Quito, Ecuador, July 1, 2025 – A dozen Ecuadorian Indigenous organizations¹ have joined together behind a statement titled: “Ecuador’s New Bill Will Privatize Protected Areas and Ignores the Existence of Indigenous Peoples,” warning of the risk of violations of human and collective rights posed by the proposed Law for the Recovery of Protected Areas and the Promotion of Local Development, presented to the National Assembly on June 14.
In this public statement, the signatory organizations alert Ecuadorian society and the international community to the president’s repeated disregard for the most basic principles of the rule of law. They also demand that the National Assembly reject this bill as unconstitutional, ineffective, and dangerous.
The text of the proposed bill, classified as an urgent economic matter, does not include a single mention of the lives, existence, or rights of the Indigenous communities, peoples, and nationalities who, for hundreds of years, have lived in, cared for, and protected these territories essential to their physical, spiritual, and cultural survival. This principle has been recognized by Ecuador’s Constitutional Court, which has demanded that the State guarantee and respect both the collective property of Indigenous Peoples and their forms of management and governance of their territories.
In addition to this omission, President Noboa’s justification for the bill’s urgency cites the country’s internal armed conflict and requests that the law be approved within 30 days of its introduction—bypassing the obligation to consult and obtain the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of Indigenous Peoples, even though they are directly affected. This action violates rights established in both the Constitution and international human rights treaties, including those on Indigenous rights and biodiversity protection.
While the world is moving toward legal security for Indigenous territories, as a means to guarantee cultural identity, community survival, and biodiversity protection, the Ecuadorian government seeks to promote invisibilization and dispossession. The proposed law treats Protected Areas as “strategic assets” to secure economic financing at the cost of violating Indigenous Peoples’ rights to autonomy and self-determination.
Here, we also share a technical analysis that outlines the implications of enforcing a law like the one proposed by President Daniel Noboa, as well as the motives behind it.
Press contact:
Luisana Aguilar
National Press Coordinator, Amazon Frontlines
+593 99 924 0129
luisana@amazonfrontlines.org
- The statement titled “Ecuador’s New Bill Will Privatize Protected Areas and Ignore the Existence of Indigenous Peoples” has been signed by the following organizations as of July 1: Andema Kañasûndekû Cofan Bermejo; Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE); Ancestral Community A’i Cofán of Sinangoe; Federation of Indigenous Organizations of Napo (FOIN); Achuar Nationality of Ecuador (NAE); Kichwa Nationality of Pastaza (PAKKIRU); Sapara Nation of Ecuador (NASE); Shiwiar Nationality of Ecuador (NASHIE); Siona Nationality of Ecuador (ONISE); Siekopai Nationality of Ecuador (NASIEPAI); as well as Alianza Ceibo and Amazon Frontlines.
