Liliana Madrigal (born March 23, 1957) is a conservationist who has worked toward the protection of rainforests and indigenous cultures in both

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. She is the co-founder and Senior Director of Program Operations of the

Amazon Conservation Team The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) is a non-profit organization that works in partnership with indigenous people of tropical South America in conserving the biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest, as well as the culture and land of its indigenous ...

(ACT), where she serves as chief liaison to in-country programs and communities. Her primary focuses are the indigenous peoples and forests of the northwest

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

(including the

Inga ''Inga'' is a genus of small tropical, tough-leaved, nitrogen-fixing treesElkan, Daniel. "Slash-and-burn farming has become a major threat to the world's rainforest" ''The Guardian'' 21 April 2004 and shrubs, subfamily Mimosoideae. ''Inga''s l ...

, Kamsa and Cofán peoples) and the

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...

(the

Kogi Kogi State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti and Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, to the northeast by Nasarawa State, to the northwest by Niger State, to the s ...

people).

Personal History

Madrigal grew up in Costa Rica and moved to Southern California in 1968. She attended the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

on scholarship where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Generative Linguistics. She currently lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her husband,

ethnobotanist Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for m ...

Dr.

Mark Plotkin Mark J. Plotkin (born May 21, 1955) is an ethnobotanist and a plant explorer in the Neotropics, where he is an expert on rainforest ecosystems. Plotkin is an advocate for tropical rainforest conservation and host of Plants of the Gods: Hallucinog ...

Career

Madrigal began her career in conservation working under Spencer Beebe for

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Natu ...

(TNC). She became director of TNC’s Costa Rica program and worked with the National Parks Foundation of Costa Rica where she helped establish and manage some of Costa Rica’s most renowned parks - notably,

Manuel Antonio National Park Manuel Antonio National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio) is a small national park in the Central Pacific Conservation Area located on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, just south of the city of Quepos, Puntarenas, and from the nation ...

. She later left TNC to become a founding member of

Conservation International Conservation International (CI) is an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia. CI's work focuses on science, policy and partnership with businesses, governments and communities. The organ ...

(CI) where she served as director of the Costa Rica and Panama programs. In 1996, Madrigal co-founded the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) with Dr. Mark Plotkin. Both Madrigal and Plotkin felt that partnering closely with indigenous colleagues to protect indigenous lands represented an extraordinary conservation opportunity. Today, Madrigal oversees all program initiatives executed by ACT. She frequently visits South America to work with ACT’s staff, indigenous colleagues, and partners. Madrigal focuses most heavily on Colombia where she played a vital role in the establishment of UMIYAC, the Union of Yagé Healers of Colombia. Madrigal also oversees some aspects of ACT-supported efforts in both Brazil and Suriname. She takes special interest in advancing human rights of women throughout Amazonia and drives several of ACT’s women’s projects.

Awards and honors

* 2006: The Circle of Bridge-Makers Award from the Angeles Arrien Foundation * 2008: Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship (co-awarded with Dr. Mark Plotkin) * 2017:

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

Bellagio Center Residency Program

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madrigal, Liliana American conservationists 1957 births Living people