Cultivators: Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores

Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores (1971-2016) was a Honduran environmental activist who spent decades leading various land and water struggles in western Honduras. In 1993 she helped found and coordinate the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras, known by its Spanish acronym COPINH. In the late 2000s, Berta organized a lasting resistance to the construction of the Agua Zarca Dam on the Gualcarque River, whose construction violated the rights of indigenous peoples, and would have effectively cut them off from important resources. She was awarded the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize (the highest honor in the field) for her success in stopping the dam’s construction through grassroots movements.