János Vargha (born 1949) is a Hungarian

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

and photographer. He organized opposition in particular against the projected

Nagymaros Nagymaros (, ) is a town in Pest county, Hungary. Etymology The name comes from ''Maroš'', the Slavic form of Marianus. Nagymaros—"Greater Maros" ( Hungarian). The first written mention is ''Morus'' (1257). Notable people * György Szabado ...

dam in the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

river system. He founded

Duna Kör Duna Kör () is a Hungarian environmental organization founded in 1984 as a protest body to prevent the construction of the Gabčíkovo – Nagymaros Dams. Opponents of the dam argued that it would create an environmental disaster that would displac ...

, an environmental movement.

Education and career

Vargha graduated from the József Attila University, Szeged in 1977 where he took his master's degree in biology. In 1998 he became the chief environmental advisor of the Hungarian government but he left his job in 2000.

Social and environmental activist

Around 1981 ,Vargha was active to save the Danube River and the

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

of over 200 animal and plant species due to the plans of building a dam which would have submerged 150,000 acres of forests. This would have led to transformation the fauna and flora of the Danube river into an industrial site. In order to prevent authorities from building the dam, he founded an association Duna Kör (Danube Circle) in 1984 which was against the project. Vargha's publications on the Nagymaros dam were censored by Hungarian authorities. Despite this fact, Vargha managed to publish information about the potential consequences and dangers of the construction of the dam to the wildlife and local population. He organised a walk with the members of Duna Körthe around the dam site which was suppressed by the police. At that time he was working as an editor in a scientific magazine, a job that he was made redundant of because of his involvement in environmental activities. In order to make the world aware of the plans of building the dam, Duna Körthe organized many demonstrations and an international conference (1988) with the help of the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...

. As a result, over 150,000 people supported the petition for a national referendum on the dam. From 1981 Vargha publishes articles and presents lectures about environmental issues of water management and water constructions.

Awards

János Vargha has been the Goldman Prize recipient in 1990, and the recipient of the

Right Livelihood Award The Right Livelihood Award is an international award to "honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today." The prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish philanthropist Jakob vo ...

in 1985. The Right Livelihood Award was granted to him owing to his commitment to preserving the wildlife of the Danube River and securing access to drinking water for the local population. The Right Livelihood Award Foundation granted the award to Vargha “...for working under unusually difficult circumstances to preserve the river Danube, a vital part of Hungary's environment."

References

External links

János Vargha
Living people Hungarian biologists Hungarian environmentalists 1949 births Goldman Environmental Prize awardees {{Hungary-scientist-stub