Andrea Fuentes, one of Conservation Nation’s 2025 Conservationist Grant recipients, is an environmental engineer, conservationist, and founder and coordinator of the Jucumari Program in Bolivia. Her work focuses on the conservation of the Andean bear through community-based approaches, ecological research, and creative storytelling to promote human-bear coexistence in rural areas.
For the past four years, Andrea has led the Jucumari Program’s conservation initiatives, including indirect sign detection and engaging in social deliberation processes with local communities. She has developed innovative outreach tools such as organizing a textile initiative with women and sharing important conservation messages through theater.
Jucumari Program - Building Connection, Science and Coexistence to Protect Andean Bear
Andrea’s project will tackle one of the most urgent threats facing Andean bears in Bolivia: retaliatory killings by local livestock owners. Through the implementation of a pilot cattle management system and participatory bear monitoring, the project will reduce livestock losses and mitigate conflict, contributing directly to the long-term survival of a globally vulnerable species.
By equipping rural Quechua families with the tools and knowledge to engage in conservation, local stewardship will be fostered, resilience built, and a scalable model for coexistence created.