Help Indigenous women to protect the Amazon!

My name is Natalia and this November I had the amazing opportunity to host and support two women leaders from the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest: Gloria Ushigua and Manuela Dahua. They came to COP26 in Glasgow with high hopes that the world would hear and take action against the extractivism and human rights violations they have been seeing for years in their territory.

Read about their incredible work and challenges below.

 

Now that they have returned to Ecuador, they must continue to work against the threats to their people and their own lives. Unfortunately, one of the biggest obstacles to do their work is the cost of travelling between the rainforest and the nearest city of Pastaza. Currently it costs $465 USD (around £349) per flight for 3 people, a huge cost considering most Indigenous people mainly do unpaid work in their remote communities.

 

 

The COP26 in itself was quite disappointing with empty promises to protect the world's forests. Upon their return to Ecuador, they soon heard the Ecuadorian president Guillermo Lasso announce plans to sell oil wells in the Amazon, despite opposition from Indigenous people. These include oil wells in the land of Gloria and Manuela's people.

Since 2015 they have been oppossing Chinese company Andes Petroleum  which was due to start extracting oil from their territory. In 2019 they successfully stopped Andes Petroleum  thanks to intense campaining by Gloria, Manuela and their community.

I've created this fundraiser to help raise the vital funds that Gloria and Manuela need to continue protecting the Amazon. The goal is to raise funds to cover their travel costs, which they need to meet with lawyers, human right's organisations, attend national and international conferences, and speak to journalists about the situation in their territory.

Gloria and Manuela have given their lives to protect the Amazon. They have promoted female leadership (Gloria is the first female leader in the Amazon), physically and legally fought to stop illegal oil extraction and logging, and along the way they have sacrificed their own time, resources, risked their lives and lost close family members.

 

For Gloria and Manuela, these funds mean they can continue their vital work to deliver their message and defend the rainforests. It also represents a small thank you from all of us for the huge work they do to protect our mother nature and stop climate change!

 

Thank you for supporting our friends in the Amazon!

You can learn more about their work by visiting the website of their organisation Ashinwaka, Association of Sapara Woman in Ecuador.