For years, Pati Ruiz Corzo taught environmental education to children in the Sierra Gorda region. Her tireless work led to the region being declared a Biosphere Reserve and has made her one of the most renowned environmentalists on the planet.
She sits beside a leafy chilacayote squash that climbs a wooden pergola, sheltering her from the midday sun. In her loose, childlike dress covered in purple flowers and her Crocs with socks, she looks like a frail old woman, but the husky, raspy voice of someone who has sung a million songs at the top of her lungs shatters that image. Martha Isabel Ruiz Corzo, a music teacher and land defender, is 69 years old and has a round figure, with short, gray hair, like a
