Mariana Duarte (mah-ree-AH-nah doo-AR-teh)
Warden of the Zāgros (Current)
Mariana Duarte was born in the highlands of Minas Gerais, Brazil, where forests and rivers define the rhythm of life. From a young age, she carried herself with a fierce sense of guardianship — standing up for neighbors, protecting younger children, and speaking out in village assemblies with surprising confidence. By twenty-five she was chosen as a Warden, entrusted with the voice of her people in the Accord. Those who know her well describe her as fire and earth together: passionate, grounded, and unwilling to bow before intimidation.
Mariana lives in a cooperative household that blends kin and comrades, including a lifelong friend who is a healer and a partner who works as a sculptor. She speaks of relationships as “roots and branches” — some dig deep, some stretch wide, all part of the same tree. Outside her duties, she is devoted to capoeira and to tending a small medicinal garden, where she cultivates herbs used by her grandmother. Her presence in the Accord is marked not only by eloquence but by an unshakable conviction that autonomy must never be confused with isolation.
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