Hammerskjoeld Simwinga (born 1963) is a

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

n Environmentalist. He received the

Goldman Environmental Prize The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environmental activists. History Awardees are named from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, an ...

in 2007 for his efforts to stop

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

poaching Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...

through community economic initiatives."Zambian wins 'Nobel green prize'", BBC News, 26 April 2007
/ref> He was named after former

United Nations Secretary General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secr ...

Dag Hammarskjöld Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld (English: ,; 29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second secretary-general of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in Septe ...

, who died in a plane crash in

in 1961. Hammer Simwinga appeared on

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

's list of "

Heroes of the Environment Heroes of the Environment was an annual list of notable environmentalists chosen and compiled by ''Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, ...

" October 2007.Hammer Simwinga - Heroes of the Environment - TIME - October 2007
/ref> Hammer is the founder and Executive Chairman of the Foundation for Wildlife and Habitat Conservation, headquartered in

Muchinga Province Muchinga Province is one of the ten provinces of Zambia. It is located in the northeast of the country and borders with Tanzania in the north, Malawi in the east, Eastern Province in the south, Central Province in the southwest, Luapula Provinc ...

in Northern Zambia. He is currently spearheading the creation of the Mukungule Community Nature Conservancy, to be Zambia's first community-initiated and -operated nature conservancy. Nearly all conservancies and park concessions in Africa are managed and owned by foreigners or white Africans, often brutally displacing local people. The Mukungule Community Nature Conservancy seeks to generate a new paradigm for involving local communities in conservation, including an innovative, inclusive planning process.

References

1960s births Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Zambian activists Goldman Environmental Prize awardees {{Zambia-bio-stub