40 indigenous and local organizations and communities in Guatemala received the Equator Prize for protecting their forests and inspiring the world with their model of sustainable community forestry. 

The Utz Che' Community Forestry Association received the award on September 29 at the Nature for Life Hub event during the 11th United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Equator Prize Award Ceremony. The Prize recognizes indigenous peoples and local communities around the world who are demonstrating innovative solutions to address biodiversity loss and climate change.

On this occasion, the Equator Prize was awarded to 10 communities from different countries, including the Utz Che' Community Forestry Association, in recognition of their contribution to the management, protection and care of natural resources by their grassroots communities. The award was presented by David Kaimowitz, advisor to the Climate and Land Use Alliance.

Utz Che' is a network that unites more than 40 organizations, among them, partiality, cooperatives, indigenous communities, associative peasant enterprises and peasant associations. The award received is a recognition of the effort and work of women and men who have historically given their energies, knowledge, practices, wisdom and even their lives in the defense and protection of natural resources.

The winners were selected from a pool of 583 nominations from over 120 countries by an independent Technical Advisory Committee of internationally renowned experts. The selection was based on community-based approaches that provide a blueprint for replicating and scaling up solutions to address our biodiversity crisis.

For years, Equator Prize winners representing indigenous communities have urged a form of coexistence with nature inspired by ancestral knowledge. Now, they are reiterating that message in light of the coronavirus: how the protection, sustainable use and restoration of nature can ensure the well-being and livelihoods of communities around the world.

The Equator Prize awards US$10,000 to each winner and the opportunity to join a series of special events related to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, the UN Nature Summit and World Climate Week at the end of September. They will join a network of 245 communities in 81 countries that have received the Equator Prize since its inception in 2002.