Ana Paola Cortés

Colombian environmental lawyer leading grassroots climate action in Amazon basin communities

Ana Paola Cortés is a visionary environmental attorney whose legal advocacy has protected over 5 million hectares of Amazon rainforest since 2020. As founder of Forest Defenders Colombia, she developed the Community Carbon Credit system that empowers indigenous groups to monetize conservation efforts. This innovative model, featured in National Geographic's 2023 documentary 'The Amazon's Silent Guardians', has generated $2.3M in revenue for local communities.

Her landmark 2022 legal victory blocked a major mining project threatening the Caquetá River basin, setting a precedent for indigenous land rights under Colombia's 2016 Peace Agreement. In 2023, she launched the Jaguar Protocol, a cross-border initiative uniting Peruvian, Brazilian, and Colombian communities to combat illegal logging.

Key innovations include her open-source legal toolkit for environmental defenders and the EcoGuardian App that uses AI to detect deforestation in real-time. Recently awarded the Global Environmental Leadership Prize 2024, her work has inspired similar initiatives in the DRC and Indonesia. Her TEDx talk 'Law as a Lifeline for the Amazon' has been translated into 12 languages.