Washington Crespo was born into a humble Ecuadorian family, and grew up in the countryside surrounded by fruiting trees and domestic animals. His family worked in cattle ranching and agriculture, where they purchased a plot of land in the Amazon region of Ecuador. Here, they worked with cattle and grew a local fruit called naranjilla. It was in the countryside that Washington started to be interested in nature. However, to protect their business’ productivity, Washington and his father carried on using high amounts of toxic pesticide in order to grow their crops, which, sadly, had a negative effect on his father’s health. As a result, their property had to be sold to resolve these health issues.

After performing many different jobs, Washington found a park ranger position at one of Jocotoco Foundation’s reserves in the south of Ecuador. It was at this reserve that Washington became more aware of biodiversity conservation, and developed more respect towards all forms of life. Additionally, his son, who is now also following a career in ecological sciences, also helped to educate Washington in the importance of conserving nature.

Today, thanks to Rainforest Trust, Washington has a full-time park ranger’ s position with the Sumac Muyu Foundation. He works within the boundaries of Bigal River Biological Reserve, in the Ecuadorian Amazon. For him, it is a new challenge to protect wildlife and the reserve, and one which he has now dedicated his life to.