Across the Amazon Basin, women are organizing in defense of life, rights, and territories, and are a critical part of the front lines movement resisting increasing threats such as mining.
Mining is an industry riddled with rights violations, pollution, and deforestation. Amazonian Women Defenders are taking the helm of anti-mining movements sweeping Ecuador and Brazil and advocating for their right to decide what happens on their lands. They are leading the resistance against other extractive industries, too.
In the face of the serious threats to the Amazon that we see today, from agribusiness to fossil fuels to narcotrafficking, Women Defenders are guiding solutions.
This year they are calling upon all of us to listen to their voices and show our solidarity to imagine a future where all Indigenous and traditional territories are free of mining. In this spirit of collective action, we want to introduce you to four of these women:
Bel Juruna of the Muratu community in Brazil’s Pará State shares how the Belo Monte dam curtailed her village’s water access, and why her community absolutely cannot tolerate a planned mining project by the Canadian company Belo Sun. Two mega-polluting projects are two too many.
Josefina Tunki, the first woman president of the Shuar Arutam people in Ecuador, speaks on the dangers she faces for opposing Canadian mining companies, including Solaris Resources, on Indigenous territory.
Maria Valdiene Teixeira and Maria Aldineia Teixeira speak about the impacts of the mining company Equinox Gold. After a dam break at Canadian mining company Equinox Gold’s dam in March 2021, approximately 4,000 people in communities in the Aurizona district in the state of Maranhãowere were left with no access to water as it was all contaminated with toxic tailings mud.
Over the years you’ve joined us in supporting Earth Defenders through our Amazon Defenders Fund, through marches, gatherings, and delegations, and by amplifying their mandates to protect their territories. We are proud to call supporting Women Defenders one of our intentional priorities. We fund women’s projects because their impact extends beyond women and changes entire communities. By supporting this movement, you are interrupting systems of violence against women and against the Amazon and its defenders as a whole.
In order to uplift true solutions for the rainforest, we are recommitting to sharing the holistic stories of women leaders on the front lines of mining and oil extraction in the Amazon.
Finally, we ask that you take the time to deepen your solidarity and take action alongside these powerful women. International Women’s Day is a call to action for all of us to celebrate and center women’s contributions to the protection of the Amazon and our Earth. It’s also time to reflect on the immense work that women, particularly Earth Defenders, take on for their communities.
We all must recognize the importance of dedicated care, wellness, spaces, and funding for Indigenous women in particular. Cultures of care often rely on additional labor from women – and this is a great time to pay it forward.
You can specifically support women defenders all month by donating here or starting your own fundraiser here.
