"Even at the time of the Cold War, Mikhail Gorbachev was fighting against the waste of primary resources and energy sources," former Baden-Wuerttemberg premier Lothar Spaeth said at the ceremony in the western town of Ludwigsburg.

Gorbachev shut down around 1,300 companies for environmental reason while he was president and stopped the damming of a number of rivers in Siberia.

He also found Green Cross international, which campaigns in the main for a reduction in the production of military waste materials.

Gorbachev was loudly applauded when he called for the creation of an international tribunal to deal with those who harm the environment and said he was concerned about the impact that globalisation was having on eco-systems.

The Euronatur prize was awarded to Britain's Prince Charles in 2002.

TERRA.WIRE