The following statement was published by the seven Indigenous Nations of Pastaza Province in the Ecuadorian Amazon, after President Daniel Noboa announced a new ‘roadmap’ to expand oil extraction throughout Ecuador, including in Indigenous territories and in violation of previous rulings on Free, Prior and Informed Consent and consultation.
Pastaza, Ecuador, August 28, 2025. The Indigenous Nations of Pastaza — the Achuar Nation of Ecuador (NAE), the Shiwiar Nation of Ecuador (NASHIE), the Kichwa Nation of Pastaza (PAKKIRU), the Waorani Organization of Pastaza (OWAP); the Sapara Nation of Ecuador (NASE), the Andwa Nation of Pastaza of Ecuador (NAPE), the Federation of the Shuar Nation of Pastaza (FENASH-P), and the Achuar Binational Coordinator of Ecuador (COBNAEP) — denounce the new attempt by President Daniel Noboa’s government to impose a national oil plan that ignores and violates the collective rights of our Indigenous communities, Peoples, and Nations. Once again, our rights to self-determination and to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent are being violated. Moreover, the historic 2019 ruling that halted the oil bidding process for Block 22 in the Amazon is being completely ignored.
Under the guise of “development,” the President has presented the so-called “Hydrocarbon Roadmap,” a portfolio of 49 projects with a projected value of over $47 billion (Figure 1). These plans include oil blocks such as Block 22 and others from the XI Southeast Oil Round, which was originally launched in 2012. These plans directly affect 90% of the territories of the seven Indigenous Nations of Pastaza — the Andwa, Achuar, Shiwiar, Kichwa, Shuar, Sapara, and Waorani. The plans have been put forth without transparency of information, without prior consultation, and with clear disregard for the self-determination of our communities.
The government has announced a preliminary timeline for the development of Sub-Andean (Subandino) oil projects (Figure 2), which includes several stages, from initial structuring to contract signing. Currently underway during the fourth quarter of 2025 are project structuring, technical information review, and evaluation of various alternatives to define the scope and plan of activities. In parallel with those processes, bids are being taken and submitted to the competent bodies for evaluation. Negotiations are expected to take place in the first quarter of 2026, followed by the awarding of contracts in the second quarter of 2026. Finally, contracts are to be signed on a date that has yet to be confirmed. This timeline demonstrates an intention to rapidly advance plans for resource exploitation in sensitive territories, posing significant risks to the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples and to efforts to protect their territories.
Simultaneously, the Ecuadorian government has undertaken an accelerated and strategic restructuring of public policy and environmental regulations to pave the way for the expansion of extractive activities. Executive Decrees 60 and 94 effectively dissolved the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition (MAATE) by merging it with the Ministry of Energy and Mines. This has eliminated any possibility of independent oversight of environmental impacts. Likewise, the Law for Protected Areas allows private companies to manage Indigenous territories, in blatant violation of the autonomy and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples. Furthermore, reforms have been promoted to redefine protected areas and facilitate their overlap with oil blocks. These measures clearly show that the Ecuadorian State does not prioritize protecting the lives of Indigenous Peoples. On the contrary, the State is consolidating a model of dispossession of ancestral Indigenous territories, with the sole purpose of fulfilling the international commitments it reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
At the same time, the State is pursuing legislative changes that will allow for the control and persecution of human rights and Indigenous organizations, and in particular, their leaders who oppose extractive activities. In this way, the State seeks to criminalize the defense of territories and collective rights. Such a strategy of political persecution is not an isolated incident; it is part of a systematic plan to silence legitimate resistance from Indigenous Peoples. By modifying the country’s environmental regulations to reduce standards of protection while hindering the provision and availability of information on extractive projects, the State is violating its international obligations and violating the commitments it made in the Escazú Agreement. That agreement requires the State to guarantee institutional mechanisms ensuring access to information, environmental justice, and the protection of environmental defenders.
The current actions by the Ecuadorian State not only limit the exercise of our collective and environmental rights, but also weaken the mechanisms of transparency and participation that guarantee the defense of life and territories.
