The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and partners announce the winners of the 14th Equator Prize, recognizing ten Indigenous peoples and local communities from ten countries. Winning organizations demonstrate how innovative, nature-based solutions can enable communities to achieve their own local development goals, while building community resilience, even in a time of economic, environmental, political and public health shocks. This year’s awardees join a network of 275 communities who have been recognized since 2002. 

This year’s winners also highlight the theme of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples: “Indigenous Youth as Agents of Change for Self-determination.” Four winners are youth-led initiatives, all are committed to promoting intergenerational equity within their communities, and most work towards accelerating the creation of protected and conserved areas to safeguard nature and accelerate progress on the 30×30 goals. At a time when we are facing unprecedented planetary crises, it is crucial to shed light on the essential contributions of environmental stewardship carried out by Indigenous peoples and local communities, including those of Indigenous youth. 

The winners, selected from a pool of over 500 nominations from 108 countries, hail from Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi, Ecuador, Guatemala, Greenland, Liberia, Nepal, the Philippines, and Zambia. The Equator Prize winners will receive US$15,000, and the opportunity to take part in a series of special virtual events associated with the UN General Assembly, SDG Summit, UN Climate Ambition Summit, the UNDP Nature for Life Hub, and COP 28 in Dubai.