Prafulla Samantara (born 1952) is an Indian environmental activist from

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...

Biography

Samantara has been a spokesperson for the

Dangaria Kandha The Dangaria Kandha people are members of the Kondhs. They are located in the Niyamgiri hills in the state of Odisha (formerly Orissa) in India. They sustain themselves from the resources of the Niyamgiri forests, practising horticulture and shi ...

indigenous people, in their protest against plans for

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...

mining in the

Niyamgiri The Niyamgiri is a hill range situated in the districts of Kalahandi and Rayagada in the south-west of Odisha, India. These hills are home to Dongria Kondh indigenous people. The hills have one of India's most pristine forests in the interior ...

hill range. A 2013

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

ruling stopped the mining plans. Samantara was awarded the

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

in 2017.

Bibliography

References

1952 births Living people People from Odisha Indian environmentalists Goldman Environmental Prize awardees {{Environmentalist-stub