Diego Rodriguez

Colombian environmental leader restoring Amazon biodiversity through community partnerships

Diego Rodriguez is a biologist and social entrepreneur leading Amazon Conexiones, a 2020-founded organization that combines ecological restoration with economic empowerment in Colombian Amazon regions. His Rainforest Guardians program trains Indigenous communities to implement agroforestry systems while tracking biodiversity metrics using drone-based AI. By 2024, this initiative had restored 12,000 hectares of degraded land and created 2,500 sustainable livelihoods.

Rodriguez pioneered the Carbon Credit Cooperatives model, allowing local communities to directly profit from ecosystem services. His partnership with WWF's Amazon Initiative has established 15 community-owned conservation centers. His 2023 documentary Voices of the Forest (available on Netflix) brought global attention to Indigenous land rights issues.

Key innovations include the Eco-App mobile platform connecting local farmers to global organic markets. Rodriguez was a 2024 recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and featured in National Geographic's 2025 Earth Issue as a 'Climate Changemaker'. His upcoming project aims to create a 50,000-hectare protected corridor connecting three Amazonian Indigenous territories by 2026.