Birsel
Lemke is a Turkish environmentalist who started HAYIR (which means "no" in Turkish),
a citizens' organization to stop gold mining along the Turkish Aegean coast. In
1990, after she found out about EUROGOLD's plans to develop 62 gold mines along
the coast and 500 more throughout Turkey, Birsel Lemke sprang into action. The
mining uses cyanide to extract the gold, which can have disastrous results for
human health and for the environment. In Romania, for example, a 250 mile stretch
of the Danube River was polluted from cyanide-contaminated mine waste, killing
all the fish and other aquatic life. Birsel Lemke began warning all the local
farmers about the proposed mines, and then worked to get all of the Mayors of
the surrounding municipalities to oppose them. She convinced the German bank that
was to fund the project to withdraw their backing, and lobbied the European Parliament.
In 1994 her organization sued EUROGOLD and the Turkish Environment Ministry. Three
years later, the Turkish Supreme Court ruled to prohibit gold mining with cyanide
throughout Turkey. In 2000, Birsel Lemke received the Right Livelihood Award (often
referred to as the Alternative Nobel Prize)
