Silas KpananAyoung Siakor was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize along with Tarcisio Feitosa da Silva of Brazil, Yu Xiaogang of China, Anne Kajir of Papua New Guinea, Olya Melen of the Ukraine, and Craig Williams of the United States.

"These six winners are among the most important people you have not heard of before," prize founder Richard Goldman said in a statement.

"All of them have fought, often alone and at great personal risk, to protect the environment in their home countries. Their incredible achievements are an inspiration to all of us."

The prize, in its 17th year, was created to reward "environmental heroes" around the world, according to Goldman. Each winner received 125,000 dollars and was to be honored at an reception featuring remarks from California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Siakor, 36, risked his life to prove Taylor was falsifying records and covering up human rights abuses in order to use the profits of "unchecked, rampant" logging to help fund a 14-year civil war, prize officials said.

Siakor presented his evidence to the UN Security Council, which subsequently banned the export of Liberian timber, part of wider trade sanctions that remain in place.

"The evidence Silas Siakor collected at great personal risk was vital to putting sanctions in place and cutting the links between the logging industry and conflict," Arthur Blundell, chairman of the UN Panel of Experts on Liberia, said in a written release.

Taylor was forced into exile in 2003 and faces trial for war crimes.

Siakor, the director of the Sustainable Development Institute, is taking part in UN-mandated reform efforts to manage Liberia's forests.

Organizers said Tarc�sio Feitosa da Silva, 35, of Brazil was given the prize for leading a campaign to create the world's largest area of protected tropical rain forest while Yu Xiaogang, 55, of China was chosen for groundbreaking research on watershed management. Yu's work prompted Beijing to pay additional restitution to villagers displaced by dams and has persuaded the government to prepare assessments of the social impact of major dam projects, the statement said.

Anne Kajir, 32, was praised for uncovering "widespread corruption and complicity" by the Papua New Guinea government that has allowed illegal logging of tropical forest, the statement said.

A Ukrainian, Olya Melen, 26, was awarded the prize for her legal battle against construction of a massive canal cutting through the Danube Delta. Melen secured a temporary halt to completion of the dam but her legal campaign continues.

Craig Williams of the United States received the award for persuading the Pentagon to stop plans to incinerate old chemical weapons.

Related Links
Goldman Environmental Prize