Saving the Amazon

Daniel is the Founder and CEO of Saving the Amazon, a non-profit organisation empowering Indigenous communities in Colombia and planting trees to combat deforestation in the country’s Amazon region. Daniel and his team acknowledge that Indigenous communities are the guardians of the Amazon, and the organisation partners with them to preserve and enhance the rainforest. The Indigenous communities that Saving the Amazon works with retain complete ownership of planted trees and have input on which trees are planted. Saving the Amazon uses geospatial technology to determine individual tree location for greater accountability, and creates a more meaningful experience for donors by sharing the story of the Indigenous people who plant the trees.

Daniel attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. He was a Delegate Speaker for the Ethical Leadership plenary challenge. At the Summit, he met the former First Lady of Colombia, María Juliana Ruiz, and post-Summit was invited by her and former President Iván Duque to an event focused on the Amazon region.

Saving the Amazon has planted over 642,000 trees, which are predicted to sequester 696,000 tonnes of CO2 over the next thirty years. The benefits for Indigenous communities go beyond the environmental impact of restoration; 740 Indigenous community members are employed to support tree planting efforts, and a significant percentage of the money raised by the project goes directly towards community-focused projects. Saving the Amazon works particularly closely with Indigenous women, who comprise a majority of its tree planters. Saving the Amazon is able to offer in-kind support to the Indigenous people it works with if they prefer it, providing electrical and domestic products at a discounted price to community members.

“One Young World made the click for me of the importance of building multilevel governance communities. Only by uniting a common vision of our future we may have a regenerative one.”