Leticia Bufon

A Brazilian environmental activist leading the fight against illegal logging in the Amazon

Leticia Bufon is a Brazilian environmental activist and lawyer who has become a leading voice in the fight to protect the Amazon rainforest. Born in 1980 in Manaus, Brazil, she grew up witnessing the devastating effects of deforestation and illegal logging. After earning her law degree from the Federal University of Amazonas, she dedicated her career to environmental justice through legal advocacy and grassroots organizing.

Bufon co-founded the Amazon Watch organization in 2005, working closely with Indigenous communities to document illegal logging activities and hold corporations accountable. Her work gained international attention after she exposed a major illegal logging ring operating in the Javari Valley Indigenous Reserve in 2010, leading to the confiscation of 10,000 cubic meters of illegally harvested timber and the arrest of 23 individuals.

In 2015, she pioneered the use of drone technology for forest monitoring, creating a system that allows Indigenous communities to track deforestation in real-time. This innovation has been adopted by conservation groups across the Amazon basin. Bufon's advocacy led to Brazil's Supreme Court ruling in 2018 that requires companies to prove legal origin of timber before export, significantly reducing illegal logging exports.

She has been repeatedly targeted by logging interests, surviving multiple assassination attempts and receiving death threats. Despite this, she continues her work through Greenpeace Brazil where she leads the 'Amazon Alive' campaign. Her efforts have inspired global environmental policies, including the European Union's 2020 deforestation-free import regulations.