What's happening? The journalism platform 9 millones has developed a photo essay and oral history project highlighting the stories of 10 women who are cultivating and working on projects to address environmental and climate injustices in Puerto Rico.
The project is called Madres de la Tierra.
Stephanie Monserate: She works in agroecology and produces kombucha under the brand Jíbara Kombucha. Jíbara Kombucha is an effort to sustain herself and have the freedom to keep farming alongside Colectivo Agroecológico Guakiá.
Anabela Fuentes: She teaches sustainable fishing to children in Loíza and founded the Taller Escuela Pescantil. Fuentes rescued an abandoned structure where she dreams of building a community center and getting children to fall in love with the sea as a resource.
Vanessa Uriarte: She is co-director of Amigxs del M.A.R., an organization whose purpose is to protect Puerto Rico's ecosystems and communities through education and advocacy.
Mariolga Reyes Cruz: She co-produced the film "Serán Las Dueñas de la Tierra" and founded the Fideicomiso de Tierras Comunitarias para la Agricultura Sostenible, the first community land trust dedicated to ecological agriculture in Puerto Rico.
Yvette Nuñez Sepúlveda: She co-founded the Coalición Restauración de Ecosistemas Santurcinos (CRES). CRES works to restore dunes and coral reefs in the isleta de Santurce and stewards the Bosque Costero, having created trails and planted native and endemic tree species.
Ada Ramona Miranda: She works in agroecology, renewable energy and regenerative tourism, putting it all into practice at her own project in Adjuntas, Hacienda Las Malcriá. The independent legislator from the municipality of Salinas offers workshops and grows coffee trees.
Marisel Robles Gutiérrez: Coordinator of Comedores Sociales, a project that began when a group of university students identified food security as a pressing need. At their headquarters they cook and give food to anyone who needs it.
Dulce del Río-Pineda: She is part of the founding group of the Sede de Experiencias Vivas de Aprendizaje (SEVA), a school rescued by the community of Culebra. From there she runs the organization Mujeres Islas, which advances health and prosperity projects in Culebra.
Marissa Reyes Díaz: Part of the Colectivo Agroecológico Guakiá, in Dorado, which focuses on farming; during hurricanes Irma and María they distributed food, organized cleanups and coordinated a gathering at the farm with psychologists and psychiatrists.
Hernaliz Vázquez Torres: Activist, organizer and planner at Sierra Club Puerto Rico and a key figure in the passage of a law against single-use plastics.
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
