FCAT

For more than two decades, Michelle Tapasco and her family have transformed adversity into opportunity. Displaced by Colombia’s armed conflict, Michelle built Montezuma Rainforest Reserve and Ecolodge on the slopes of Tatamá National Park, turning abandoned farmland into thriving rainforest. What began as a mother’s determination to protect her daughters and her ancestral land has grown into one of Colombia’s most respected community-driven conservation models. Today, Montezuma is internationally known for its astonishing birdlife—home to nearly 600 species, including rare endemics found nowhere else—and for its pioneering role as a woman-led conservation enterprise.