Green Heroes
Meet the remarkable individuals who dedicated their lives to restoring ecosystems, planting forests, and protecting our planet.
Abdul Kareem
The One-Man Forest of Kerala
India · 1950–present
Indian conservationist who single-handedly grew a 32-acre forest on barren laterite land in Kerala over more than 30 years.
Akira Miyawaki
Botanist & Pioneer of Rapid Reforestation
Japan · 1928–2021
Japanese botanist who developed the Miyawaki method for creating dense native forests in record time, planting over 1,700 forests across 15 countries.
Chico Mendes
Defender of the Amazon Rainforest
Brazil · 1944–1988
Brazilian rubber tapper and union leader who organized nonviolent resistance to protect the Amazon rainforest from deforestation.
David Milarch
Nurseryman & Co-Founder of Archangel Ancient Tree Archive
United States · 1949–present
Michigan nurseryman who pioneered techniques for cloning the world's largest and oldest trees to preserve their genetics and combat climate change.
Felix Finkbeiner
Youth Climate Activist and Founder of Plant-for-the-Planet
Germany · 1997–present
German activist who started Plant-for-the-Planet at age 9, building a youth movement that has planted billions of trees worldwide.
Geoff Lawton
Permaculture Consultant & Pioneer of Desert Restoration
Australia · 1954–present
Australian permaculture educator who demonstrated that even the most degraded landscapes can be transformed into productive food forests, most famously in the Jordan Valley.
Jadav Payeng
The Forest Man of India
India · 1959–present
Indian environmental activist who single-handedly planted a 1,360-acre forest on a barren sandbar in Assam over four decades.
John D. Liu
Filmmaker and Ecosystem Restoration Advocate
United States · 1953–present
American-Chinese filmmaker who documented the Loess Plateau restoration and founded Ecosystem Restoration Camps worldwide.
Julia Butterfly Hill
Activist & Old-Growth Forest Defender
United States · 1974–present
American environmentalist who lived 738 days in a 1,500-year-old redwood tree named Luna to save it from being logged by Pacific Lumber Company.
Marina Silva
Champion of the Amazon and Brazilian Environmental Leader
Brazil · 1958–present
Brazilian environmentalist and politician from Acre who fought alongside Chico Mendes and became Minister of the Environment.
Masanobu Fukuoka
Farmer, Philosopher, and Pioneer of Natural Farming
Japan · 1913–present
Japanese farmer and philosopher who developed 'do-nothing farming,' a radical method of agriculture that works with nature rather than against it, and authored the landmark book The One-Straw Revolution.
Richard St. Barbe Baker
Pioneer of Global Reforestation
United Kingdom · 1889–1982
British forester who founded Men of the Trees in 1922, one of the world's first international conservation organizations.
Saalumarada Thimmakka
The Woman Who Mothered a Forest
India · 1910–present
Indian environmentalist from Karnataka who planted and nurtured over 8,000 trees across eight decades, earning the honorary title 'Saalumarada' — row of trees.
Sebastiao Salgado
Photographer Turned Reforester
Brazil · 1944–present
Brazilian photographer who, with his wife Lelia, reforested over 1,500 acres of degraded Atlantic Forest at Instituto Terra.
Sunderlal Bahuguna
Environmentalist & Leader of the Chipko Movement
India · 1927–2021
Indian environmentalist who led the Chipko movement, where villagers embraced trees to prevent logging in the Himalayan forests of Uttarakhand.
Tony Rinaudo
Agronomist & Developer of Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration
Niger · 1957–present
Australian agronomist known as the 'Forest Maker' who developed Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration, restoring over 200 million trees across Africa.
Vandana Shiva
Seed Sovereignty Champion and Environmental Scholar
India · 1952–present
Indian physicist and activist who founded the Navdanya seed bank network to protect biodiversity and farmers' rights.
Wangari Maathai
Nobel Laureate & Founder of the Green Belt Movement
Kenya · 1940–2011
Kenyan environmentalist who founded the Green Belt Movement and planted over 51 million trees across Africa.
Willie Smits
Orangutan Rescuer and Rainforest Restorer
Indonesia · 1957–present
Dutch-Indonesian scientist who restored degraded Borneo rainforest through the Samboja Lestari project to save orangutans.
Yacouba Sawadogo
The Man Who Stopped the Desert
Burkina Faso · 1946–present
Burkinabe farmer who revived ancient Zai planting techniques to reclaim Sahel desert and restore forests in Burkina Faso.