Meet Sakhalin Environment Watch’s accomplished leader, and the 2011 Goldman Prize winner.

How do Dmitry Lisitsyn and his organization keep notching conservation wins in the complex setting of the Russian Far East? By working deftly within the labyrinthine Russian bureaucracy and by building creative alliances at home and abroad.

Lisitsyn, the former carpenter who earned the 2011 Goldman Environment Prize, and his wife, lawyer Natalia Lisitsynya, recently used local courts to win a case against a polluting gold mine on the salmon-rich Langeri River. Lisitsyn’s group has also enlisted help from scientists from Wild Salmon Center and partners on environmental assessments in the region. And he has found common cause in recent years with local fishermen in securing protected areas and sanctuaries for wild fish.

All this sustains him and his grassroots group.

“Our partners, including our international ones, bring a much broader view of conservation,” he said “through an exchange of experiences, knowledge and information.”

Working with foreign partners around the Pacific helps us to understand much better the value of the last wild populations of salmon, the last undisturbed ecosystems and the importance of their conservation.”
Dmitry Lisitsyn, Sakhalin Environment Watch, Goldman Environmental Prize Winner

Dmitry Lisitsyn, Sakhalin Environment Watch, Goldman Environmental Prize Winner