![](/sites/iucnleadersforum.org/files/styles/iucn_speaker/public/2024-09/Paredes.png?itok=wlFHHDlY)
Co-founder
Salumayag Youth Collective for Forests
Gloria Amor Paredes is an environmental education and community development specialist. She is the co-founder of Salumayag Youth Collective for Forests, an Indigenous youth- and women-led initiative in Mindanao, Philippines that empowers upland Indigenous communities in the stewardship of their ancestral forests through regenerative practices and narratives. Amor has been working with communities in her region through various forest and water restoration programs for the last 11 years. She is also a pioneering environmental educator in her country championing culture-based education while fostering dynamic collaborations with local government and civil society to advance farmer-led seed and food sovereignty efforts.
As a climate justice advocate, she has worked with fellow youth leaders from across the globe but especially from Oceania and Asia in weaving voices and stories of transformative change - forging strong networks of changemakers. For her work, she has received distinctions from the likes of North American Association for Environmental Education and Global Landscape Forum. Today, she continues to accompany marginalized communities in amplifying the call for greater support and recognition of grassroots actions for climate, biodiversity, and just transition.