My First Journey Beyond the Mountains: The Voice of an Indigenous Fellow on the Global Stage
I had never left my country before. Since I was a child, my world had been the mountains of southern Argentina — the rivers that cross our communities, and the stories our elders told us about how to care for the land. So, when I learned that I had been invited to travel to Abu Dhabi to participate in the IUCN World Conservation Congress and the Indigenous Peoples Summit, I felt both fear and excitement at the same time.
The journey was long, much longer than I had imagined. But when I arrived, everything made sense. Seeing Indigenous leaders from so many countries gathered in one place made me realize that our struggles and hopes are not isolated. From the Pacific to the Amazon, from Africa to the Andes, we all share the same conviction: there are no natural solutions to climate change without Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.
An encounter that transformed my perspective
Participating in the Inclusive Conservation Initiative (ICI) panels was a powerful experience. I listened to women speaking about how they defend their territories, to young people sharing how they are keeping ancestral knowledge alive, and to elders reminding us that conservation is not something new to us — it is part of who we are.
For the first time, I gathered the courage to take the microphone in front of an international audience. My voice trembled, but it also carried pride. I spoke about how my community in southern Argentina protects forests and keeps our connection with the land alive. I felt that I was no longer speaking only for myself, but for all the young women who, like me, are finding their strength.
A movement beyond words
ICI showed me that conservation can — and must — be different: one where Indigenous Peoples are not guests, but leaders. Today, less than 1% of climate finance goes directly to Indigenous organizations, ICI is proving that this must change. Direct funding models that channel large-scale finance into the hands of each Indigenous organization can accelerate our ability to strengthen land rights, local economies, and women’s leadership at a scale that delivers the protection of nature as Mother Earth requires.
What we experienced in Abu Dhabi was more than just a conference. It was a collective declaration: we are part of a global movement walking together; from our territories to international spaces.
From Abu Dhabi to Belém: The road to COP30
At the end of the Congress, many of us were talking about the future. We know that Abu Dhabi was not the final destination, but a starting point. Our next step is Belém, Brazil, the site of COP30, where the world will hear from us again.
There, we want Indigenous leadership to be at the heart of decisions on climate and biodiversity, and for global commitments to translate into real support for the communities that care for nature every day.
As I traveled home, I felt that something inside me had changed. I was no longer the same young woman who left her community with nerves and uncertainty. I returned with a new certainty: my voice also has power, and when our voices come together, they can move the world.
Walking the Talk
In the meantime, my footsteps lead me home – to Argentina, where I bring new, revitalized energy into my work under the ICI International Policy Fellowship. In Abu Dhabi, the connections I made with various ICI Indigenous leaders cemented a resolve to weave our work together and to collaborate in the future. So, not only did the exchanges with Indigenous ICI leaders from around the world reaffirm the work I am doing to strengthen our institutions to preserve and promote traditional medicine and food sovereignty, but it will also transform the ongoing training for community members that I have been leading.
The Inclusive Conservation Initiative shows that change is already happening. Across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific, ICI partners are proving that Indigenous-led conservation is effective, equitable, and most of all — deeply human.
From Abu Dhabi to Belém — to home, we continue walking the talk: step by step, community by community, until Indigenous leadership is no longer a promise, but the natural way to care for the planet.
