Environmental Defenders: The case of Dr. Yesid Blanco in Colombia by Isis Alvarez

Environmental Defenders: Losing Everything for Defending Life The case of Dr. Yesid Blanco in Colombia by Isis Alvarez, Associate, Stakeholder Forum

In a recent article published on the Mondopoli website, Stakeholder Forum Associate Isis Alvarez tells the compelling story of Dr. Yesid Blanco, a well-known Colombian pediatrician who previously served as director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Magdalena Clinic in Barrancabermeja. Dr. Blanco became an environmental defender for his community when he observed unusual skin diseases and respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases among his patients and that manatees and other wildlife were dying just months after the establishment of a local landfill. You can read Isis’s compelling article on the Mondopoli website or download a copy from here.

Isis Alvarez is a Colombian biologist with an MSc in Environment and Resource Management and over 15 years of experience in the NGO sector globally. The information in this article comes from an interview conducted by the author with Dr. Yesid Blanco via Zoom.