Data: Tuesday, May 27, 2003, 
From: Ingraham Beth.Ingraham@UNEP.ORG
To: 


Please excuse cross-postings.
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For information only.  Not an official record

'Green' Lawyers, Saharan Water Project and Great Ape Champion Among Winners
of UNEP Environment Awards

World Environment Day 5 June: Water - Two Billion People Are Dying For It!

Beirut/Nairobi, 26 May 2003 - A Briton who championed the cause of the
great apes and the rhino before tragically dying in an air crash; an Indian
whose eco-friendly toilet is transforming the health and lives of the urban
poor, and a Lebanese journalist who has almost single-handedly brought
crucial environmental issues to the attention of the Arab world are among
this year's winners of the prestigious UNEP Global 500 Award.

They are joined by an individual from Niger whose company is delivering
"sustainable development in action" by using gum arabic to boost farmers'
incomes while rehabilitating West African dry lands, and a litter-busting
brigade of Nepalese women who have transformed waste management in this
Himalayan mountain kingdom.

A team of Bangladeshi lawyers who are bringing environmental and social
justice to their country; a visionary Frenchman who, over half a century
ago, recognized and pressed for the need for national parks; and a
children's group, which helped cut water wastage among communities in the
Algerian Sahara, complete the octet of this year's winners.

Klaus Toepfer, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) will present the 2003 Global 500 laureates with their
award for outstanding achievement at the World Environment Day (WED)
celebrations in Beirut.

WED, which is held annually on 5 June, is being hosted this year in the
Lebanon - the first time it has been held in the Arab world - with the
slogan Water: Two Billion People Are Dying for It!  2003 is also the United
Nations International Year of Freshwater.

Mr Toepfer said: " Every year it is our privilege to recognize those
individuals and groups who have gone beyond the rhetoric and the
grand-standing, who have seized the issues and transformed a dream into
reality, turned ideas into action on the ground".

"At the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) last year in
Johannesburg, governments committed themselves to a Plan of Implementation.
Our winners have already, and for many years, been implementing their own
plans covering such wide ranging issues as wildlife conservation and wise
use of water to environmental law, journalism, sanitation and sustainable
agriculture.  In doing so, they have not only raised awareness, but
triggered profound and long lasting changes in the way people live their
lives," he said.

Mr Toepfer added: "Governments alone are unlikely to achieve much without
the support of all sectors of civil society, without the inspiration of
individuals and small, dedicated grassroots groups, like those we are
applauding on World Environment Day. Let us hope that their imagination and
sheer hard work will show that the impossible is only in our minds and
that, together, we can deliver development that lasts and prosperity that
respects people and the planet".



The Adult Category Winners

Serge M. Antoine -- France
Very few people in France, or in the Mediterranean region, have devoted as
much imagination, energy and intelligence to the cause of the environment
as Serge Antoine.

As early as the 1950s, he saw the need for a better protection of natural
areas in France.  His actions led to two major decisions: the adoption of a
new form of regional planning and the setting up of the "Parcs Naturels
Regionaux" - similar to biosphere reserves.

Mr Antoine played a major role in the creation of the Ministry of
Environment and was Secretary-General of the High Committee for
Environment.  He took an active part in the preparations for the Stockholm
Conference and in the creation of UNEP.

He was instrumental in negotiating the 1976 Barcelona Convention for the
Mediterranean and launched the idea of a study of the region, which became
the Blue Plan.  In 1996, he advocated the setting up of a Mediterranean
Commission for Environment and Development.

Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA)
The Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) was set up by a
group of young lawyers in 1991. Over the years, BELA has become a true
pressure group against environmental violations.

With 60% of the total population in Bangladesh estimated at having no
access to justice, BELA is considered a pioneer in public interest
environmental litigation (PIEL).  As an environmental organization, it has
filed 38 cases of which 12 have been decided in favour of the cause while
the rest are pending.

Other major achievements of BELA include the opening up of PIEL in
Bangladesh; recognition of 'right to life' as part of Constitutional 'right
to life'; directive judgements in mitigating industrial pollution;
vehicular pollution and addressing payment of environmental compensation in
development projects.

Annelisa Kilbourn -- UK
Dr. Kilbourn worked some 16 hours a day, seven days a week, in her efforts
to save the great apes, the elephant and the rhino.

She conducted the first research on the health of orang-utans in Sabah,
Malaysia where she also helped to train local experts, and assisted the
government in the translocation of orang-utans and elephants to safe
havens.

For the organization SOS Rhino, Dr Kilbourn took on the task of helping to
protect the last remaining rhinos in Borneo.  If there is any hope left for
the survival of the rhino in Borneo, much of it is due to Dr. Kilbourn's
tireless efforts to bring all those concerned together and help to
implement a plan on the ground.

For WCS's Field Veterinary Programme, she broke new ground with the lowland
gorilla health programme in Central Africa.  She quickly built trust and
working relationships with local people, researchers, park managers and
government officials at six sites in three countries.

Dr. Kilbourn's training of field teams allowed her to lead investigations
into last year's deadly Ebola Virus outbreak, and her work in the field
produced the first proof that gorillas are infected and quickly die of the
virus - information which may serve to protect both gorillas and humans.

She tragically died in a plane crash in Gabon, in November 2002, whilst
working on her research into the Ebola virus and western lowland gorillas.
Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak -- India
In India, 700 million people and 120 million households have no toilets. To
address this situation, Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of the Sulabh
International Social Service Organization, developed the technology of a
twin-pit, pour-flush toilet known as Sulabh Shauchalaya, of which one
million have been constructed.

