Ani Youatt's Blog
About
- Bio:
I may be hardwired for international and environmental work. I grew up hiking, camping, and skiing in the high Sierras of California and with the idea that Mother Nature knows best. I come from a multicultural (Armenian, English, French), and multilingual (too many to list) family and spent most holidays and summers abroad. My first volunteer and paid positions were working with indigenous groups and environmental organizations in Ecuador, Mexico, and Tanzania. I was hopelessly interested in everything related to the interconnection of people and their natural environment. I completed graduate work in environmental science, policy, and economics. The three came together for me in the world of environmental advocacy.
I joined NRDC in 2005 as an Advocate for the Latin America BioGems Project. I design and implement campaigns to protect people, wildlife, and natural landscapes of Latin America from threats of foreign exploitation and insatiable consumer (often US) demand for the region’s natural resources. I have worked with NRDC to end the trade in illegally logged mahogany from Peru, close US markets to illegal forest products from around the world, and secure protections for the gray whale and vaquita porpoise in Mexico. I partner with local communities and groups for these campaigns. To me, they are the unsung heroes of environmentalism. I work to ensure that their voices do not go unheard in the national and international policy arenas.
- Roots in:
- California
- Favorite place:
- anywhere I can see the sun set over the ocean, Laguna San Ignacio when the gray whales are there, the páramos of the Ecuadorian Andes, and any place where I can spend time with my three stepsons
- Why "environmentalism" matters:
- Because life on earth matters.
Recent Blog Posts
- Mexico Steps up to the Plate for Endangered Porpoise (November 3, 2009)
- No Refuge for Mexico’s Endangered Vaquita Porpoise (August 19, 2009)
- REDD:Peru-ving REDD: Lessons from Peru for Combating Deforestation (June 17, 2009)
- The Vaquita caught on tape...and not a moment too soon (November 20, 2008)
Read more in Ani Youatt's Archives→
- Ani Youatt
- Director, Mexico and Peru BioGems Project
- Washington DC