Indian forest activist Alok Shukla awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize

Newsdesk:
The 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize, also known as the Green Nobel will be awarded to Alok Shukla, convener of Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan (CBA) on Monday, for his work to protect Hasdeo Arand, one of the largest contiguous stretches of very dense forest in central India spanning 170,000 hectares, with 23 coal blocks.
“Alok Shukla led a successful community campaign that saved 445,000 acres of biodiversity-rich forests from 21 planned coal mines in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. In July 2022, the government cancelled the 21 proposed coal mines in Hasdeo Aranya, whose pristine forests—popularly known as the lungs of Chhattisgarh—are one of the largest intact forest areas in India,” said a statement from the Goldman Environmental Prize on Monday.