Maria Elena Paredes Awarded Prestigious Fellowship for Indigenous Women Leaders.

We are proud to share that María Elena Paredes, an Ashéninka leader and member of our team, has been awarded a highly competitive fellowship to strengthen her work empowering Indigenous women in the fight to protect the Amazon, particularly the threatened Yurúa region, where she lives.

María in her community of Sawawo Hito 40, on the banks of the Amonia River, a tributary of the Yurúa River.

"Our Future Forests – Green Amazon" is a program that amplifies the voices of Indigenous women leaders who are committed to defending their territories and promoting the role of local communities as key actors in combating climate change and protecting the Amazon.

María Elena Paredes Márquez, an Ashéninka leader from the Sawawo Hito 40 Native Community in Peru's Ucayali region and a colleague at UAC, applied to the program with a proposal to develop strategies for defending her community's territory against illegal logging and the abuses associated with it. Following a highly competitive selection process organized by Conservation International and funded by the Government of France, her proposal was recognized for its merit and selected for funding. Through the fellowship, María will receive training, mentorship, and support to implement her project. (See Conservation International's announcement on its Facebook page- add facebook link)

María Elena leading a group of Indigenous women leaders during the Cross-Border Binational Congress coordinated by UAC in April 2022.

María Elena with a group of Indigenous women leaders during the Congress.

María with UAC specialist Cesia Babilonia and members of Sawawo

Maria in Sawawo.

María learning to fly a drone with a specialist from SERNANP.

"I am very happy and grateful to receive this opportunity, which will help strengthen the participation of our women here in the border region, where we are facing growing threats from an illegal road."

The program builds the leadershipskills of participating women and provides them with empowerment tools in an increasingly interconnected world, where the impacts of climate change are becoming ever more urgent. Women leaders from all seven countries of the Amazon Basin; Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, and Peru, submit project proposals to be considered for the program and receive support to achieve their goals in their respective countries.

María works with Upper Amazon Conservancy (UAC) as a Community Conservation Specialist, supporting the implementation of UAC's conservation initiatives with Indigenous communities in the Yurúa region.

We congratulate María Elena on this outstanding achievement and look forward to continuing to work alongside her to promote the sustainable development of her community and help inspire a new generation of Indigenous women leaders dedicated to defending their territories and addressing climate change.