Yacumama, the mother of all rivers

In the Andes mountains, ancient forests hold the key to water survival for millions of people across South America. But centuries of deforestation have pushed these ecosystems to the edge — disrupting rainfall, triggering droughts, and threatening the communities that depend on them.

This week on The Big Story Podcast, we travel across three countries to meet the people fighting to bring these landscapes back.

In Peru and Ecuador, conservationist Constantino Aucca and Andean Adventures founder John Paredes are leading a grassroots effort to restore the endangered Polylepis forests — trees that capture glacial moisture and feed the rivers below. Their initiative has already planted 12.5 million trees.

In Colombia's Andes, the U'wa indigenous people are defending their sacred snow-peaked mountain Zizuma from exploitation — guided by ancestral tradition and a deep spiritual bond with the land. And in the world's largest paramo, the high-altitude wetland of Sumapaz, Patricia Elena Rodriguez is using Colombia's own constitution to keep mining and fracking out of one of Earth's most critical water sources.

Tied to all of it is the legend of the Yacumama — the great serpent mother of Inca mythology, guardian of the waterways, and a reminder of humanity's enduring relationship with the natural world.

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