Iola Leal Riesco (born 4 July 1977) is a Spanish environmental and social activist working for European Forest Institute and . Her educational background is in the field of forest and human ecology. Since 2003 she has been working to help solve the challenges of integrating environmental issues into EC Aid policies and improve governance in forests globally. Her work continues to center upon EU policies as well as following closely the EU action plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade. In 2010, she set up with the organisation Well Grounded, which provides services and support to African civil society organisations working with communities to help them assert their rights and to improve forest governance.