The Colombian Yuvelis Natalia Moreno Blanco, just 25 years old, won, together with five other people, the 2026 Goldman Prize, one of the most prestigious in the world for environmental defenders. The award recognizes their important efforts to protect and restore the natural environment. What did Yuvelis do? She opposed the development of fracking in her hometown, Puerto Wilches (Santander).
But that stance against the technique that injects a liquid mixture at high pressure into rocks to fracture them in order to extract gas or oil was not spontaneous. In her adolescence, Yuvelis had been affected by the oil spill from well 158 in 2018, originating from the Lizama oil field of Ecopetrol, which contaminated two tributaries of the Magdalena River near Puerto Wilches, highlights a profile of the young woman published on the prize’s website.
The consequences of the spill were devastating: nearly 100 families relocated, thousands of animals dead, and a massive fish die-off. Yuvelis considered this incident a turning point in her life, upon understanding the true cost of the ever-present oil industry along the Magdalena River. After beginning her environmental engineering studies at university, she interrupted them to dedicate herself to the campaign against fracking in Puerto Wilches, the report continues.
From protest leader in Puerto Wilches to exile in France
A year later, while attending university, she began to see signs on the roads promoting fracking. At the same time, she started attending meetings organized by the Colombia Free of Fracking Alliance, where she learned about the risks that this technique represented for the Magdalena River. Then, she felt the need to tell the community, together with other students. Her work led her to meet with government officials and, eventually, with the mayor.
The movement grew with protests in Puerto Wilches and a month later Yuvelis was invited to speak at a public hearing on fracking. Her testimony was widely shared and marked a turning point. It helped consolidate Yuvelis as an effective spokesperson and leader in the fight against the dangers of fracking, but it also made her a target of harassment and intimidation. At first she was forced to leave Puerto Wilches, although she did not disengage from the local campaign.
Despite this, fracking projects moved forward toward final approval. In 2022, Yuvelis helped organize a peaceful sit-in during one of the community consultations on permit approvals. Afterwards, armed men showed up at her home and forced her to leave Puerto Wilches. She requested asylum from the French government, which accepted her request and recognized her with the Marianne Initiative Prize for Human Rights Defenders. Yuvelis left Colombia for France in February 2022.
Return to Colombia and new expectations regarding fracking
From France, Yuvelis elevated the issue of fracking and her role as an environmental defender to the international stage. She shared her story directly with President Emmanuel Macron. By joining the International Rights of Nature Tribunal, she visited communities affected by fracking in Argentina and Mexico. Taking advantage of international opportunities, Yuvelis is now widely recognized as one of the most important voices of the anti-fracking movement in Colombia.
She returned to Colombia and continues to be a leader within the movement, organizing with the Alliance to achieve a healthy environment and strong communities in the Middle Magdalena. To date, no fracking project has advanced anywhere in Colombia. In addition, in August 2024, the Colombian Constitutional Court, in response to a lawsuit by a local organization, ruled that pilot projects had violated the right of the Afro-Colombian community of Puerto Wilches to free, prior and informed consent.
Now, Yuvelis and her movement are watching closely the upcoming presidential elections in May, as they will determine the future of fracking in Colombia. She has the momentum of the award received, which is always announced in April coinciding with Earth Day, and the recognition that will be given to her in San Francisco (California, United States). She will obtain benefits that she will surely put at the service of her cause, such as financial support, media recognition, a global network, and support for advocacy and security.