KM Reyes: Connecting communities to build a sustainable future
National Geographic Explorer KM Reyes is working to solve the world's greatest environmental challenges with sustainable solutions.
March 25, 2021
3 min read
Photograph by Kyle Venturillo
A community organizer and conservationist, KM Reyes is based on Palawan island in the Philippines. She was born and raised in Australia to Filipino parents, and has lived and worked extensively in Europe, Latin America, and North Africa before deciding to return to her roots and settle in the Philippines.
Reyes is co-executive director and co-founder of the environmental nongovernment organization Centre for Sustainability PH (CS), established to organize efforts to create a sustainable future for Palawan by influencing decision-makers and shaping development on the island.
CS spearheaded the declaration of Cleopatra’s Needle Critical Habitat, protecting 41,350 hectares of some of the Philippines’ last remaining primary forest in Puerto Princesa.
Prior to CS, Reyes spent several years working on peace-building efforts in communities affected by narcotrafficking in Latin America and in housing projects and urban planning in North Africa.
She found her true calling in environmental work, conducting agroforestry research in the Brazilian Amazon and as co-founder of the marine protection network Responsible Runners in Australia.
Her work at CS is driven by the belief that by connecting communities with their immediate and surrounding environments, we can understand and find sustainable solutions to our planet’s greatest environmental challenges.
