Land Defense Training School for Indigenous Land Patrols in the Upper Amazon, Ecuador

The Cofán

Also known as "A'i-Kofán," the Cofán are an Indigenous people who live on both sides of the Ecuadorian-Colombian border. Ecuador's approximately 1,500 Cofán citizens reside in 13 communities, which range in size from more than 500 to less than 20 inhabitants. The communities are located along the Aguarico and San Miguel Rivers and their tributaries in the province of Sucumbíos. The everyday language of almost all Cofán individuals is A'ingae, an isolate with no known linguistic affinities. Cofán people practice a way of life based on hunting, fishing, gathering, and horticulture; the periodic sale of garden produce, forest products, handicrafts, and wage labor; and participation in culturally and environmentally focused tourism ventures. Oil extraction has contaminated much of this People's lands and rivers, and oil-related health problems are prevalent in Cofán communities.

The Siekopai

The Siekopai are a small Upper Amazonian nation numbering less than 1500 in population. They once had an immense territory stretching around 7,000,000 acres from Ecuador into Colombia and Peru but have now been confined to 50,000 acres over 100 miles away from that ancestral territory. They speak Pai'koka, a Tucanoan language. Despite the distressing impacts of colonization, missionary activity, palm oil production, land invasion and extractive industries on their territory and way of life, they still endeavor to practice the rich shamanic culture for which they're renowned, along with their knowledge of medicinal plants.

The Waorani

This Indigenous people from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador (Napo, Orellana, and Pastaza Provinces) once maintained one of the most extensive territories of all the Indigenous Peoples of Amazonian Ecuador. The almost 2,000 Waoranis of the Amazon reside in their ancestral lands between the Curaray and Napo rivers and speak Waorani, a linguistic isolate not known to be related to any other language. In the last four decades, they have shifted from a hunter-gatherer way of life to mainly living in permanent forest settlements due to the impacts of logging, oil extraction, and colonist settlement.

The Siona

This ancestral Indigenous people live in the Ecuadorian Amazon and Putumayo in Colombia and number less than 500 in population. The rubber boom and slave trade in the late 19th century have driven the Siona's massive displacement, and they are now sparsely settled in several communities. The Siona people used to sustain their families through hunting, fishing, small-plot farming and gathering. Today, the relentless pressure from colonialism and extractive industries has meant a loss of their rich culture and a loss of language, a Tucanoan language, among the younger generations. Today, many work in tourism ventures owned by outsiders. 

Initiated with the colonization process, the exploitation of the Amazon forest has persisted and worsened over the last five decades. The impacts on its many Indigenous peoples have been dramatic. The effects on global climate patterns are yet to be fully understood. Extractive industries like mining, logging, oil drilling, hydro-electric damming, and agribusinesses such as rubber and palm oil plantations and cattle ranching have caused mass deforestation, loss of wildlife and biodiversity and contamination of water, soil and air.

We've heard it countless times before: the destruction of the Amazon rainforest would mean even warmer temperatures, more frequent floods and even longer droughts, and consequently, an increase in zoonotic diseases and infections and intolerable scarcity of the resources of sowing and maintaining crops.

For the Indigenous peoples that have inhabited these lands for millennia, it has already meant a loss of identity, culture and resources to preserve ways of life that have had no negative impact on this ecosystem. Indigenous peoples have been remarkably resisting the colonialist attack that began over 500 years ago. But escaping the insatiable Western economies can only be accomplished with ongoing courageous work like Indigenous land patrolling.

Numerous studies prove what Indigenous peoples have been saying for years: they are the best guardians of the natural territories—they have been doing so for generations. The evidence speaks for itself. Collectively, Indigenous peoples protect 80% of the world's biodiversity and half of all standing forests left in the Amazon basin.

The Ceibo Alliance

The Ceibo Alliance is an alliance of 4 Indigenous nations from the Upper Amazon – Cofán, Waorani, Siona and Siekopai – forged through a project for securing access to clean water against decades of contamination from oil companies back in 2014. The four nations came together to confront the myriad and complex threats faced by Indigenous peoples and to protect the remaining standing rainforest in the Upper Amazon through a holistic model that includes:

1. advancing and upholding Indigenous rights;
2. providing capacity training and equipment for community-led territorial monitoring and mapping, to protect lands from deforestation in real time and demarcate territorial boundaries while supporting land titling processes:
3. revitalizing millenary cultures and practices and investing in new models of intercultural education, community-based alternative economies and Indigenous-led multimedia storytelling. 

Land Defense Training School for Indigenous Land Patrols in the Upper Amazon, Ecuador

Building off the last seven years of grassroots movement strengthening, Ceibo Alliance supports 15 land patrols across the Upper Amazon to continue their ongoing efforts to protect vast and biodiverse territories from mounting extraction and other illegal activities. With a consistent presence in the field, land patrols can detect activities that harm the forest and Indigenous way of life, document the evidence necessary to denounce these activities, and establish the most appropriate territorial defense strategies, including using legal channels to prevent future encroachments. In addition, the Ceibo Alliance strengthens community autonomy through capacity building for Indigenous monitors. Finally, it facilitates knowledge-sharing between Indigenous nationalities to build solidarity among those actively monitoring and defending their territories.

