Mariana Sarmiento Aparicio is the Founder and CEO of Terrasos, a Colombia-based company pioneering Habitat Banks and biodiversity finance mechanisms in Latin America. She is a specialist in environmental policy and conservation finance, with over 14 years of experience designing and implementing sustainability strategies across the public and private sectors in Latin America and the United States.

Mariana led the structuring of the first Habitat Bank in Colombia and Latin America and has overseen the development of more than 15,000 hectares of biodiversity compensation areas. She spearheaded the creation of Biodiversity Units (TEBUs), positioning Terrasos at the forefront of outcome-based conservation finance across compliance and voluntary markets.

Her work focuses on environmental compensation systems, biodiversity credits, public policy design, stakeholder engagement, and innovative financing mechanisms that mobilize private capital for measurable conservation outcomes. She holds a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University and a Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University.