Dear Wise Earth: Talks with Dr. Martín von Hildebrand an ⁠ethnologist⁠ and ⁠anthropologist⁠ who has done perhaps more than anyone to secure indigenous territorial rights and the protection of the Colombian ⁠Amazon tropical forest⁠.

Von Hildebrand has dedicated his life to the autonomy of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon. During the 70s he lived with indigenous communities, which gave him the basis to do his PhD in Ethnology at the University of Paris and work with the Colombian government in the 80s as National Director of Indigenous Affairs.

In this position he achieved recognition of the collective ownership of indigenous territories over 20 million hectares of the Colombian Amazon, represented the Colombian government in the negotiation of ILO Convention 169 on the rights of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, and participated in the recognition of their rights in the Political Constitution of 1991.

In 1990, he created the Gaia Amazonas Foundation and the COAMA program (Consolidación Amazónica), promoting the creation of indigenous governments, creating programs of self-education, intercultural health and endogenous research on the traditional management of the territory.

His work has been recognized, among others, with the Right Livelihood Award (Alternative Nobel Prize in Sweden), the National Environmental Award (Colombia), The Order of the Golden Ark (Kingdom of the Netherlands), the Skoll Award for Social Prize Entrepreneurship (USA) and the Tallberg Global Leadership Award (Stockholm).

He also sits on the advisory board of ⁠Dear Wise Earth⁠.

In today’s conversation we explore the importance of myths and storytelling in indigenous cultures and what we can learn from indigenous wisdom.

Host: ⁠⁠Rainbow Nelson⁠⁠

Music by ⁠⁠Modern Biology⁠⁠ courtesy of ⁠⁠Snakes x Ladders Music⁠⁠.