Across the Amazon, many communities lack access to the electrical grids that serve cities. That’s why solar panels provide far more than energy. They provide safety, autonomy, communication, and protection.
Solar power enables communities to call for help during emergencies and report illegal activity in real time. It also creates new, community-led economic opportunities that help families sustain their livelihoods. Ultimately, solar power means power in every sense of the word.
Through Amazon Watch’s Power to the Protectors program, we do more than fund solar projects. For years, we have worked alongside Indigenous peoples to bring renewable energy and satellite internet to their territories. Together, we strengthen community-led solutions that help defend the Amazon and advance our Amazon Crime and End Amazon Crude campaigns.
Working alongside our renewable energy partners, EKOenergy, The Interamerican Clean Energy Institute, and Empowered by Light, we have completed seven community-led solar projects across the Amazon. Indigenous communities guide each installation through their priorities, knowledge, and leadership.
This year, we expanded the initiative. In addition to solar power and satellite internet, communities have identified refrigeration as another critical need. By combining reliable connectivity with solar-powered freezers, Power to the Protectors improves food security, strengthens local livelihoods, and enhances communities’ ability to protect their territories.
Our most recent installation with the Chapra Nation in the Peruvian Amazon reflects this next step. The new system combines satellite internet with refrigeration. It enables the community to quickly report illegal logging, oil spills, and other threats; preserve fish; improve food security; expand access to education and telehealth; and conduct digital financial transactions.
The results already demonstrate the vision that has guided Power to the Protectors from the beginning: Indigenous-led renewable energy solutions can strengthen self-determination, protect forests, and equip communities to defend their territories and build resilient futures.
