We are Guardians Worldwide, an international non-profit organisation registered in the United Kingdom, Portugal and Nigeria, with fiscal sponsorship in the United States.

We specialise in:

Protection of forests, reforestation and afforestation
Inclusive governance
Specialised Education, Research and Consultancy

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PLACE-BASED

We are an alliance of local communities that protect primary forests and waters, including rural, urban, Indigenous and Afro-descendent land defenders and guardians.

EDUCATION

Guardians Education and Guardians Research are devoted to environmental literacy, and transformational learning in the areas of land and water stewardship, climate action and eco-social justice.

reSPONSIBILITY

Collectively, we are responsible for the protection of more than half a million hectares of titled, native forest including highly endangered ecosystems such as the African Montane Rainforest, restinga Atlantic Rainforest, Celtic Rainforest and the African Guinea Forest.

REFORESTATION

We have pioneered the model of Tree Rescue Hubs, which are community-run reforestation and land restoration programmes currently implemented in 6 countries: Brazil, Chile, Kenya, Nigeria, Portugal and UK

GOVERNANCE

We support local forest councils through capacity building, coaching, representation and advocacy to advance inclusive sovereignty.

Contact us

GWW was founded in 2022 by British-Chilean environmentalist

Dr Nicolas Salazar Sutil & Nigerian legal expert Kamilu Hassan Hamza.

We are passionately committed to community-led governance of land and waters

Proudly funded by

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Pietra Martin-Handfest

Youth Engagement

Pietra is a youth activist, founder and director of Coletivo Mangrovie, based in Italy.

Leonard Mindore

Board of Trustees

Leonard is an Ogiek community leader and land defender, director of PRO-HOME.

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Dr Nicolas Salazar Sutil

Executive Director

Nicolas is a Chilean and British environmentalist and changemaker, Guest Lecturer in Ethics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

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Dr Mercy Ette

Chair, Board of Trustees

Mercy is a British and Nigerian scholar specialising in media, conflict and women's rights. She is Senior Lecturer at the University of Newcastle.

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Dr Maria Rovisco

Board of Trustees

Maria is a Portuguese social scientist based in the UK. She is Associate Professor in Sociology at University of Leeds

Lucimar Prata

Legal Officer

Lucimar is a human rights activist and lawyer. She is the cofounder of the law firm Prata & Lacerda Advogadas based in Manaus, Brazilian Amazon.

Debora Lacerda

Legal Officer

Deborah is a lawyer and human rights defender based in Manaus, Brazil, and co-founder of the Prata & Lacerda firm.

Cynthia Achieng

Legal Intern

Cynthia is a human rights lawyer from Kenya, and student at Syracuse College of Law, US.

Mihaela Cojocaru

Kamilu Hassan Hamza

Director, GWW Africa

Kamilu is an oral historian of the Maguzawa people, educator and entrepeneur, founder and director of GWW-Africa.

Project Development and Fundraising

Mihaela is a fundraiser and researcher with roots in development studies, interested in rethinking systems. She is from the Moldova-Ukraine border, now based in Portugal.