-Mitch Anderson,
Amazon Frontlines co-founder and Executive Director
A Letter from Our Founders
We started Amazon Frontlines alongside diverse Indigenous peoples and international allies with the goal of securing access to clean water for 85 Indigenous communities affected by oil contamination at the headwaters of the rainforest. We accomplished this and immediately set out to do more. Over the last 13 years, Amazon Frontlines has become many things: a defender of human rights, a promoter of Indigenous autonomy and empowerment, a driver for conservation, a protector of biodiversity, and an organizer of formidable movements. Our action is focused on the Amazon and our purpose is focused on our planet.
We unite peoples and perspectives across nations, cultures and continents — Indigenous women, men, youth and elders, filmmakers and celebrities, philanthropists, lawyers, activists and global citizens— to take on the greatest and most pressing problem of our time: the global climate crisis. Our movement is powerful and extraordinary, evidenced by victories and achievements that surpass anything we imagined when we started building clean water systems in 2011. We invite you to learn about the alliances we have built, the rainforest land we have defended and what we have accomplished for the global fight to protect our climate.
-Nemonte Nenquimo,
Amazon Frontlines co-founder and Indigenous leader
Our Collective Action
Amazon Frontlines builds political and cultural power with the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon to permanently protect the forest they call home and achieve climate impacts of global significance.
Together, we have:
Won two historic legal cases
that protect nearly 300,000 hectares (741,000 acres) of rainforest from gold mining and oil drilling, and established the Indigenous right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) in Ecuador’s Constitution.These hard won precedents now provide a tool and pathway for the protection of more than 9,000,000 additional hectares (22,240,000 acres) of the rainforest.
Spearheaded A coalition campaign
to stop oil drilling in Yasuní National Park, protecting the most biodiverse place on Earth and keeping 726,000,000 barrels of oil in the ground.
Secured legal titles
for 292,000 hectares (721,000 acres) of ancestral lands in Peru in collaboration with the Siekopai Indigenous nation, ensuring protection against transfer of ownership to extractive industries and exploitation.
Established a powerful legal precedent
that promotes titling efforts of Indigenous ancestral territories in national parks throughout Ecuador, resulting in an anticipated 2,500,000 hectares (6,175,000 acres) of rainforest that will return to Indigenous stewardship in the coming six years.
Trained and equipped community land patrols
in 10 regions with cutting-edge technologies to detect, document, and deter illegal activities, ensuring that over 1,000,000 hectares (2,470,000 acres) of atrisk primary forest is now better protected from these threats.
Launched a new model for intercultural education
and expanded access to quality and culturally inclusive education for over 300 Indigenous youth from three Indigenous nations, helping a new generation of young people to retain critical knowledge of cultural values and conservation practices, and employing and training Indigenous teachers in intercultural education models.
Established a groundbreaking leadership
and entrepreneurship training program designed for Indigenous women in 10 communities of the Upper Amazon, successfully helping 260 women to develop solutions to the climate crisis
Installed 1,164 rainwater filtration systems
alongside 85 Indigenous communities, providing over 10,000 people affected by oil contamination in the Ecuadorian Amazon access to clean water for the long-term and over 100 households, three women’s associations, seven schools and 14 land-patrol posts with a sustainable source of energy.
Helped to found and transfer capacities
in operations, program administration and fundraising to 20 Indigenous partners, frontline organizations and alliances and contributed to raising over $10 million USD to support their efforts, resulting in the design and implementation of hundreds of community-led projects and initiatives that protect land and the climate.
Our path forward is tested and proven through over 13 years elevating Indigenous leadership and action. We are scaling our work and deepening and expanding our strategies and partnerships across the world’s greatest rainforest. The moment requires it.
We work here:
CORE WORK
SCALE AND IMPACT
