Maria Rivera Arevalo

Ecuadorian geographer who mapped indigenous territories and preserved Amazonian biodiversity

Maria Rivera Arevalo (1910-1975) revolutionized South American geography through her groundbreaking work documenting indigenous territories in the Ecuadorian Amazon. A pioneering female cartographer, she created the first accurate maps of Shuar and Achuar lands in the 1940s using ethnographic methods rather than colonial-era techniques. Her 1953 expedition wiki page details how she lived with indigenous communities to understand their land use patterns, which later informed Ecuador's 1964 Indigenous Lands Law. She established the Amazonian Geographical Institute in 1958, training over 200 native cartographers. Her seminal work <《Amazonian Territories》> (1960) became the basis for modern conservation strategies. Rivera Arevalo's 1972 report to UNESCO led to the creation of Yasuní National Park, protecting 9,820 km² of rainforest. The Maria Rivera Award, given annually by the Latin American Geographical Society, honors her legacy in environmental stewardship.