Alessandra Korap is a leader from Munduruku community from the Amazon, Brazil and was honored with the Goldman Prize for her successful fight against mining in the Amazon rainforest.
The prize known as the “Green Nobel” recognizes the protection of the environment and the conservation of natural resources.
For Korap and other groups’ work, the big companies such as Anglo American and Vale, have given up explorations projects in the indigenous territory, which is not officially demarcated by the Brazilian authorities yet.
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Korap is president of the Pairi Indigenous Association, which supports communities living in the region comprising the Tapajos River basin in Para, northern Brazil.
The indigenous village was a haven of isolation, but as Korap grew older, the nearby city of Itaituba, with its bustling streets and commercial activity, drew ever closer.
However, her village was not the only one feeling the intrusion of outsiders, since two major federal highways led the way for tens of thousands of settlers, illegal gold miners and loggers into the region’s vast indigenous territories.
Korap and other women took responsibility to defend their village, organizing their communities and presenting evidence of environmental crimes to the Federal Attorney General’s Office and the Federal Police, and steadfastly opposed incentives and illicit deals offered to the Munduruku by unscrupulous politicians, corporations, loggers, and miners who wanted access to his land.
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Korap was recognized immediately for defending her ancestral lands and given the award that recognizes grassroots activists around the world dedicated to protecting the environment and championing sustainability.
