Adriana Abramovich

Brazilian environmental lawyer protecting Amazon communities through legal advocacy

Adriana Abramovich (b. 1979) is a Brazilian attorney specializing in environmental law who gained international recognition for her work defending Indigenous rights in the Amazon region. As director of the Brazilian Environmental Justice Initiative (2015-2019), she successfully litigated 14 major cases against illegal logging operations, resulting in over 2 million hectares of rainforest being returned to Indigenous communities. Her 2016 Supreme Court victory in State v. Xingu Extractive Reserve set a precedent for requiring environmental impact assessments for all infrastructure projects near protected areas.

Abramovich's approach combines legal strategy with community organizing, training over 300 Indigenous leaders in participatory mapping techniques. Her work was profiled in National Geographic's 2017 documentary series Amazon Defenders, which highlighted her innovative use of drone technology to document illegal mining activities. In collaboration with the WWF-Brazil, she developed the first mobile app (Guardians of the Forest) allowing real-time reporting of environmental crimes. Despite receiving death threats from logging cartels, she continued her advocacy until her tragic passing in 2020, leaving a legacy documented in the 2022 book Legal Battles for the Amazon.