Tarcísio Feitosa da Silva, 35, is one of this year’s winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize, a private U.S. award given annually to a leading grassroots advocate in each of the world’s six inhabited continental regions. The third Brazilian to win the $125,000 prize, which was created in 1990, Da Silva works for the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), an advocacy group associated with the Catholic Church that promotes sustainable use of rainforests in Pará state. In February of last year, CPT member Dorothy Stang, an American born missionary who fought illegal land grabs in the region, was shot dead—allegedly on the orders of ranchers. Da Silva, for his part, has braved death threats to lead lobbying efforts that have resulted in the creation in Pará state of a national park, two sustainable-use reserves and a biological reserve totaling 14.3 million acres (5.8 million has). He spoke with EcoAméricas correspondent Michael Kepp, from his office in Altamira, Pará. [Log in to read more]

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