Recognitions 2026

BIOLOGIST AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEUR

María Eugenia Puente

She presided over the Ornithological Foundation of Ecuador, directed the biological monitoring of Yasuní, and co-authored a field guide to the birds of the northwest.

María Eugenia Puente presided over the Ornithological Foundation of Ecuador, now Aves & Conservación, for two terms, and is the co-author of Birds of Northwestern Ecuador and the Kapari Natural Reserve: A Field Guide (2023). A biologist from PUCE, she scientifically directed the Yasuní Biological Monitoring, whose results on biodiversity and the use of natural resources by the Waorani people were published in eight volumes. She also founded Ecuambiente, a pioneering environmental consulting firm, and created the Ecological Museum of Ecuador. Her trajectory unites science, education, and management in favor of conservation in Ecuador.

ORNITHOLOGIST AND CONSERVATIONIST

Robert S. Ridgely

He wrote the definitive guide to the birds of Ecuador and founded the Jocotoco Foundation to protect the habitats of its most threatened species.

In 1997, in the Andes of southern Ecuador, Robert S. Ridgely and John Moore documented a new species for science: the Jocotoco Antpitta (Grallaria ridgelyi), a bird so elusive that no one had described it before. A year later, Ridgely founded the Jocotoco Foundation, which today protects critically important reserves for the country’s threatened birds. An ornithologist with a Ph.D. from Yale, he is the co-author of The Birds of Ecuador (2001, with Paul Greenfield) and other classic guides to Neotropical birds. His work shows that understanding birds and protecting their habitat are two sides of the same task.

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FORMER MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION LEADER

Yolanda Kakabadse

From Fundación Natura to the presidency of IUCN and WWF International, she has brought Ecuador’s conservation efforts to the global stage.

Yolanda Kakabadse began her conservation journey in 1979 as executive director of Fundación Natura, an organization that, under her leadership, became one of the most important environmental entities in Latin America. She founded the Latin American Future Foundation, served as Minister of Environment of Ecuador (1998–2000), presided over the International Union for Conservation of Nature (1996–2004), and was president of WWF International. She also chaired the Charles Darwin Foundation in Galapagos. Her career has given Ecuadorian conservation a voice in the forums where global environmental policies are decided.

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ECONOMIST AND CONSERVATIONIST

Roque Sevilla

Co-founder of Fundación Natura, he promoted Ecuador’s first debt-for-nature swap and the protection of the Galapagos.

Roque Sevilla, an economist from Quito, is a co-founder of Fundación Natura, where he promoted Ecuador’s first debt-for-nature swap and the protection of the Galapagos Islands. He served as National Forestry Director, Mayor of Quito (1998–2000), and presided over the Yasuní-ITT Initiative commission. His vision has been to finance conservation and link it to development, ensuring that nature protection is sustained over time.

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