Andrea Polacheck

Led grassroots reforestation efforts protecting 200,000+ hectares of Colombian Amazon rainforest

Andrea Polacheck is a Colombian environmental leader whose Siembra Amazonia initiative has become a global model for community-driven conservation. Beginning in 2012, she organized Indigenous communities in the Amazonas Department to plant over 12 million native tree species, creating biodiversity corridors that protect jaguars and harpy eagles while sequestering carbon.

Polacheck's innovative approach combines traditional ecological knowledge with modern science. She developed a smartphone app that allows Indigenous rangers to map illegal logging activities in real-time, which has led to over 400 successful prosecutions. The program's success inspired similar initiatives in Peru's Madre de Dios region and the Brazilian Amazon.

Her work gained international attention in 2018 when National Geographic featured her in a documentary series about climate solutions. This exposure helped secure $15 million in grants from the Bezos Earth Fund and Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. The funds support training programs for 3000+ youth in conservation techniques, including drone monitoring and permaculture farming.

Polacheck's advocacy led to Colombia's 2020 Reforestation Law, which mandates 30% of national park budgets to go to local communities. She currently chairs the Amazon Basin Alliance, coordinating cross-border conservation efforts among six South American countries. In 2022, she received the Goldman Environmental Prize, often called the 'Green Nobel.'