Executive Director, Ut'z Che' - Guatemalan Community Forestry Association
Víctor López Illescas, executive director of the Community Forestry Association of Guatemala Utz Che’ a national umbrella organisation of indigenous, peasant and fishermen communities protecting forests, watersprings and coastal ecosystems, sustainably managing natural resources and impulsing rural development in their territories. I am Guatemalan, but due to civil war in Guatemala I grew in Nicaragua, Cuba and Mexico, and I consider myself a Latin America Motherland citizen. In the last 15 years I have been dedicated to promote local, national and regional organisation of different indigenous, peasant and fishermen struggling for dignity, self determination, sustainable forests management and rural development. I am also part of Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests, serving as advisor for international affairs, and of The Forests Dialogue steering committee.
Arresting Deforestation • Environmental Sustainability • Livelihoods
