The winner of the sixth President Valdas Adamkus Prize has been announced. This year, the prize will be awarded to Lithuanian environmentalist Lina Paškevičiūtė, one of the initiators of the Forest Swarm movement and head of the non-governmental organisation the Environmental Coalition. Established by the Valdas Adamkus Presidential Library-Museum and the Dana Gedvila Fund, the prize is awarded annually for leadership in mobilising civil society, active defence of the public interest in environmental protection, and efforts to steer the country’s forest policy in a sustainable direction.
The award ceremony will take place on 5 June, World Environment Day, at the Vytautas Magnus University Botanical Garden. The laureate will receive a prize of 5,000 euros and a sculpture by sculptor Kęstutis Dovydaitis.
Over many years, Lina Paškevičiūtė has earned the respect of both fellow environmentalists and the general public through her personal example, persistent environmental activism, defence of the public interest, and nearly a decade of leadership in the activities of the Environmental Coalition and the Forest Swarm. All of these efforts for the benefit of Lithuania’s environment were also highly valued by the prize committee.
In recent years, Lina Paškevičiūtė’s public activities have been recognised as significant, impactful, and consistent, particularly in the areas of forest policy, funding for nature protection, and representation of environmental interests. For some time now, she has also been widely recognised in the public sphere as one of the most prominent critics of forest policy.
“The Valdas Adamkus Environmental Prize is a very important and wholly unexpected recognition for me. It is a significant encouragement right in the midst of the Seimas’ deliberations on the Forest Law. It is an encouragement not only for me, but also for the Environmental Coalition, the Forest Swarm, and all like-minded people who work for nature and a healthy environment. Nature cannot go to institutions itself, so we must be its legal voice. This is important not only for our own wellbeing, but also for nature itself as a living organism. President Valdas Adamkus’s environmental work has always been a source of inspiration to me, showing that consistent effort can create miracles – restored ecosystems,” says prize laureate Lina Paškevičiūtė.
Lina Paškevičiūtė’s advocacy of environmental interests and her work in developing policy proposals encourage institutions, decision-makers, and civil society to take action for the benefit of nature protection. Through her work, she has made a major contribution to ensuring that forest policy is no longer treated as a narrow dispute among specialists, but as a matter of public debate. A representative survey commissioned by the Environmental Coalition and carried out by Vilmorus showed that many people in Lithuania regard logging as a problem and want greater protection for forests, even if this means lower income from timber. The work of the organisations led by Lina Paškevičiūtė has combined the defence of the public interest with scientific reasoning.
Lina Paškevičiūtė has already received recognition for her environmental work: in 2023, she received the “Dedication of the Year” award at the Waste Culture Awards, and in 2024, she received special recognition from the committee of the Valdas Adamkus Environmental Prize.
As every year, many people with notable achievements and a strong record of service to environmental protection in Lithuania were nominated for this year’s prize. In addition to the laureate, the committee gave special attention to botanist Mindaugas Lapelė, photographer Marius Čepulis, circular textile economy expert Viktorija Nausėdė, and Chair of the Lithuanian Cyclists’ Community Paulius Bakutis.
The winner was selected by the prize committee, composed of Virginijus Sinkevičius, Member of the European Parliament; Dr. Nerijus Jurkonis, Director of the VMU Botanical Garden; Prof. Visvaldas Varžinskas, Director of the KTU Centre for Packaging Innovations and Research; Donatas Puslys, journalist; and Arūnas Antanaitis, Head of the Presidential Valdas Adamkus Library-Museum. The committee also included the late primatologist Dr. Birutė Galdikas (1946–2026). In recognising the contributions of all nominees to environmental well-being, the committee wishes them every success in their future work.
The President Valdas Adamkus Prize has been awarded in its renewed format since 2021. Previous laureates include Mindaugas Survila, the director of the documentary film “Sengirė” (The Ancient Woods); public figure Giedrius Bučas; Prof. Tatjana Paulauskienė; Algirdas Reipas, the long-serving Director of the Alytus Region Waste Management Centre; and naturalist Selemonas Paltanavičius. Between 1992 and 2005, the environmental prize initiated by Valdas Adamkus himself was awarded with the aim of contributing to the development of environmental protection in Lithuania.
The prize, re-established in 2021, is based on the United Nations’ “Champions of the Earth” format. The prize was founded by the Valdas Adamkus Presidential Library-Museum and the Dana Gedvila Fund. The Fund’s manager, Gabrielius Gedvila, is a long-time friend of President Valdas Adamkus. His late wife Dana was a passionate supporter of environmental protection. After her death, the family decided to establish a fund and allocate the accumulated funds to improving environmental protection in Lithuania. The Dana Gedvila Fund is managed by the Lithuanian Foundation, based in the United States.
Until 1997, President Valdas Adamkus served as Regional Administrator of the Great Lakes Region at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Of the 26 years he spent at the agency, he served as its head for 17.
