Amazon Frontlines

AMAZON FRONTLINES BUILDS POWER WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLES TO DEFEND THEIR RIGHTS TO LAND, LIFE AND CULTURAL SURVIVAL IN THE AMAZON RAINFOREST.

MONITORING: IN 2022, WE ACHIEVED IMPORTANT MILESTONES IN OUR YEARS-LONG WORK TO SECURE LEGAL OWNERSHIP OVER INDIGENOUS LANDS BY SCALING TERRITORIAL MAPPING PROCESSES THAT SERVE AS CORE TOOLS IN LAND TITLING CLAIMS. WITH THE KOFN COMMUNITY OF SINANGOE, WE PRESENTED A NEW CLAIM FOR LAND TITLE THAT SEEKS TO OVERCOME EXISTING ADMINISTRATIVE HURDLES TO TITLING OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' LAND WITHIN NATIONAL PARKS, AND LAUNCHED SINANGOE'S FIRST-EVER TERRITORIAL MAP THAT HAS SERVED AS A BACKBONE TO THEIR LAND TITLING CLAIM. IN PERU, WE SCALED UP MAPPING OF SIEKOPAI TERRITORY AND TARGETED POLICIES THAT WERE HAMPERING CLAIMS TO INDIGENOUS LAND TITLES, PAVING THE ROAD FOR SIEKOPAI COMMUNITIES TO GAIN LEGAL OWNERSHIP OVER THEIR ANCESTRAL TERRITORIES. IN 2022, WE CONTINUED OUR EFFORTS TO TRAIN AND EQUIP COMMUNITY LAND PATROLS WITH HIGH-TECH TOOLS TO DETECT AND GATHER EVIDENCE OF NEW THREATS TO THEIR LANDS WHILE PROVIDING ONGOING MEDICAL AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION TRAINING TO KEEP PATROLS SAFE IN VOLATILE FIELD CONDITIONS. IN 2022, WE TRAINED 160 MONITORS AND MAPPERS OVER A SERIES OF MORE THAN 50 TRAININGS TO PATROL A 1-MILLION-HECTARE AREA OF AT-RISK RAINFOREST. BY COMBINING NEW TECHNOLOGY WITH COMMUNITY ORGANIZING, WE HELP INDIGENOUS NATIONS GET CONTROL OF THEIR LANDS AGAINST MOUNTING COLONIZATION AND RESOURCE EXTRACTION. IN 2022, WE ALSO LAUNCHED A PILOT SCHOOL OF CARTOGRAPHY, WHICH PROMOTES THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MAPPING PROCESSES DIRECTLY BY INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES AND BUILDS POWER WITH INDIGENOUS PARTNERS TO DEVELOP THEIR OWN TERRITORIAL DEFENSE STRATEGIES AUTONOMOUSLY.

OUTGOING GRANTS TO PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS TOTALED $639,976 IN 2022. THESE GRANTS PROVIDED CRITICAL SUPPORT FOR KEY INDIGENOUS PARTNERS INCLUDING THE CEIBO ALLIANCE ($313,298) AND THE WAORANI ORANIZATION OF THE PASTAZA ($230,717), AMONG OTHERS. COMMUNICATIONS COSTS TOTALED $511,536, WHICH INCLUDED PROJECTS WITHIN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES TO SUPPORT TELLING THEIR OWN STORIES. COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES TO SUPPORT ALLIANCES AND PARTNERSHIPS TOTALED $538,017.

