A River Called Home​

For Esneda Saavedra, activism was not a choice but a question of survival. She is a member of the indigenous Yukpa people, who for centuries have lived in the Serranía del Perijá, a forested mountain range at the far north of the Andes, spanning the borders of Colombia and Venezuela. But in recent decades, a combination of conflict, forced displacement, exploitation of natural resources and climate change has threatened their way of life. 

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Born in the Sokorpa reserve in Colombia – one of several communities inhabited by the roughly 15,000 Yukpa people – Esneda's activism was shaped from a young age by her mother, a traditional Yukpa authority. “I was always by her side as a child. I became a leader because it was necessary,” she recalled. “I was born to defend our land and people.” 

The Yukpa’s way of life is deeply connected to nature, but that connection is under threat. Lowland forests have been cleared for livestock, monoculture, mining, and illegal crops, turning once fertile land into barren soil and reducing the Maracas River to little more than a stream.  

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Comissioned for UNHCR: Indigenous leader takes her people’s fight for survival to biodiversity summit