The Kichwa, Waorani, Sápara, Andwa, Achuar, Shiwiar, and Shuar Indigenous Peoples in the Ecuadorian Amazon face grave threats to their territories due to the advancement of oil bidding rounds—specifically the Ronda Sur Oriente (Southeastern Round) and Ronda Subandina (Sub-Andean Round)—promoted by the Ecuadorian State. These initiatives seek to auction off 11 oil blocks to companies and investors, blocks that overlap with ancestral Indigenous territories. This situation would impact nearly 3 million hectares of the region—primarily in the provinces of Pastaza and Napo—endangering highly biodiverse ecosystems, water sources, and the ways of life of the Indigenous Peoples who have protected these territories.

In light of this situation, Cultural Survival expresses its strong opposition to the human rights violations currently confronting the Indigenous Peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon. We recognize that this biome plays a fundamental role in the conservation of global biodiversity and in the well-being of the Peoples who inhabit and safeguard it.

We call upon the Ecuadorian State to halt any actions that promote oil expansion in the Amazon and to ensure compliance with its Constitution, which recognizes the Rights of Nature, making Ecuador the first country in the world to enact such legislation. The Government of Ecuador has an obligation to guarantee the comprehensive protection of territories inhabited by Indigenous Peoples and to respect their rights to self-determination, to Free, Prior and Informed Consent, and to live in a pollution-free environment.

Furthermore, we warn companies, investors, and financial institutions that any participation in these oil bidding rounds—absent a good-faith consultation process and without the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of the affected Peoples—constitutes a violation of the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples and entails accountability under international law. Oil exploitation in Indigenous territories violates rights recognized in international instruments—such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, for which the government of Ecuador voted in favor, and ILO Convention 169, which Ecuador has ratified—in addition to endangering the lives, culture, and spirituality that these peoples maintain in relation to their territories.

Top image courtesy of https://nomaspetroleo.com/.