Our Story
The Savia Foundation, Inc. is a U.S.-based non-profit organization established in 2024. We are a group of storytellers, conservationists, scientists and lawyers who use our expertise to document, protect and defend biodiversity through land protection and restoration, photographic and videographic storytelling, and education and species monitoring. We work with local stakeholders to foster sustainable, harmonic relationships between humans and the environment.
WE BELIEVE IN THE RIGHTS OF NATURE.
Wild ecosystems and the people that depend on them have the inalienable right to exist and to thrive.
And we use our strengths and expertise to help defend these Rights.
WE BELIEVE IN EMPOWERING PEOPLE.
Those people living most closely with an ecosystem should the drive the push for conservation through their first-hand knowledge and their ability to project conservation into the future.
We listen, dialogue, support and help amplify their efforts.
WE BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF STORYTELLING.
Photography and videography can gather reliable data on wildlife and generate images with an impact, convincing others to join our cause.
And the tourism they generate can be a powerful economic means for the people who live with and care for natural ecosystems.
Our Board of Directors
Nicolas Devos
President
Nicolas Devos, Ph.D., seen here testing a camera trap in the rainforest, is a biologist and wildlife photographer based in Boston, Massachusetts. His professional career has been dedicated to genetic sequencing, first in the academic and then in the private sectors. Born in Belgium, his work has taken him to South Africa, North Carolina and Massachusetts.
He co-founded the Chontayacu Reserve and pursues camera trapping worldwide to raise awareness and gather data for conservation. He's happiest behind the lens of a camera, or trekking down a forest trail– even if only to retrieve the SD cards of a camera trap that has been pawed down by a jaguar.
Nicolas Devos
President
Nicolas Devos, Ph.D., seen here testing a camera trap in the rainforest, is a biologist and wildlife photographer based in Boston, Massachusetts. His professional career has been dedicated to genetic sequencing, first in the academic and then in the private sectors. Born in Belgium, his work has taken him to South Africa, North Carolina and Massachusetts.
He co-founded the Chontayacu Reserve and pursues camera trapping worldwide to raise awareness and gather data for conservation. He's happiest behind the lens of a camera, or trekking down a forest trail– even if only to retrieve the SD cards of a camera trap that has been pawed down by a jaguar.
Lucas Bustamante
Chief Conservation Officer
Lucas Bustamante has been bitten by countless snakes, dived with whale sharks, and learned from indigenous peoples. Since childhood, he grew up around the Ecuadorian outdoors and became a passionate biologist and an environmental photojournalist.
Lucas's primary objective is to use photography to promote environmental and wildlife conservation. He co-founded Tropical Herping, a nature and photo tourism company, and the Ecuadorian nonprofit Savia Fund. He is an author of books like Reptiles of Ecuador and has described 13 new species for science. Lucas is a successful photographer who has been published in magazines like National Geographic and Geo, was named Wildlife Photographer of the Year and is a Nature’s Best prizewinner. He is a member of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP), and Nature Picture Library represents his images.
Lucas Bustamante
Chief Conservation Officer
Lucas Bustamante has been bitten by countless snakes, dived with whale sharks, and learned from indigenous peoples. Since childhood, he grew up around the Ecuadorian outdoors and became a passionate biologist and an environmental photojournalist.
Lucas's primary objective is to use photography to promote environmental and wildlife conservation. He co-founded Tropical Herping, a nature and photo tourism company, and the Ecuadorian nonprofit Savia Fund. He is an author of books like Reptiles of Ecuador and has described 13 new species for science. Lucas is a successful photographer who has been published in magazines like National Geographic and Geo, was named Wildlife Photographer of the Year and is a Nature’s Best prizewinner. He is a member of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP), and Nature Picture Library represents his images.