There aren’t many places on Earth you can call unexplored. The Darién Gap in Panama is one of them. This mountainous, densely forested area, which is often used by refugees to cross from South to North America, is a place where you won’t find any roads, shops or hospitals. When you’re there, your survival depends on you.

As it happens, it’s also one of the world’s most beautiful and biodiverse places, with more biodiversity per square foot than the Amazon despite being much smaller. Plus, it has one of the highest carbon stocks in the world.

Home to venomous snakes, poisonous insects and dangerous rivers, the Darién Gap is one of the riskiest places to be. And that’s exactly where Alexandra Climent, a grassroots conservationist and artist, has decided to do her life’s work.

Despite its remoteness, even the Darién Gap is falling prey to fast deforestation and habitat fragmentation. Alexandra has been working with indigenous communities to buy up degraded land and reforesting it with native trees. 

The goal is clear: to create a 5,000-hectare forest corridor for wildlife that will connect reforested areas with protected areas and serve as an important carbon sink.

Listen to Alexandra’s story to discover why protecting this place matters, and why now. 

Alexandra Climent is a grassroots environmentalist, Founder of Endangered Rainforest Rescue, and an artist who makes beautiful furniture and sculpture from fallen trees.