Connecting Community to Conservation
Our Defiende Nuestra Tierra (Defend Our Land) program started in 2018 and focuses on engaging the Latinx community in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valleys to become advocates for public lands. In addition the program, advocates for equitable and just public land conservation and management, building new partnerships with community members nonprofits, municipalities, and federal agencies, and provides opportunities for members of our Latinx Community to connect with public lands through hikes, events, and restoration projects.
Over the last 5 years, Defiende has increased the baseline knowledge of public lands and their management, built and expanded upon a conservation ethos, and focused on specific concerns of local Latino communities regarding public lands. A key component of the program has been providing equal access opportunities for members of our Latino Community to enjoy, lead and enjoy public lands through hikes, events, and restoration projects. Community members who join us for events on public lands become advocates for those places.
The Defiende program’s Director is Omar Sarabia; you can find Defiende on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Upcoming Defiende Events
Celebremos al aire Libre! Latino Conservation Week event; July 22!
Defiende members at an event with the Aspen Art Museum atop Aspen Mountain.
Defiende Objectives
The success of Defiende depends upon building strong, authentic and long-lasting relationships with local Latino communities and identifying the community-based conservation issues that matter most to these communities. The Defiende program aims to achieve the following:
- Build a local environmental and conservation movement that prioritizes Latinx issues and elevates Latinx leadership.
- Develop strategic partnerships with Latinx-led organizations, businesses, formal and informal leaders who can act as ambassadors, public land, and environmental advocates.
- Host a series of hikes and restoration projects that get people out onto the land, educate them on relevant issues facing those areas, and inspire action to preserve and protect the land.
- Educate community members about public lands history, management, and how to get involved in protecting public lands, while continuing to build and expand a conservation ethos.
- Track and engage in state and national environmental justice and equitable access priorities that affect WW’s work.
Defiende’s Advisory Board
Our Advisory Board members actively engage with various segments of the Latinx community, possessing insights into its social dynamics, interests, and exhibiting a genuine commitment to conservation and the preservation of public lands.
Current Advisory Board Members:
- Jasmin Ramirez, Roaring Fork School District Board
- Brisa Chavez, Garfield County Public Health
- Bryan Alvarez-Terrazas, Manaus
- Liz Velasco, Colorado State Representative, District 57; WW Board Member
- Marlon Funez, Glenwood Springs High School
- Gabriela Galindez, Aspen Art Museum Gladys Arango, City of Glenwood Springs
Learn more about our Advisory Board by clicking here.
Camino Latino
The Camino Latino map, the first Spanish-language map of its kind, is free and highlights locations to get outside and enjoy public lands in the Colorado River and Roaring Fork Valleys. Visit our Camino Latino page to learn more.
Read more:
Defiende Nuestra Tierra launches first-of-its-kind Spanish language map (July 2023)
Looking forward with Defiende Nuestra Tierra in 2023 (Sopris Sun, Jan. 2023)
Announcing the Defiende Advisory Board (Wild Works, Winter 2022)
Latino Conservation Week grows in 2022 (Wild Works, Winter 2022)
Jahir Rodas cuts his first Christmas tree and keeps his grandmother’s memory alive (Aspen Public Radio, Dec. 2022)
Smokey Bear, trees, and tamales — posada welcomes Latino families to Christmas tradition in the forest (Aspen Times, Dec. 2022)
