Ms María Teresa VARGAS RÍOS

Directora Ejecutiva, Fundación Natura Bolivia

Maria Teresa works with mayors and councilors from 60 municipalities across Bolivia to help them protect their forested water sources. Together, they have convinced half a million water users to sign agreements with 14,000 upstream landowners to conserve 500,000 hectares of water-producing forest. These conservation deals—locally known as “Acuerdos Reciprocos por Agua” or “Watershared”—are in return for alternative development projects such as drip irrigation, fruit and honey production, and improved cattle management. Maria Teresa is now leading the transfer of this reciprocity-based forest and water conservation model to municipalities in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. As a graduate of the MIT/Poverty Action Lab Executive Training course on randomized evaluations, Maria Teresa has been trained in balancing evaluation science and program implementation. Maria Teresa has a master’s in forestry from Yale University.