This environment friendly technology provides on-site disposal with no
smell and soil pollution, and it conserves water.  Through this
development, there has been a massive change in the attitude and behaviour
of people towards sanitation.  Indians now readily pay user charges in some
5,500 Sulabh public toilets.

Biogas production from human excreta in 100 public toilets and its various
uses, for example lighting and cooking, and the use of effluent as rich
fertilizer is one of his hallmark contributions.

To the biogas plant is attached to the Sulabh effluent plant, whereby water
discharged is made colourless, odourless and pathogen-free, fit for
discharge into any water-body, promoting a better and healthier
environment.  In both the technologies, there is production of organic
nutrient-rich fertilizer and re-use and recycling of waste matter.

Najib Saab--Lebanon
Through Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia (Environment and Development) magazine, which he
launched as a private initiative, Najib Saab has triggered an unprecedented
environmental public awareness campaign in the Middle East, bringing
environmental concerns to the Arab public-at-large and creating a regional
environmental advocacy forum.

The influential magazine has a circulation of 38,500 in 22 countries. It is
used in schools, and its articles as a main reference for environmental
curricula.  Mr Saab's editorials on sustainable development issues in the
Middle East are syndicated to 10 daily newspapers.

Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia sponsors more than 360 environmental clubs in schools,
and supports them with education material and training. Mr Saab has
produced a weekly environmental education television programme entitled
Environment Club - a pioneering effort in the region.

He has succeeded, again through his own initiative, to build around the
magazine a pan-Arab environmental movement, which strongly helped place the
environment on the agenda of both the public and the private sectors.  By
creating a vibrant environmental forum, he has accomplished what official
bodies in the region could not satisfactorily develop over the years.

Boureima Wankoye -- Niger
Boureima Wankoye is president of Achats Service International (ASI). The
company introduced the mass plantation of gum arabic for export to Europe
in the dry lands of Niger. This has not only helped rehabilitate degraded
land in these areas, but also provided a profitable, income-generating
activity for its inhabitants.

The 1,200 hectares of gum arabic are now a source of income for more than
6,000 rural families. The re-afforestation work has also helped preserve
almost extinct animal species, and created value for African agricultural
products in the world market.

It has also drawn attention to the value of gum arabic - which requires
little water and no fertilizer and can be used for commercial purposes such
as soft drinks and cosmetics - as a mechanism for profit-generating
agricultural production in dry land rural areas.

The project has paved the way for the establishment of other such
enterprises in dry lands throughout the country and around the region.

Women Environment Preservation Committee (WEPCO) -- Nepal
The Women Environment Preservation Committee (WEPCO) is a non-profit
organization established in 1992 by a group of women from Lalitpur.   It
was born in response to a growing awareness that the environment in the
Kathmandu Valley in Nepal was in danger as a result of a rising mountain of
waste.

WEPCO, which collects and manages garbage from more than 3,000 households
from Lalitpur, has proved that using the three "R" principle (Reduce, Reuse
and Recycle) at the community level can control waste pollution problems in
an urban municipality.

WEPCO established demonstration sites for paper recycling and organic and
vermin compost and has supported many households to start their own
composting.  WEPCO has a staff of 15 women and 10 men who are supported
through the sale of recycled paper and garbage collection services.

Youth Category Winners
Salle Pedagogique des Zones Arides - Algeria (The only winner in the Youth
Category)
In 1998 the children of the Beni Abbes' Salle Pedagogique des Zones Arides
in the southwest of the Algerian Sahara decided to carry out a survey on
the problems of water and its management within households.

The target group consisted of 500 families in El Wata and 500 families in
Beni Abbes.  The results of the survey showed that there was significant
wastage, with wastewater disposed of untreated, increasing wastewater
volumes and possible pollution of the groundwater.

With their teachers' backing, they decided to set up a small experimental
lagoon system.  In December 1999, this was carried out with assistance from
the Popular Communal Assembly, which enabled a water engineer to
participate.

The neighbouring 'fellahin', who saw production in their plots increase,
became partners in the project.  A film Nest of Nurseries was shot telling
the story of how the lagoon system was born, in the context of preparations
for the international exhibition in Hanover, Germany with the help of ENTV
(Algerian Television).

Notes to Editors: Each year, the main World Environment Day (WED)
celebrations are held in a city at the invitation of the Government. This
year it will be in Beirut.  WED, considered one of the most important
events on the environment calendar, is celebrated every year in more than
100 countries.

The occasion serves to inspire political and community action. Governments,
individuals, non-governmental organizations, community and youth groups,
business, industry and the media undertake a variety of activities aimed at
renewing their commitment to the protection of the environment.

Individuals and organizations are invited to post details about their
planned WED events and learn about what others are doing to celebrate WED
across the globe. World Environment Day web site: www.unep.org/wed

For more information, please contact: Eric Falt, Spokesperson/Director of
UNEP's Division of Communications and Public Information (DCPI), on Tel:
254-(0) 20-623292, Mobile: 254- (0) 733-682656, E-mail: eric.falt@unep.org
or Nick Nuttall, UNEP Head of Media, DCPI, on Tel: 254-(0) 20-623084,
Mobile:254-(0)733-632755, E-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org

UNEP News Release: 2003/25




Patricia L. Jacobs
Associate Information Officer
UNEP (Division of Communications and Public Information)
Tel.:  +254-2-623088; Fax:  +254-2-623692
Patricia.Jacobs@unep.org
UNEP's Web site:  www.unep.org



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