Marina Silva
This year’s Sophie Prize winner grew up in poverty in one of the world’s most isolated areas and was illiterate until her teens. She has since, as activist, senator and minister, been dedicated to securing the largest and richest ecosystem on earth: the Amazon rainforest. Her efforts and courage – and her achievements – are without comparison.
Marina Silva was Minister of the Environment in Brazil from 2003 to 2008. During this period she reduced deforestation in the Amazon to historically low levels - by 60% from 2004 to 2007. While protecting the rainforest, she also balanced the concerns of indigenous peoples’ traditional farming societies.
