ruth_buendia

Peruvian indigenous leader protecting Amazonian biodiversity through legal frameworks

Ruth Buendía (b. 1958) is an Asháninka leader who pioneered legal protections for Amazonian biodiversity. As founder of the Amazonian Indigenous Rights Network, she secured the 1996 Peruvian law recognizing indigenous territorial rights. Her work led to the creation of the Madre de Dios Indigenous Reserve in 2002, protecting 1.2 million hectares of rainforest. Buendía's 2005 book 《The Forest Speaks》 became a key text in biocultural diversity studies.

She developed the Biocultural Jurisprudence Framework, used in 12 national court cases to protect indigenous territories. Her collaboration with the UN led to the 2007 UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights inclusion of biodiversity clauses. Buendía's advocacy inspired similar legal protections in Ecuador and Bolivia through the Andes-Amazon Alliance she co-founded in 1999. Her 2015 TED Talk "Indigenous Wisdom for a Living Planet" has been viewed over 2 million times.