The Wire

A determined lawyer from Papua New Guinea has won the internationally recognised Goldman Environmental Prize, picked from among hundreds of entrants from Islands and Island Nations around the world. 32-year-old lawyer Anne Kajir has spent the last nine years of her life in the courts of Papua New Guinea fighting against the illegal logging of the largest remaining intact block of tropical forest in the Asia-Pacific region. In doing so she’s seen treasured forests returned to their customary owners, but not without great cost to her personal safety and lifestyle. Anne Kajir was in Sydney today and she spoke to The Wire about the challenges and successes she’s faced in her effort to protect the people and forests of Papua New Guinea.