Alfred Brownell Wins Goldman Environmental Prize

We are thrilled to announce that ELAW partner Alfred Brownell, co-founder of Liberia’s Green Advocates, will be awarded a Goldman Environmental Prize today.
 
Goldman announced that Alfred, under threat of violence, stopped the clear-cutting of Liberia’s tropical forests by palm oil plantation developers. His campaign protected 513,500 acres of primary forest that constitute one of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots.
 
In 2000, fresh out of law school, Alfred contacted ELAW for advice as he and his fellow graduates contemplated creating an organization to protect Liberia’s environment. Then-Liberian President Charles Taylor was exploiting land and natural resources and Alfred wanted to enforce the law.
 
ELAW helped Alfred launch Green Advocates, connected him with colleagues across Africa and around the world, and hosted him and co-workers at Green Advocates for ELAW Fellowships over many years.
 
Alfred traveled to Eugene in 2017 to participate in the ELAW Annual International Meeting. During that visit, he described to Camilla Mortensen at Eugene Weekly how he nearly lost his life in a nightmare that unfolded as he and co-workers were on a day-long fact finding investigation tied to a community that complained about an oil palm plantation.
 
Alfred and his team have worked fearlessly to protect communities and the environment through law, helping strengthen Liberia’s framework environmental law, revising the nation’s forestry laws, holding mining companies accountable, and defending land rights of many local communities facing land grabs.
 
Congratulations Alfred for your courageous work and a well-deserved Goldman Environmental Prize!
 
Bern Johnson
Executive Director
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide
 
P.S. Watch the 2019 Goldman Environmental Prize ceremony livestream at 5:30 pm PDT today at GoldmanPrize.org or 2019 Goldman Environmental Prize Ceremony Livestream. And for more information, please visit:

ELAW, 2018
ELAW Celebrating Victories: The Fight for Environmental Justice
 
News at Northeastern, July 20, 2017
There’s no way I’ll be silenced

Eugene Weekly, March 2, 2017
Under Fire: Environmental Attorneys Under Attack

Green Advocates Twitter and Facebook