Ana Maria Castaño Rivas
Ana is the director of conservation for GreenVault. She serves on the boards for the National Network of Birdwatchers in Colombia and for Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in the USA. She has helped in the creation of some of the regional ornithological societies in Colombia and also volunteers in several conservation and education initiatives. “While I was at college in Medellín, my home town, I became the youngest member of the regional ornithological association Sociedad Antioqueña de Ornitología (SAO). Aged 19, I set up the first field station for monitoring raptor migration in Colombia. Since then, I’ve been involved in different projects for conservation and research all over the country. I have worked in education and in environmental policies, and as an environmental consultant. In 2003, aged 28, I joined the board of SAO and two years later I became the first female president, remaining in the post for almost two decades.
“My current roles are in the leadership of the birding community, including on the board of the National Network of Birdwatchers in Colombia. Over the last 22 years we have worked on a National Strategy for the Conservation of Birds in Colombia and we are in the process of having this strategy adopted as public policy, where it will define many conservation decisions.
“I’m the only woman on the national committee that co-ordinates eBird’s Global Big Day in Colombia. The key to our success has been our ability to bring people together from all over the country, focusing on a love for birds, an interest in learning about them, and taking care of the environments they live in.
“Twenty-four years after my first internship in the USA with the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton, Pennsylvania, I was invited to join the board of this organisation, which is a world leader for the conservation of migrant raptors. I’m the first Colombian in this position. As a woman, I’ve been extremely lucky both in fieldwork and in the general recognition of my skills and capabilities of leading. Even as the only woman on different committees or in the field, I’ve always felt respected and appreciated.”