The winners for this year’s Right Livelihood Awards have been announced. The prize is often referred to as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” Unis’to’ten land defender Freda Huson was recognized “for her fearless dedication to reclaiming her people’s culture and defending their land against disastrous pipeline projects.”

Freda Huson: “We have likely only 10% of our traditional territory remaining, is the reason why we were fighting so hard to protect that last 10%, so that we can continue to have clean water, continue to have salmon, continue to hunt our moose, eat the berries, collect the medicines, because that’s who we are as Unist’ot’en, as Wet’suwet’en. The land sustains us. And if we don’t take care of the land, then we won’t be able to sustain ourselves.”

The other award recipients are Marthe Wandou, Cameroonian peace activist fighting against sexual violence against women and girls; Russian environmental leader Vladimir Slivyak, who has taken on the coal and nuclear industries; and the organization Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment, or LIFE, which empowers communities in India to protect their resources in the pursuit of environmental democracy.