Across the Amazon and around the world, Indigenous women are leading solutions to protect biodiversity and our global climate amidst ongoing and increasing threats to their rights and territories. Against all odds, they are leading communities and movements to resist land grabs, fossil fuel and mineral extraction, agribusiness expansion, and gender-based violence. They are resilient, and we are proud to partner in solidarity with them this month and every month!
For Amazon Watch, supporting Indigenous women defenders is paramount due to their critical role in protecting biodiversity, resisting destructive policies, and upholding ancestral rights. Supporting Indigenous women is not only about addressing immediate threats and injustices but also about investing in the vision of these women to “reforest the hearts and minds of society” to defend Indigenous land rights, respect women’s rights, and protect Mother Earth. As the women of ANMIGA say, “the fight to protect Mother Earth is the mother of all fights!”
We are honored to partner with inspiring Indigenous women leaders and draw attention to their visionary work.
Puyr Tembé
“We talk so much about the appreciation of life, about the reforestation of minds and hearts, about the planting, about the living forest. Women have carried this historically because we understand the value of life, the value of land and territory. The land for us is mother earth. She is the one who takes care of us. She is the one who feeds us.”
Puyr Tembé, first Secretary of State for Indigenous Peoples of Pará in the Brazilian Amazon and co-founder of Ancestral Indigenous Women Warriors (ANMIGA)
In Brazil, Indigenous women leaders including Puyr Tembé began as seeds of resistance to deforestation and land grabbing in their territory. Together with the co-founders of ANMIGA, she was elected into public office as the first Secretary of State for Indigenous Peoples of Pará to ensure that Indigenous peoples’ land rights are respected and included in global efforts to protect climate and biodiversity, including direct funding for Indigenous and frontline communities. She will play a leading role in ensuring that Indigenous peoples and women’s voices and solutions are included in COP30 in Brazil.
Puyr Tembé is a protagonist in the award-winning documentary “We Are Guardians,” which recently premiered in California at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. In partnership, we co-hosted screenings, receptions, and meetings to amplify the impact campaign calling for reforestation, forest monitoring, and Indigenous storytelling. For International Women’s Day, Amazon Watch hosted an online webinar titled “Indigenous Women Leading the Movement for the Amazon,” featuring Puyr Tembé and Alessandra Munduruku to further amplify their calls to action.
From March 28-30, Amazon Watch is honored to host Puyr Tembé and Célia Xakriabá, Federal Deputy of the Brazilian Congress and co-founder of ANMIGA, for a series of events in the San Francisco Bay Area, including a panel discussion and a screening of “We Are Guardians” at the 35th Bioneers Conference.
Josefina Tunki
Highlighting the collective decision of her people against mining, Josefina declared during a press conference in Quito following the PDAC mining conference in Canada:
“We have all collectively voted… We unanimously reject large-scale extractive mining companies in Shuar Arutam territory. The majority of our territory has been conceded to mining companies without our consent and against our collective rights, and our right to self-determination enshrined in the ILO convention. The Shuar Arutam People have decided. We say, ‘No to mining!’ The companies must withdraw now!”
Josefina Tunki, the first woman President of the Shuar Arutam People (PSHA) of Ecuador
Patricia Gualinga
In Ecuador, Mujeres Amazonicas have created spaces for healing and organizing against threats to their lands and rights, showing resilience in the face of adversity, including environmental disasters and gender-based violence. Their mobilizations for rights and territories during events like International Women’s Day are a testament to their leadership and unity in the face of ongoing challenges.
This month Mujeres Amazónicas held a press conference entitled “Ancestral Knowledge and Resistance to Extractivism.”
“Women Defenders of the Amazon Against Extraction continue to resist threats of oil, mining, and illegal logging on our lands. We resist and we support each other in times of need. We protect the living forests and we protect each other. We heal each other with our traditional medicines and support our traditional economies as well.”
Patricia Gualinga, Kichwa from Sarayaku and co-founder of Mujeres Amazónicas, Women Defenders of the Amazon Against Extraction
Olivia Bisa
Olivia is standing up to the oil industry and advancing women’s rights in Peru as her community faces off against Petroperú. But just like for many Indigenous women, defending her people and their land comes at a dangerous cost. Olivia is receiving death threats against her and her family in an effort to silence her.
This month, Olivia helped lead a protest at Petroperú’s Talara Refinery despite the fact that she has been the target of threats and criminalization for her activism against the company. Next month, she will travel with Amazon Watch on a delegation to New York and Washington to meet with banks considering financing Petroperú.
“We, as defenders of nature, of life, of the existence of humanity, we don’t count on legal support, since the Peruvian government and the companies are practically an enemy of the Indigenous movement, of Indigenous people, when we claim our right to life.”
Olivia Bisa, first woman President of the Chapra Nation of Peru
While March is Women’s History Month, Amazon Watch will continue to focus support for women defenders in all of our work. Each and every day.
Through our Amazon Defenders Fund, we commit to support Indigenous women defenders via solidarity funding and partnership with women-led projects. By prioritizing women’s voices, providing legal support, and amplifying their leadership in environmental and climate justice movements, Amazon Watch aims to strengthen the role of Indigenous women in defending the Amazon and advancing climate justice.
Join us!
