Pamela Costa

Brazilian environmental engineer leading reforestation efforts in the Amazon with community-driven tech

Pamela Costa (b. 1995) is the visionary behind FlorestaConnect, a blockchain-based reforestation platform launched in 2021. Combining satellite monitoring with local knowledge, her system tracks over 12 million trees planted by Indigenous communities in the Amazon. Costa's River Guardian drones (2023) detect illegal logging activities with 98% accuracy, directly linked to real-time alerts for Brazilian environmental agencies. Her 2022 partnership with Amazon Fund enabled payments via cryptocurrency to participating communities, creating economic incentives for conservation. The UNEP case study highlights how her approach increased tree survival rates to 85% compared to traditional methods. Critics initially dismissed her inclusion of traditional Indigenous fire management practices, but a 2024 Nature journal study validated their carbon sequestration benefits. Costa's Educate to Protect program (2023) has trained 15,000 youth in tech-driven conservation, inspiring similar initiatives in Indonesia and Congo Basin regions. Her TED Talk on 'The Amazon's Digital Future' reached 6.7 million viewers, influencing EU's 2025 Amazon Pact funding allocations. The 2025 Goldman Environmental Prize recognized her work's triple impact on biodiversity, climate, and social justice. Costa's next venture, Biotech Forests, aims to engineer disease-resistant rubber trees using CRISPR technology, addressing both conservation and economic needs of forest-dependent communities.