Write@Home
Winter 2015

Heroines

Aerial view of the Amazon

Nina Gualinga was born in 1994, in the Kichwa community of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon. She is the daughter of a Kichwa Sarayaku mother and a Swedish father.

Since the age of eight, Nina has been advocating for environmental justice and indigenous people´s rights by participating in forums as a representative of her community. In 2018, Nina´s efforts to protect nature and the communities of the Amazon were commemorated by the World Wide Forum for Nature (WWF) with the International President's Youth Award; this was given to Nina at a time when the region is threatened due to the exploitation and unsustainable use of natural resources.

In another hand than her social and environmental work, she has a personal life and family. She had a hard relationship with her husband, for these reason she left her house with her child.

Currently, she continues to represent the community, calling for indigenous rights and a fossil fuel-free economy in various national and international forums, such as the last climate summit in Paris.

In addition, she has one of the seven inspiring environmental Instagram accounts that Vogue´s magazine say "you need to follow now".