2021 Winner
Tero Mustonen
for his efforts to blend science and the wisdom of local and indigenous peoples to define new, robust and sustainable approaches to climate change
Profile
Tero Mustonen is the president and co-founder of the Snowchange Cooperative based in Selkie, North Karelia, Finland. Snowchange is a non-profit cooperative that was originally founded in 2000 and engages with a network of traditional and indigenous communities in Finland and around the world.
Through the Snowchange Cooperative, Mustonen is actively “undoing the damage” done to Northern and Arctic ecosystems over the past century so that they can survive into the future. How? By “rewilding.” Or taking land back to its original, natural state. Mustonen has witnessed firsthand how nature can make a comeback after rescue and rewilding efforts. In total Snowchange owns 3300 hectares of recovering lands and partners on land concessions on over 52,000 hectares. There are 5 million hectares to be rewilded in Finland, but Mustonen believes his leadership can build a new pathway to healing the environment. Learn more
