Incentivizing Conservation in Panama

As Panama’s first minister of the environment, Mirei Endara de Heras ’94 MESc promoted sustainable development, incentivized reforestation, developed a water security plan to bolster the Panama Canal, and built alliances with other rainforest nations.  Most recently, she helped establish Marea Verde (Green Tide), a nonprofit that utilizes clean technologies and artificial intelligence to identify and retrieve river plastics to restore waterways for communities.

“Our goal is to empower residents to improve conditions in their communities,” she says. “People will take action if it has an economic and/or social benefit.”