In response to these systematic threats to their Indigenous territories, the Achuar, Shiwiar, Kichwa-Pakkiru, Sapara, Andwa, and Waorani Nations of Pastaza submitted requests for access to public information between February and June 2025 to learn about the content of the oil investment plan and the forecasted impacts on their territories. Responses have been incomplete and ambiguous, indicating that plans are in an “initial structuring” stage. For example, there was a complete failure to provide information on Blocks 79 and 83, which were awarded to Andes Petroleum. Likewise, no information was forthcoming regarding the current status of existing agreements. This obstruction of access to information constitutes a direct violation of the communities’ collective rights, as it prevents them from exercising informed decision-making about their territories. The response received is that consultations were already held on the oil blocks in the so-called Southeast Round (Ronda Suroriente, Figure 3) in 2012, and consultations for any heretofore unconsulted territories will proceed in accordance with Decree 1247.
On August 19, 2025, the Waorani Organization of Pastaza (OWAP) presented a new request for access to public information. OWAP asked to view the documents and reports on which the National Government bases its plans for the creation of a new round of bidding over the “Sub-Andean” Block, which includes Block 22. In 2019, the Pastaza Provincial Court ruled that an alleged consultation held in 2012 in Block 22 violated the right to self-determination and to Free, Prior and Informed Consent of the Waorani communities of Pastaza.
The Waorani Case clearly demonstrates the systematic violations of collective rights in Pastaza. There is an urgent need to establish binding jurisprudence guaranteeing the right to consultation and to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, linked to the right to self-determination. Subsequently, in May 2020, the Constitutional Court selected Case No. 1296-19-JP, known as the Pastaza Waorani Case, for review. However, five years later, a binding jurisprudence that would effectively protect collective rights in the face of extractive projects has yet to be issued.
In May 2025, with the Southeast Oil Round (Ronda Petrolera Suroriente) looming imminently, more than 100 Waorani people traveled to the Constitutional Court in Quito to demand respect for their rights and those of other Indigenous Nations. The Waorani were supported by 23 amicus curiae briefs presented by national and international organizations. This support reflects the concern and unity of all the Indigenous Nations of Pastaza, who recognize that a ruling on the Waorani case could establish a crucial binding precedent to protect their territories and their collective rights.
This is not an isolated case: it demonstrates how the State’s decisions affect all the Indigenous Nations of Pastaza — the Achuar, Shiwiar, Kichwa-Pakkiru, Sapara, Andwa, Waorani, and Shuar — putting their collective rights and ancestral territories at risk. The failure to comply with standards of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent and consultation, while affecting the Waorani communities of Pastaza directly, also threatens all communities. It underscores the need for clear, binding, and respected jurisprudence to serve as a protective tool for all Indigenous Nations in the province.
Faced with this situation, the Indigenous Nations of Pastaza reaffirm our commitment to the defense of life, culture, and ancestral territories. We demand that the Ecuadorian State respect the collective rights of our Peoples, guarantee our self-determination and the right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, and provide complete and transparent information on all extractive projects that affect our territories.
We reiterate that the protection of our rights is non-negotiable. The support of these unified Indigenous Nations constitutes a vital collective force that will resist attempts at dispossession and will continue to amplify the struggle for environmental and social justice in the Amazon. We have not given our Free, Prior, and Informed Consent to the National Government’s extractive plan.
We urge the government to act with responsibility, transparency, and respect toward Indigenous Nations, recognizing that any expansion of extractivism without consultation or full protection of our rights constitutes a direct threat to our lives, culture, and future.
We alert international human rights organizations to the risk faced by leaders and members of our communities and Nations, as well as the human rights organizations that are resisting the National Government’s extractive plans.
We urge the assembly members, especially those representing the province of Pastaza, to speak out firmly against all extractive activities, particularly the reactivation of the Southeastern blocks and those currently known as the Sub-Andean blocks. Likewise, we urge the assembly members to demand transparency from the State in its actions, as well as strict compliance with the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples and Nations.
