John Smith Fellow Olya Melen Awarded Prestigious International Environmental Prize
On 24th April 2006 it was announced that Olya Melen, 2004 Fellow from Ukraine, has been awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize, the world's largest prize honouring grassroots environmentalists.
Olya Melen with the Goldman Prize for Europe
(photo courtesy of The Goldman Environmental Prize)
Founded in 1990 by Richard and Rhoda Goldman, the Goldman Environmental Prize annually awards US$125,000 to environmental heroes from each of the world's six inhabited continental regions - Olya received the prize for Europe.
Olya, described as a ‘firebrand attorney’, used legal channels to temporarily halt construction of a massive canal that would have cut through the heart of the Danube Delta, one of the world’s most valuable wetlands. For her efforts, she was denounced by the pre-Orange Revolution government. In 2004, without public notice and in violation of international and national environmental laws, the Ukrainian government began dredging and shoring up narrow and shallow sections of a 106-mile delta waterway to create a canal that would allow large vessels to travel directly between the Danube River and the Black Sea.
Aerial view of the Danube Delta
(photo courtesy of A. Vorauer, WWF)
The organization where Olya was working, Environment-People-Law (EPL), learned about the project and immediately filed lawsuits to prevent construction. Olya took the lead on the case despite having no previous courtroom experience. In her first-ever court case, Olya opposed a team of government lawyers seeking to end the protected status of rivers and ponds in the Danube Biosphere Reserve.
Over the next few years, government lawyers and ministers used scare tactics against her and her clients and she was publicly accused of being a traitor and a Romanian spy. Undeterred, Melen broadened her strategy. Aware that Ukraine was bound by numerous international conventions, her organisation filed complaints with the Aarhus and Espoo conventions to force the Ukrainian government to justify its canal plans at a time when it was seeking acceptance to the European Union. In her first significant victory, Melen proved that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the canal, which had been approved by the Minister of Environment, was inadequate. The judge ruled that the canal development flouted environmental laws and could adversely affect the Danube Delta’s biodiversity.
However, the Danube Delta is still under threat. President Viktor Yushchenko has publicly voiced his support for the completion of the Danube-Black Sea Canal. Melen and her colleagues are poised to use all legal means to continue to protect the most sensitive areas of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
The John Smith Trust warmly congratulates Olya – we are immensely proud of her achievements and hope she continues to be successful in her fight to save the Danube Delta.