Camila Vargas

Environmental lawyer leading Amazon rainforest protection through indigenous rights advocacy

Camila Vargas, a Peruvian lawyer of Asháninka descent, has pioneered legal strategies that link indigenous rights to rainforest conservation. Her 2021 establishment of Territorios Vivos has successfully blocked 14 major infrastructure projects threatening Amazon biodiversity. Vargas' innovative approach uses ancestral land mapping techniques combined with modern satellite monitoring, a method highlighted in Nature Magazine.

In 2023, her team secured a landmark Supreme Court ruling recognizing indigenous territories as 'living entities' with legal rights. This precedent has inspired similar cases across Bolivia and Ecuador. Vargas' recent work training young indigenous leaders through the Amazon Guardians program has created 200 new forest monitors. Her TEDx talk 'The Forests Remember' (2022) has over 2 million views, making her a global voice for biocultural conservation.