'Fierce' farmer and environmentalist Wendy Bowman dies

Ms Bowman died last week at the age of 89.

The farmer led a community fight against coal mining giant Yancoal to defend farmland, bushland, water and air quality from the impacts of coal mining.

Ms Bowman refused to sell her 182-hectare property near Camberwell, and even changed her will to ensure the mining company wouldn't be able to buy it after her death.

The NSW Environmental Defenders' Office (EDO) represented Ms Bowman in her decades-long fight to stop the expansion of the Ashton coal mine.

"Wendy was a true powerhouse who spent her life fighting for a safe and healthy environment, for community, culture and for justice," Elaine Johnson from the EDO said.

She said Ms Bowman stood up at great personal cost to multiple multinational mining companies and governments - and won.

The court had ruled the mine could proceed, but only on the condition it couldn't begin operations until Yancoal bought Ms Bowman's farm. She never sold.

The grandmother's long battle won her the international Goldman Environmental Prize, which honours grassroots efforts to protect the planet.

The judges said the octogenarian rejected multimillion-dollar offers for her property after the vast majority of landholders in the proposed mining area sold up.

"She fought, and she fought and she won," former EDO solicitor and NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson said.

"And she used every moment of her platform as the Goldman prize recipient to carry on championing environmental justice."

George Woods, from Lock the Gate, an alliance of farmers opposed to mining, said Ms Bowman will be remembered as a fierce advocate for farming and the environment.

"Her drawing of a line in the sand against that open-cut coal proposal really stands as a beacon for everybody who believes that one person can make a difference," Ms Woods told AAP.

"She was a very fierce person and a very no-nonsense person, but she shared her knowledge really generously."

Australian Associated Press