Luis Macas
A Quichua from the Andes and president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, Luis Macas led a peaceful struggle for indigenous rights, including negotiating a 3-million-acre land transfer back to indigenous control.
Carlos Alberto Ricardo
Beto Ricardo has been a pioneer in advancing the links between human rights and environmental protection for over 25 years.
Juan Mayr
Juan Mayr united disparate groups to protect Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the world’s highest coastal mountain range.
Evaristo Nugkuag
Evaristo Nugkuag, a member of Peru’s Aguaruna tribe, organized his people to creative alliances at local, national and international levels to protect indigenous rights and the environment.
Janet Gibson
Janet Gibson helped establish the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, Central America’s first marine reserve, to protect the barrier reef off Belize, one of the world’s largest coral reefs.
Ruth Buendía
Overcoming a history of traumatic violence, Ruth Buendía united the Asháninka people in a powerful campaign against large-scale dams that would have once again uprooted indigenous communities still recovering from Peru’s civil war.