In 2011, a group of activists traveled to the Ecuadorian Amazon with a question: How can we support the struggles of indigenous peoples against threats to their land and culture? The answer was clear: “Our water has been poisoned. Water is life. We must defend life“.
The project was born from this request for help ClearWaterwhich led to the installation of rainwater harvesting systems in over 50 indigenous villages, ensuring clean water for nearly 1,000 families. But ClearWater was much more than a humanitarian intervention. It was an opportunity for meeting and exchange between different cultures, an experience that transformed Western activists and laid the foundation for the birth of Amazon Frontlines.
Amazon Frontlines is an organization that unites Western and indigenous activists in one goal: defend the Amazon. It’s not just about protecting forests, but about safeguarding a complex and vital ecosystem, source of biodiversity and regulator of the global climate. Working closely with local communities, the organization has understood the importance of supporting indigenous peoples, ancestral custodians of the forest, in their commitment to defending the territory and promoting an alternative development model, based on respect for nature and social justice.
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For this, Amazon Frontlines supported the creation of The Ceibo Alliancean indigenous-led alliance working to protect ancestral lands and promote a model of sustainable development. The alliance fights against extractive industries, deforestation and land grabbing, and promotes community management of natural resourcesbased on traditional knowledge and sustainability.
Today, Amazon Frontlines is an organization recognized internationally for its commitment to the conservation of the Amazon rainforest and the protection of human rights. He achieved important victories, such as protecting large areas of forest in Ecuador from oil extraction and blocking destructive mining projects. But its impact goes far beyond individual battles won. Amazon Frontlines promotes a conservation model based on the management of natural resources by local communities, recognizing the wisdom and experience of indigenous peoples in protecting the environment.
In October 2024, Amazon Frontlines received the coveted Hilton Humanitarian Prizea $2.5 million award that recognizes the organization’s impact on protecting the Amazon and its people. “This award is an important boost to our movement,” the organization said. “It shows us that the world is waking up to a powerful truth: indigenous wisdom and frontline action are key solutions to the climate crisis!”
