Seven winners of the world's richest and most recognized environmental prize were announced Monday, with each receiving a cash prize of $125,000, no strings attached. Most of the winners say they will use the money to help further their causes, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The 11-year-old award, known as the Goldman Environmental Prize, is provided by Robert Goldman, who wanted to motivate grassroots conservation efforts by reassuring activists they are not fighting alone, the Chronicle reports.

Winning the award does not necessarily ensure good fortune, however. Many of the award's past winners have been persecuted and prosecuted by angry governments, whose environmental-damaging efforts were often directly thwarted by the activists, the newspaper reports.

In fact, past winner Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed by the Nigerian military government after he was found guilty of murder charges, which apparently were trumped up. Saro-Wiwa's efforts to stop oil exploration in the Niger River Delta more than likely attributed to his unpopularity with the government, the newspaper reports.

Of the seven winners this year, one is being detained by his country. Mexican Rudolfo Montiel Flores, 44, is currently serving time in prison on drug and weapons charges that his supporters are calling false. Montiel Flores organized logging protests in the Pacific mountains of Guerrero.

Other winners include: