Antonia Narváez

A Colombian environmental leader who pioneered community-based rainforest conservation

Antonia Narváez is a visionary environmental activist from Colombia whose work has transformed rainforest conservation through innovative community engagement strategies. Born in 1982 in the Amazonas department, she grew up witnessing the devastating effects of illegal logging and drug trafficking on her ancestral lands. After earning a biology degree from the Universidad de los Andes, she returned to her native Puerto Nariño in 2003 to found the Rainforest Partners Foundation, an organization that empowers local communities to become stewards of their environment.

Her groundbreaking approach combines traditional indigenous knowledge with modern conservation science. By creating eco-tourism cooperatives and sustainable harvesting programs for Brazil nuts and medicinal plants, Narváez helped transform 12 local communities from being passive victims of deforestation into active partners in forest preservation. These initiatives have protected over 200,000 hectares of Amazon rainforest while improving livelihoods through fair trade certifications and carbon credit programs.

In 2015, she spearheaded the Amazon Guardians Network, linking 34 indigenous groups across Colombia, Peru, and Brazil in a transboundary conservation pact. Her work was featured in the documentary Guardians of the Amazon (2018), which won an Emmy for Outstanding Nature Documentary. Narváez also advises the UNDP on climate change adaptation strategies for tropical regions, emphasizing the critical role of indigenous knowledge systems in global environmental governance.

Her most recent project, launched in 2021, is the Tribal Carbon Initiative, which monetizes ecosystem services through blockchain-based carbon credits directly controlled by indigenous communities. This innovative financing model has attracted partnerships with organizations like Conservation International and the World Economic Forum. Despite death threats from illegal mining groups, Narváez continues to advocate for policies that recognize indigenous land rights as essential to planetary health.