Speakers

Eduardo Franco Berton is an environmental investigative journalist and conservation photographer from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. In 2016 he founded www.raibolivia.org, a conservation and environmental science news platform that produces content from Bolivia and Latin America. He has written for National Geographic, Mongabay, Mongabay Latam, O Eco, among other international media. He writes about rainforests, wildlife trafficking, natural resource exploitation and indigenous issues, as well as other environmental issues in Latin America. His work has been awarded the Biodiversity Reporting Award, the TOYP (Ten Outstanding Young Persons) of the Junior Chamber International of Santa Cruz, as well as honorable mentions in the Latin American Investigative Journalism Awards “Javier Valdez” and the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) Awards. Camera in hand, Eduardo has traveled to five continents to write about mountain gorillas in Rwanda; photograph penguin colonies in Patagonia; talk to indigenous communities deep in the rainforests; investigate illegal beetle trafficking in Japan; and film the marine life of coral reefs in the Caribbean, always in search of stories and images that give voice to biodiversity and inspire ecosystem conservation. Eduardo received a law degree from the Private University of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and he holds a Master’s degree in Climate Change. He also has postgraduate studies in Environmental Law, Natural Areas Management and Conservation and Creative Writing.