nvironmental campaigner Jonathan Deal has been awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for his work in the fight against hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the Karoo.
One of six recipients of the 2013 award, which honours grassroots environmentalists, Deal was awarded a cash prize of $150 000 for his work.
“This award coincided with the end of an especially difficult year in the hard-fought campaign against fracking,” said Deal, adding that, though he had not campaigned against fracking in the Karoo for personal benefit, this recognition had nevertheless been encouraging.
He said he would use the prize money to pay staff members of the Treasure the Karoo Action Group (TKAG), who have been working without salaries for two years, and to pay off other expenses that contributed to helping the TKAG reach out to rural communities.
Deal and the TKAG received several awards in recent months for their campaigning, including the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa Special Environmental Award in 2011, the nonprofit organisation category at the Mail & Guardian Greening the Future Awards 2012 and the Habitat Council’s Annual Environmental Award for 2012.
The TKAG has also been selected as a finalist for online interactive environmental reference resource Enviropaedia’s Eco Warrior Award.