UpbeatSolar boats in the Amazon, ancient canals revived for Lima: Latin America's green prizes honour ten builders
Ten projects from six Latin American countries have won the 2026 Premios Verdes, chosen from 2,087 entries across 29 countries and announced at a gala in Cuenca, Ecuador. Among them: Fundación Kara Solar, which connects Indigenous communities in Ecuador's Amazon with solar-powered electric boats; Peru's AQUARESTAURA, which has restored 79 kilometres of ancestral Andean water canals, recharging an estimated 13 million cubic metres of groundwater a year for Lima; and Colombia's BIO CO, whose regenerative farms work with 39 species, reuse 95% of their waste and provide 60 formal jobs. 'Behind every project are people who are changing lives in their communities,' said Premios Verdes president Gustavo Manrique.
SDG 6 · Clean water and sanitation — Mechanism: community action