RIGHTS: IN 2022, AMAZON FRONTLINES ACCOMPANIED INDIGENOUS WAORANI AND KOFAN PARTNERS AS THEY BROUGHT HISTORIC LEGAL CASES BEFORE THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF ECUADOR TO ESTABLISH LEGAL PRECEDENT FOR THE INDIGENOUS RIGHT TO FREE, PRIOR AND INFORMED CONSENT (FPIC) IN ECUADOR. THESE EFFORTS LEAD TO THE FIRST-EVER CONSTITUTIONAL COURT HEARING IN INDIGENOUS TERRITORY IN LATE 2021, AND COURT RECOGNITION OF THE RIGHT TO FREE, PRIOR AND INFORMED CONSENT IN EARLY 2022. THE WIN PROVIDES SOME OF THE WORLD'S MOST ADVANCED JURISPRUDENCE ON FPIC, AND A LEGAL FRAMEWORK THAT COULD BE CRITICAL TO FREEING UP MORE THAN 7 MILLION HECTARES OF RAINFOREST FROM MINING AND OIL THREATS ACROSS ALL OF ECUADOR. IN 2022, AMAZON FRONTLINES ALSO ACCOMPANIED INDIGENOUS LEADERS IN ECUADOR AND PERU WORKING TO SECURE INDIGENOUS LAND TENURE OVER THOUSANDS OF HECTARES OF RAINFOREST TERRITORIES. EFFORTS INCLUDED THE KOFN OF SINANGOE AND SIEKOPAI COMMUNITIES IN ECUADOR AND PERU WHO ARE SEEKING TO RECOVER OWNERSHIP OVER THEIR ANCESTRAL LANDS. ADDITIONALLY, AMAZON FRONTLINES FILED A RESOLUTION BEFORE THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS ON THE RIGHTS OF TRANSBORDER INDIGENOUS PEOPLES. WE CONDUCTED AN INVESTIGATION WITH COLOMBIA'S VICTIMS REPARATION UNIT AND PUBLISHED 5 REPORTS, INCLUDING TWO IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE IACHR, THAT SHED LIGHT ON THE RISKS TRANSBORDER INDIGENOUS NATIONS FACE ALONG BORDERS. AMAZON FRONTLINES CONTINUED TO PLAY A CENTRAL ROLE IN THE ECUADORIAN ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, INCLUDING HELPING TO FILE A CASE BEFORE ECUADOR'S CONSTITUTIONAL COURT THAT CULMINATED IN A LANDMARK LEGAL WIN RESTRICTING DISPROPORTIONATE USE OF FORCE AGAINST CIVILIANS AND UPHOLDING THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO PROTEST.

CULTURE AND RESILIENCE:IN 2022, WE COMPLETED THE FIRST STAGE OF A PILOT FOOD AND MEDICINE SOVEREIGNTY INITIATIVE ACROSS 22 COMMUNITIES IN THE UPPER AMAZON. TOGETHER WITH OUR PARTNERS AT THE WAORANI ORGANIZATION CONCONAWEP, WE TRAINED COMMUNITY-BASED FOOD SOVEREIGNTY PROMOTERS TO LEAD COMMUNITY GARDEN PROJECTS THAT REDUCE FAMILIES' DEPENDENCY ON MASS PRODUCED FOOD PRODUCTS AND REVITALIZE ACCESS TO LOCAL AND SUSTAINABLE FOOD AND MEDICINE. ADDITIONALLY, WE WORKED WITH THE SIEKOPAI COMMUNITY OF SAN PABLO TO INTEGRATE MEDICINAL PLANT KNOWLEDGE INTO THE OFFICIAL EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM BY ESTABLISHING A COMMUNITY MEDICINAL PLANT GARDEN AND BRINGING IN ELDERS AS TEACHERS TO EDUCATE YOUTH ABOUT TRADITIONAL MEDICINAL PLANTS AND THEIR USES. WE COMPLETED THE CONSTRUCTION OF TWO TRADITIONAL LEARNING SPACES, IN THE KOFN COMMUNITY OF AVIE AND THE SIONA COMMUNITY OF BUENAVISTA, WHERE MANY ELDERS ARE STILL PRACTICING HEALING AND SPIRITUAL RITUALS. THESE PRACTICES ARE VITAL TO KEEPING COMMUNITIES HEALTHY AND UNIFIED, AND INDIGENOUS CULTURES ALIVE AND THRIVING. IN 2022, WE CONTINUED HANDS-ON ACCOMPANIMENT FOR FIVE INDIGENOUS WOMEN'S ASSOCIATIONS THAT SUPPORT WOMEN-LED ECONOMIC PROJECTS, INCORPORATE AND REVITALIZE INDIGENOUS CULTURES AND PRACTICES, AND REPOSITION INDIGENOUS WOMEN AS LEADERS WITHIN THEIR COMMUNITIES. WE ALSO LAUNCHED A WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP SCHOOL TO TRAIN INDIGENOUS WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP SKILLS, BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, HEALTHCARE, AND CULTURAL PRACTICES, AND TO ESTABLISH A NETWORK OF WOMEN WHO RUN ENTERPRISES IN THEIR COMMUNITIES. IN 2022, WE LAUNCHED EDUCATIONAL PILOT PROGRAMS IN THREE INDIGENOUS NATIONS THAT IDENTIFY COMMUNITY-LED EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES AND CO-CREATE NEW TEACHING METHODS AND EDUCATIONAL CONTENT, AND PROVIDING INDIGENOUS YOUTH WITH THE SKILLS CRITICAL TO BUILD CAPACITY FOR NEW GENERATIONS OF INDIGENOUS LEADERS TO PROTECT THE AMAZON RAINFOREST AND INDIGENOUS WAYS OF LIFE.