Senne)