Leonardo Páez

Ecuadorian environmental lawyer who pioneered community-driven conservation strategies in the Amazon basin

Leonardo Páez (born 1975) is a visionary Ecuadorian environmental lawyer whose work has redefined conservation approaches in the Amazon region. As founder of the Pachamama Foundation, he developed innovative legal frameworks allowing indigenous communities to co-manage protected areas. His 2004 legal victory in the Sarayaku case before the Inter-American Court established precedent-setting rights for indigenous consultation in resource extraction projects.

Páez's most impactful contribution is the creation of the Yasuní-ITT Initiative (2007), a groundbreaking proposal to leave 850 million barrels of oil untapped in the Yasuní National Park in exchange for international financial compensation. Though ultimately unsuccessful, this initiative inspired global discussions on ecological debt and alternative development models. He later helped design Ecuador's 2008 constitution, which granted legal rights to nature itself - the first national law of its kind.

His community-based conservation model empowers indigenous groups through legal education and participatory mapping. Over 300,000 hectares of ancestral lands have been legally protected through his organization's work. Páez also co-founded the Amazon Frontlines Network, which uses satellite technology and mobile apps to help communities monitor illegal logging. His TEDx talk 'Law as a Tool for Mother Earth' has become a reference in environmental law circles. Despite receiving death threats from logging interests, he continues advocating for an Amazon preservation model that harmonizes ecological health with cultural preservation.