We are super proud to have Belén Paez with us once again this year for the 2025 Summer Long Dance. Belén is an extraordinary champion of indigenous rights, the rights of nature, sustainability, biodiversity and the future of our planet. She is director of the Fundacion Pachamama and has often been to the Long Dance, together with her partner Manari Ushigua and their son, Tsamaraw.
Each time Belén's voice is heard at the Long Dance everything comes into a new perspective, including understanding why the Fundacion Pachamama is the central cause for Long Dance fund-raising. In 2024 Belén took us by storm when she joined the band for one song and infused us with the beauty she sang into our field.
Ya'Acov, Manari, Susannah, Tsamaraw, Belen, Reuben and Haein 2024
This year (2025) Manari is sadly unable to come, and we want to take this opportunity to celebrate Belén's leadership, vision, knowledge and voice, together with our Achuar comrade Chumpi (Ramiro Vargas) if, as we hope, he can make it too.
Here's a bit more about Belen from her bio:
"Belén Páez, Ecuadorian ecologist, specializes in guiding transitions toward regenerative economic models and designing innovative governance and financing mechanisms for bioregions and indigenous territories in Latin America. Faced with the widespread loss of biodiversity, the expansion of extractive industries, and the increasing threats of fires, droughts, and floods, her work focuses on developing systemic solutions: ecological, economic, social and political that protect life on the planet, anticipating trends and building scenarios to face the challenges of the future.
With 30 years of experience in the Amazon, she has collaborated with indigenous communities to implement sustainable economic alternatives that have improved their quality of life and contributed to the conservation of millions of hectares of tropical forest. Through her leadership at Fundación Pachamama and in collaboration with indigenous organizations from the Amazonian, she has successfully halted the expansion of extractive industries and reduced deforestation in the south-central Ecuadorian Amazon, one of the most biodiverse regions in the world.
Belén has worked locally and globally, leading projects in areas such as bioeconomy, ecotourism, renewable energy, ecosystem conservation, climate justice, maternal and child health, and human and nature rights. Her ability to elevate the Amazon's cause to the global stage has been key to positioning it as a priority issue in international forums on indigenous rights, climate change, and innovation.
Her efforts have been recognized by various organizations, including her inclusion on the 2021 list of the 100 Latinos Most Committed to Climate Action and her recognition as one of the two inaugural recipients of the Thomas E. Lovejoy Award, presented by WWF at COP16 (Sixteenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity) in 2024, in recognition of her exceptional leadership in Amazon conservation.
In March 2025, Belén was recognized by Revista Hogar (Hogar magazine) as one of the 11 exceptional women who are transforming society through their impactful work in conservation and sustainability.
Her leadership in these fields also led her to be named an MIT Solve Climate Advisor, a prestigious recognition that places her within a global network of experts dedicated to developing innovative solutions to the climate crisis. In this role, Belén amplifies her impact, contributing to key initiatives both in Ecuador and internationally.
Currently, Belén is president of Fundación Pachamama and vice president of the Pachamama Alliance. She is a member of the board of directors of Fundación Alianza Cuencas Sagradas (Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance), whose mission is to protect 35 million hectares of the Amazon in Ecuador and Peru, in alliance with 30 nationalities and indigenous peoples. She is also an author and member of the Scientific Panel for the Amazon (SPA), serves on the board of Protection International (PI), and is a member of the REDD+ Working Group in Ecuador. She previously served on the board of directors of the Ecuadorian Sustainable Environmental Investment Fund (FIAS).
Belén Páez is a prominent voice in blending ancestral knowledge with innovative solutions, leading the way toward a regenerative and equitable future that honors both nature and indigenous communities."
So you can see why we are so honoured by her presence at the Long Dance - we look forward to the magic, clarity and inspiration she will share with us this time, and more songs - please!
with love, and hope to see you there too,
