Join the movement to protect the Amazon and our global climate.
THEY SAY NO TO BIG OIL IN THEIR TERRITORIES!
Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon and people from all over Ecuador have said NO to big oil in the Amazon over and over again.
Yet, Ecuador’s government ignores them. It has already planned another oil auction. This time, it’s offering up 8.7 million acres of land across the southeastern Ecuadorian Amazon, affecting seven Indigenous nations. The government is quietly promoting the bidding on oil blocks—areas of healthy Amazon rainforest and the ancestral lands of entire Indigenous nations—to international investors.
The government claims to have the consent of the Indigenous nations, but THEY DO NOT.
Right now, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador has the opportunity to stop this oil auction. There is a case pending in the court that will define just how powerful Indigenous Peoples’ right to free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) can be. If the Court rules in consideration of Indigenous rights, it would give Indigenous Peoples an effective tool to keep big oil away from their territories now and into the future.
We have to let the court know that the world is watching! They must issue a ruling that respects the rights of Indigenous Peoples, nature and our climate—one that will help protect this world for all of us.
Send a message to the Constitutional Court of Ecuador, demanding that:
1. They hold a hearing in Indigenous territory.
2. They LISTEN to Indigenous Peoples about how their right to free, prior, and informed consent must be guaranteed.
3. They enshrine a strong interpretation of the right to free, prior, and informed consent in Ecuador’s Constitution so that Indigenous Peoples can continue to protect their territories, culture, and the earth.
Campaign
PROTECT THE WAORANI’S VICTORY AGAINST BIG OIL IN THE AMAZON
Tell the Ministry of Environment of Ecuador:
Hand over the title of Pë'këya to the Siekopai!
In November 2023, the Siekopai Nation, an Indigenous nation from the Amazon rainforest, won a historic ruling. For decades, the Siekopai had fought to recover 104,000 acres of land that were stolen from their ancestors over centuries of conquest. Finally, in 2023, the Court of Justice of Sucumbios demanded that Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment deliver the Siekopai the collective property title to their ancestral homeland.
For over 15 months, the Ministry has refused to fulfill its obligation to deliver the land title to the Siekopai, despite being sanctioned for its repeated non-compliance.
The place the Siekopai want to return to is called Pëkëya; it is sacred to them, a key to their cultural identity, and the center of their cosmovision. They have been separated from it for 80 years, suffering repeated, serious violations of their rights. There are only 800 Siekopai left in Ecuador, and for them, the Ministry’s ongoing inaction is a threat to their physical and cultural survival.
It is time for MAATE and its Minister, María Cristina Recalde, to comply with the law, guarantee the Siekopai’s existence, and issue them the title to their land.
Campaign
Join the Siekopai Nation’s Fight!
