Maria Lira

Peruvian anthropologist and environmentalist who preserved Amazonian biodiversity through grassroots indigenous partnerships

Maria Lira (1925–2012) was a visionary Peruvian scholar who pioneered community-based conservation in the Amazon rainforest. Born to Quechua and Asháninka parents, Lira blended traditional ecological knowledge with modern science to combat deforestation. In the 1950s, she co-founded the Amazon Indigenous Knowledge Network, the first organization to formally recognize indigenous land rights in Peru. Her research on medicinal plants, published in Amazonian Botanical Almanac, preserved over 200 endangered plant species. Lira’s 1960s campaigns halted government plans to build dams in the Ucayali River basin, saving 1.2 million hectares of rainforest.

Lira’s approach emphasized collaboration—she trained 300+ indigenous leaders in sustainable farming and carbon sequestration techniques. Her 1970s "Forest Guardians" program inspired similar initiatives in Brazil and Colombia. Lira’s legacy is featured in the documentary Roots of the Amazon (2019) and the Smithsonian’s Indigenous Science Initiative. Her advocacy for indigenous autonomy led to Peru’s 1973 Cultural Preservation Law, now a model for global biodiversity treaties. Lira’s memoir Walking with the Jaguar remains required reading in environmental studies programs worldwide.