Montreal, Canada – July 2025 — During the 2025 Leadership Conference of the National Audubon Society, Jorge Oviedo, President of the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Environmental Funds (RedLAC) and Executive Director of the Environmental Investment Fund of El Salvador (FIAES), received, on behalf of RedLAC, the “Hemispheric Champion” award for his leadership and contributions to conservation in the region.
RedLAC
This honor, presented by the National Audubon Society—an organization leading the protection of birds and their habitats—highlights the role of RedLAC as the regional partner of the Conserva Aves Initiative. This initiative, led by American Bird Conservancy, National Audubon Society, BirdLife International, Birds Canada, and the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Environmental Funds (RedLAC), aims to unite efforts for bird conservation, climate change adaptation, and community strengthening throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
As a regional network bringing together 34 environmental funds from 20 countries, RedLAC channels resources, strengthens capacities, and supports processes that enable Conserva Aves to have a real and lasting impact in the field. Member environmental funds—national partners of the initiative—serve as the bridge for implementing projects in coordination with communities, governments, and local stakeholders, ensuring that investments reach the areas and ecosystems that need them most.
“I receive this honor with deep gratitude and humility. I do so on behalf of RedLAC, a network I have had the privilege of presiding over for the past four years, and which has allowed me to accompany transformative processes for conservation in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Oviedo.
As a strategic partner of the Conserva Aves Initiative, RedLAC contributes its expertise, reach, and structure to drive effective nature conservation, with the vision of building a legacy that closes protection gaps for numerous threatened, endemic, and migratory bird species. Through its coordinated work with its national members, RedLAC consolidates a model of joint action that ensures conservation efforts transcend generations, protecting not only birds and ecosystems, but also the lives and future of the communities that depend on them.