Impact Makers: Ana Lucía Encinas

NAME

Ana Lucía Encinas

TITLE

Director of partnerships/educator, Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi

LOCATION

La Paz, Bolivia

ABOUT

Ana Lucía Encinas is an environmental activist based in La Paz, Bolivia, encouraging the next generation to fly the flag for nature. Through Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi, she helps children in rural communities understand and care for the ecosystems around them, especially forests under threat. The goal is to raise local environmental defenders who can take action from within their communities.

Alongside this work, Ana coordinated the implementation of three hydroponic Smart Gardens to help students learn that food can be grown sustainably even in small urban spaces, without clearing land or burning forests.

MOTIVATION

“Most of us live in cities, far from the forests and rivers that support us. Every choice we make, from what we eat to what we buy, is related to places we rarely see. Forests burn for agribusiness. Whole ecosystems vanish, and people feel detached because they do not see it first-hand. Most political and business decisions are made as if nature is something we are disconnected from, something we don’t belong to.

What drives me is the chance to help with this reconnection. My passion has driven me to places where I can make real impact, from teaching children in the cities about sustainable ways of production, to venturing in the Bolivian Amazonian jungle to sensitize them about the treasures they have around them. Rescuing an animal, supporting a village, planting a garden in a city, restoring a burned forest. Every action ripples.

I love this country, I love its ecosystems, but we forget they are fragile. Climate change pushes people to leave rural areas, while forests are being left behind, vulnerable to fires, poaching, and illegal settlements. We have access to information like no generation in the past. We need to use that information for things that matter.”

IMPACT

Before

• Children in La Paz had little exposure to the values of sustainable farming

• Rural deforestation continued due to traditional agriculture practices

• Schools lacked practical, hands-on environmental education

• Fires in 2024 devastated large areas of forest and wildlife

After

• 3 public schools in La Paz now have Smart Gardens with hydroponics

• Over 450 students and 300 children are actively growing food in urban gardens

• Around 1,500 vegetables are produced each year using sustainable techniques

• More children are now aware of ecosystems and how to protect them

• Around 150 children are sensitised each year on conservation and forest protection in rural areas

• Restoration efforts have begun in fire-hit areas, led by local communities

• School-based environmental programmes have taken root in multiple regions

ADVICE

“Start with your own community. Build something local, however small, to create an impact in your own environment. There will be frustration, but what matters is speaking up and moving forwards. The true reward is in the simple things like watching a tree grow or seeing a child turn into an advocate. That’s where our focus should be, not only on words on paper, but on turning them into coordinated action.”

CONTACT

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