Five Latin American winners among UNDP's equator prize recipients.
| Autor | Scruggs, Gregory |
The UN will honor six indigenous and women's initiatives from five Central and South American countries on topics ranging from land rights to environmental protection to animal conservation at a ceremony this month. The accolade is the Equator Prize, given every two years since 2002 by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to recognize outstanding community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
The Central and South American winners hail from Belize, Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Honduras. They are among 15 winners from around the globe who were selected in a competitive process that saw over 800 nominations from 120 countries.
"It is our privilege at UNDP, alongside our partners at the Equator Initiative, to have this opportunity to recognize and commend the achievements of this year's Equator Prize winners," said Achim Steiner, UNDP administrator, in a statement when the winners were announced in June. "The solutions they have found in the service of their communities are as diverse as the development challenges they face. But what unites them is that each shows the power of people to bring about change while protecting the planet."
The winners will each receive US$10,000 and the opportunity for a community representative to join a week-long summit in New York during the 72nd UN General Assembly. They will be celebrated at the Equator Prize Award Ceremony on Sep. 17 featuring celebrities, government and UN officials, civil society, and the media.
Meet the winners
The winners cover a wide range of biodiversity and land use issues from the Amazon to the Andes to the Caribbean coast.
In Brazil, two indigenous groups were given the award. The Ashaninka people of the Amonia River live in the heart of the Amazon rain forest. Their community association won for its use of participatory 3D mapping, advocacy, education, and cultural exchange to ensure healthy forests and communities. The Xingu, meanwhile, maintain a 27,000-sq. km reservation in the state of Mato Grosso. Recently, the Associagao Terra Indigena Xingu became the first community-based organization to achieve organic certification in Brazil. The community produces two tons of certified organic honey each year to generate income, maintain vibrant indigenous culture, and promote traditional sustainable livelihoods.
Across South America in the Andes, the Organizacion para la Defensa y Conservacion Ecologica de Intag has been active in...
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