I am the son of a person who was dedicated to geographic exploration in Colombia. My father made the first maps of soils and landscapes that Colombia had in the Amazon region. And it was like that, at 12 years old, I already made my first accompanying trip in the Araraquara jungles. Over there, very close to the border with Brazil and Peru.

And I first met the indigenous world. Conocí lo que eran las selvas mejor preservadas del país y seguramente del continente y conocí también lo que era otro planeta que existía más allá de las montañas y la visión interior que tenía Colombia y sus ciudades. Y por último, yo a los 26 años, cuando salí de la universidad, me fui a vivir, eh A couple of years ago, I was living with some indigenous groups in the north of the Amazon department, near the border with Brazil.

And when I thought I was going to stay and live there, because I was fascinated, I said, no, your job is in the city, to protect this, but it’s not here, it’s over there. And obviously those three points in my life, I think they are critical. One, understanding, being passionate and living under a tree. Two, doing explorations with my dad.

And three, understanding the dynamic,

The Bright Award is an environmental award given to individuals who are dedicating their careers to increasing sustainability and conservation. The nomination committee was impressed by Rodrigo Boro’s role as conflict resolution advisor, and he has done this in what has been ranked as the world’s most dangerous country.

For environmental activists and people who defend land rights for indigenous people and through putting myself in their shoes, putting myself in their logic, in their rationality, understanding things that otherwise would be impossible, generating trust, generating bridges, but above all the solutions for different types of conflicts. In essence, I also believe that this is one of the features, both mine and the Foundation’s.

And it’s how to find the solution to conflicts. And that has happened with ambassadors, judges, ministers, all kinds of public officials, as well as people. We have traveled with ex combatants, with indigenous people, with peasants. The common experience in the face of what is the suffering of the planet and at the same time, what is the suffering of the population, because this is affecting people, it is not a speech.

So, being able to make a common, joint experience of what it means to impact these territories is what creates trust. The magic to create, um, to change minds or cultures is trust. Again, it’s not money, it’s not technology, it’s not the material. It’s trust, and trust is built in a relationship where you can live together, share, and continue.

And to effectively show that we have something that connects us in a way that is the planet, which are the forests. I think he is a person who inspires the work of others.

I think his leadership has made many of us continue with this work. And above all, he is always encouraging us to keep thinking, to keep imagining, to keep building. He is the leader, obviously. He is a leader, not only of the foundation, but of the territory. Leaders propose, leaders, um,

Important in. In the spaces of international communities that sometimes do not know what is happening. He manages to put that voice of the territories in those places. The work of Don Rodrigo seems important to me because through the foundation it becomes the eyes that have the forests. Let’s say it’s the entity that has the forest resource monitoring that exists throughout the nation, the Amazon.

The most important area of biodiversity conservation and environmental services of climate adjustment of the continent it is, today, about to lose. So that, that level of, of, of that grave of what’s happening in this territory is something we have to deal with very quickly and a little bit of, uh, a little of that is the response to why we

We hope this award, which marks the 12th anniversary of the Bright Award, further empowers this year’s winner in his efforts to protect the Amazon in Colombia and beyond. I had no idea that the University of Stanford could value the work we are doing here in these territories. In my case, I say

There are actions of direct experiences, yes, that have to do with how to effectively know this pulsation of the jungle, this, this, this living heart that exists here on the planet, to know its people, its forests.