Martín von Hildebrand

Dr. Martín von Hildebrand is an ethnologist and anthropologist who has led efforts to secure indigenous territorial rights and the protection of the Colombian Amazon tropical forest.

Hildebrand established in 1990 the COAMA program, winner of the Right Livelihood Award, and is founding Director of the NGO Fundación Gaia Amazonas, ranked #40 among the top 100 NGOs of the world by the Global Journal.

Since the 1950s, however, the Colombian Amazon and its indigenous peoples have suffered from waves of colonization and exploitation: peasant refugees during the time of 'La Violencia'; colonists following in the wake of petroleum exploration; economic booms for rubber extraction, gold mining and the illicit processing of coca; government and aid-agency sponsored resettlement and development programs.

In 1972, Hildebrand set up the Amazon branch of the Colombian Anthropological Institute, in La Pedrera, through which he was able to bring together a multi-disciplinary team of specialists (biologists, lawyers, anthropologists, doctors and educationists).

It was within this context that Hildebrand insisted that the single most important mission that he would commit himself, obviously with the backing of the Indians, was the establishment of land rights over their traditional territory.

This policy was an unprecedented move towards the recognition of indigenous rights and the important role of forest peoples in the conservation of the world's tropical rainforests.

COAMA has provided an innovative approach towards working with indigenous communities and developing self-governance as the basis for tropical forest preservation.