News Excerpt:

Chhattisgarh-based environment and forest activist Alok Shukla has been honoured with the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize.

About the news:

• Alok Shukla, the convener of Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan and founder of Hasdeo Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, received the prize at a ceremony held in San Francisco, United States, alongside other recipients of this year’s Goldman Environmental Prize.
• The other winners are Marcel Gomes (Brazil), Murrawah Maroochy Johnson (Australia), Teresa Vincente (Spain), Andrea Vidaurre (US), and Sinegugu Zukulu and Nonhle Mbuthuma (South Africa).
• Leading a community campaign, Shukla successfully advocated for the preservation of 445,000 acres of biodiversity-rich forests from 21 planned coal mines in Chhattisgarh.
• The government cancelled the auction of 21 proposed coal mines in Hasdeo Aranya. The region's pristine forests—popularly known as the lungs of Chhattisgarh—are among the largest intact forest areas in India.
• Nearly 15,000 tribals depend on the Hasdeo Aranya forests for their livelihood, cultural identity, and sustenance. These forests feed the Hasdeo River, which flows into the Mahanadi River.
• Meanwhile, the region contains one of India’s largest coal reserves — an estimated five billion tons of coal sit under the Hasdeo forests.