To scale their territorial defense training model regionally, they will launch a Land Defense School that strengthens the capacity of land patrols across the region and provides a space for knowledge exchange that spurs collective action across stakeholder communities. With the funds from Azimuth's grant, the Ceibo Alliance will implement a project to:

1. Help build capacity for 20 Indigenous monitors and mappers across four Indigenous nations in the Upper Amazon to defend 1,000,000 hectares of highly biodiverse forests from increasing resource extraction, industrial agriculture, illegal poaching, and other threats. It will do so through 8 training modules, all combining theoretical and practical learning, ranging from using GPS and satellite images to track biodiversity loss to data systematization and developing territorial defense and rights strategies to instigate community action.

2. Focus on building greater biodiversity-loss tracking, rights, and communications knowledge with the 20 participants of the Land Defense School.

3. Leverage the experience of expert land patrols with robust knowledge that can inspire participants and strengthen similar territorial defense processes across the region.

In this episode of our "Voices from the Ground" series, we hear from Executive Director Gladys Vargas and Secretary Alicia Salazar about the establishment the new Land Defense School, but also about the Alianza's intergenerational commitment, the growing diversity of their endeavors, and the aspiration to unite more Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon:

 PROJECT UPDATE - DECEMBER 2023

A year after Alianza Ceibo launched its Land Defense Training School, we met with Hernan Piaguaje (Siekopai), a leadership council member, to talk about the inspiring developments that have taken place in 2023.

Through a four-member committee, the Alliance kickstarted replicating the school's activities across A'i Kofán, Siona, Waorani, and Siekopai territories. The school's significance for the communities was reflected in its ability to attract the attention of two more Indigenous nationalities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Including these nationalities in the school network highlights the Alliance's unwavering commitment to safeguarding the forest.

The trainees completed theoretical modules and reinforced their practical skills during the many training sessions and meetings. But more importantly, while the Indigenous guards' development is different in each territory, all the communities argued for training a full-time, multi-competent guard capable of addressing external threats and internal governance needs, so the school leadership adjusted each module to respond to the particular needs of each community.

For instance, in Sinangoe, where the first meeting was held, the priority was to train members on using drones. Simultaneously, there was a concerted effort to explore methods of consolidating and organizing the extensive data the community had meticulously gathered over the years. This strategy aimed to equip the community with valuable resources to oppose the building of a hydroelectric facility that would have a disastrous impact on a river that's a vital water source for this community.

The second meeting, hosted in the Suar Consuelo community in Pastaza district, focused on the criminalization of defense and the right to consultation. This session was also important to discuss the risks associated with Guillermo Lasso's end-of-term policies. Members raised concerns regarding the anti-terrorism laws and permissions granted for extractive projects without proper FPIC.

At the third meeting, which was held in Siona territory, the main topic of discussion was the effect of extractivism on Ecuador's political culture. The participants focused on devising strategies to counteract this phenomenon and finding ways to respond to threats from armed groups. Throughout the discussions, the communities shared powerful testimonies, highlighting several instances of criminalization, threats, and tragic murders of land defenders.

During the fourth meeting, in Waorani territory, the main focus was on self-determination. The trainees collectively emphasized the importance of protecting their sense of identity, belonging, and the natural presence that is integral to their Indigenous territories. All highlighted how these elements are crucial to preserving their cultural identity. One significant outcome of the discussions was acknowledging women's leadership as a shared path that all nationalities must cultivate. Women's leadership was unanimously considered key in shaping the future of Indigenous communities.

Siekopai lands hosted a closing meeting focused on the critical themes of sovereignty and self-governance for Indigenous Peoples—discussions centered on governance strategies that drew on the invaluable advice of elders but also other community members. The meeting's reflective approach looked to the past to find solutions to contemporary challenges. Participants gained practical training by learning how to create statutes, community protocols, and regulations governing activities such as hunting, fishing, and the sustainable use of land. Concrete examples, including the Siekopai's "own law," served as guiding principles throughout the module. This approach fostered a deep understanding of governance dynamics and equipped participants with tangible tools to navigate present-day complexities while remaining grounded in their rich heritage. With this meeting, participants gained invaluable insights that will help them confidently navigate the complicated world of governance.

Upcoming meetings will incorporate training on mapping technology, communications, and reporting of illegal activities in Indigenous territories.

Over the past years, Alianza Ceibo's work has significantly influenced Ecuadorian society's perception of biodiversity preservation and its grappling with the consequences of unbridled extractivism despite the country's heavy dependence on these industries. During last year's landmark referendum, Ecuadorians voted to prohibit extraction in the Yasuní National Park—an incredible milestone—underscoring a growing awareness and collective commitment to prioritize environmental conservation over short-term gains tied to extractive activities.

And despite the lack of state support, Alianza Ceibo is actively working on changing public opinion on Indigenous guards through its communication efforts. Their recent win of the prestigious St Andrews Prize for the Environment in Scotland again highlighted their remarkable trajectory as protectors of the Upper Amazon's rich cultural and ecological heritage and future.