Amazon Watch’s longest-running partnership has been with the U’wa people, who live in the remote and magical forest region of northeastern Colombia. The global U’wa campaign – which emerged in the 1990’s just as Amazon Watch was being formed – focused on Occidental Petroleum, also headquartered in the city of our organizational birth, Los Angeles. We joined many other organizations in solidarity and continue to stand with the U’wa nearly 20 years later.
Today the U’wa continue to face multiple threats that are emblematic of the challenges faced by indigenous peoples across Colombia and beyond: Oil and gas exploration, pipeline infrastructure, coal mining, drug cultivation and the presence of armed combatants in Colombia’s civil conflict. Their tenacious resistance to these threats is legendary – cultural work led by spiritual elders, grassroots protests, legal actions, speaking out in the media and international advocacy, among other strategies.
The U’wa are an extraordinary people, paralleled by the amazing territory they call home. With this photo gallery – featuring images taken by the U’wa themselves – we hope to take you on a visual journey into the majestic lands they are defending. Not only are these breathtaking landscapes, each of these places holds a profound spiritual and cultural significance to the U’wa.