Puerto Santa Ana in Guayaquil was the venue for the fifth edition of the event that every each year strives to connect, exhibit and reward the best social-environmental projects of this region: Latinoamerica Verde Awards (Green Latin America Awards).
This year, the event included 2,733 initiatives from 713 cities; among them the best 500 projects were selected and 31 classified as finalists in ten categories aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations Development Program.
We participated with our Galapagos Verde 2050 project, one of the finalists in the Water Category, the Shark Ambassador Outreach Project, and Mangrove Finch were selected in the top 500, ranked 192th and 402th respectively.
Galapagos Verde 2050, our Charles Darwin Foundation project, won the DIRECTV award: "Protagonists”, that includes the production of a 30-minute documentary for being one of the most inspiring projects. DIRECTV, partner of the event, evaluated each project purpose, legacy, impact and ability to inspire positive change in order to select the winner. Our project aims to restore degraded ecosystems and implement agricultural practices to ensure the sustainability of the Galapagos Islands. Currently, more than 9,000 plants of 72 different species have been planted in 72 study areas in the Archipelago, thanks to water-saving technologies such as Groasis, Cocoon (biodegradable) and rain harvest.
"I felt immensely grateful to receive the DIRECTV Protagonist Award. It represents a great contribution of worldwide diffusion for our institution and, above all, it will help us in the pursuit of long-term funding to achieve the project sustainability" said Patricia Jaramillo, Project Leader, after achieving the recognition.
The event that took place between August 14 and 16 involved public and private companies, non-governmental organizations and people from several social-environmental initiatives in Latin America. During these three days, the 500 best projects explained their stories, experiences and results. The different categories to classify the projects were: Water, Forests and Flora, Biodiversity and Fauna, Human Development, Social Inclusion and Inequality Reduction, Energy, Sustainable Finance, Urban Management, Solid Waste Management, Oceans and Production and Responsible Consumption.
Each category had three finalists, who presented to the jury. The Charles Darwin Foundation had a stand in the “500 Best” gallery where our projects were showcased to the general public. In addition to the exhibitions, numerous activities were held throughout the days: a dialogue on green economy, a sustainable business platform and a conversation on gastronomy and conservation.
With great enthusiasm, nerves and excitement the participants attended the Awards Gala, where countries like Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Haiti and Guatemala received their awards. The event was presided by the Mayor of Guayaquil, Jaime Nebot, and included the presence of the President of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, who congratulated the Galapagos Verde Project 2050 for being one of the two Ecuadorian finalist of this fifth edition.
Congratulations to all the projects involved!
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