Everything is going to be alright! Thank you, Dad

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29 January 2023
Sergio Esteban Lozano Baez

The final blog post of my term as Restoration Steward 2022 is a small and heartfelt tribute to my father, Martín Humberto Lozano Sandoval, who passed away on 3 December 2022.

My father gave me an incredible childhood full of love and games. Thanks to him, I learned the value of family and work. Since I was a child, for more than 20 years, I watched him wake up at 4 AM to go to work to pay for my studies and cravings.

It was with my father that I first explored Colombia’s mountains, rivers and natural landscapes. With every trip we made during my childhood and adolescence, I grew to love nature more and more. Later, when I decided to study ecology, I had his unconditional support.

Despite life’s difficulties, my father always had a positive attitude until the very end. “Everything is going to be alright,” he used to say in his deep, resonant voice.

I want that to be my final reflection after a fantastic year in the Restoration Stewards program: everything is going to be alright.

Family memory of 2017 in Piracicaba, Brazil.

Here are some of my main achievements in 2022 with the Restoration Stewards program:

  • 2,000 trees planted
  • Maintenance of 5,000 trees
  • Two ecological restoration workshops with the community
  • Attending international conferences, including the IV Brazilian Conference on Ecological Restoration
  • Networking with professionals from various countries
  • 13 blog posts published

Our ecosystem restoration projects will continue to grow and improve through constant work. We will continue to plant trees, share knowledge and learn.  To all of you: Cheers, and I hope 2023 will be full of ecosystem restoration and lots of nature.

Sergio Esteban Lozano Baez

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Supporting partners 2023

Supporting partners

The Restoration Stewards program provides funding, mentorship and training to deepen the impact of youth-led restoration projects. The year-long program is run by the Youth in Landscapes Initiative (YIL) and the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) under the banner of Generation Restoration to support and highlight the work of eight young restoration practitioners and their teams in 2023.

During the program, the Restoration Stewards and their teams are  supported to further develop their project and serve as ambassadors at both global and local levels. Globally, the Restoration Stewards share their journeys in a series of vlogs and blogs documenting their stories of inspiration and challenges and participate in different international events to showcase their work. Locally, they are sparking a restoration movement, mobilizing local communities and creating pathways to connect, share, learn, and act for livelihoods and landscapes.