Maria Teresa de la Rivera Hernández

Pioneer of environmental conservation in Colombia through grassroots rainforest protection

Maria Teresa de la Rivera Hernández (1912-1989) was a Colombian biologist and environmental activist who became one of Latin America's earliest rainforest conservationists. Born in Antioquia, she studied botany at the National University of Colombia and later pioneered the concept of 'community-based conservation' in the 1940s. Her 1953 establishment of the Rainforest Conservancy of the Cauca Valley marked the first organized effort to protect Colombia's Amazonian ecosystems from deforestation.

Hernández developed innovative agroforestry techniques with local indigenous communities, creating sustainable farming methods that preserved biodiversity while improving crop yields. Her 1965 book La Selva que Nos Une (The Forest That Unites Us) became a foundational text for environmental education programs in South America. She also organized the first transnational environmental summit in 1972 involving Ecuador, Peru and Colombia, leading to the creation of the Andean Amazon Conservation Pact.

Her work with UNESCO in the 1970s helped establish protected areas covering 12% of Colombia's rainforests. The Maria Teresa Biological Reserve, created posthumously in 1990, protects over 500km² of primary rainforest. Modern conservationists still use her community engagement models, which emphasized local participation over top-down regulations.