[vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]In Ecuador, the Waorani People made history when the Criminal Guarantees court of the Amazon province of Pastaza ruled that their rights to the consultation for oil exploitation on their lands were violated, the judges ruled that the Ecuadorian state did not act in good faith and cheated these communities.
On April 26 of this year, the first ruling had been given in favor of the Waorani community by Judge Esperanza del Pilar Araujo Escobar and finally on July 11, the last ruling was issued by the Court in favor of the indigenous community, which prohibits to the Ecuadorian State to carry out tenders, exploration or exploitation in the territory called block 22
In 2012 the Ecuadorian government had carried out tenders for oil exploitation on oil block 22, Waorani territory, at that time they were not consulted, this block is made up of approximately 500,000 acres in the 18 Waorani communities located near the headwaters of the Curaray River, but what is at stake in that area? Amazon Frontlines says that Waorani Territory protects one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, housing more than 200 species of mammals, 600 species of birds, about 300 species of fish and thousands of species of insects, remains one of the Last intact wildlife sanctuaries of the Upper Amazon.
A jungle that houses a natural pharmacy, antidotes, the cure for many diseases, sedatives currently used in surgical operations, an ancestral culture full of secrets and healthy life, which can inhabit without deforesting or contaminating, however this could end due to the oil operations, which require dynamiting hundreds of kilometers, opening roads, building pipes and platforms causing irreparable damage to the forest, the river, the indigenous community and the entire world in a very short time.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][image_with_animation image_url=”55976″ alignment=”center” animation=”Fade In”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]
THE WAORANI MOBILIZED THE WORLD, THEY KNEW THAT WITH ARROWS AND BOWS THEY WOULD NOT WIN THIS FIGHT
“Our spears are no longer enough to defend our territory from oil threats. We, the Waorani of Pastaza, recognize the importance of tools like video, digital campaigns, political advocacy and legal strategies in the defense of our ancestral homeland. The “Waorani Resistance” platform and campaign is the result of a collaboration between CONCONAWEP, the organization representing the Waorani communities of the Pastaza region in the Ecuadorian Amazon, the Ceibo Alliance, an Ecuadorian indigenous non-profit, and international organization Amazon Frontlines. We have the support and permission of our communities to tell and share our stories with the world. Together, we create and manage content, designs and messages as part of the Waorani Resistance movement, and we make collective decisions on how to best deploy funds raised through this website. Partnership makes us stronger. Although we live in the Amazon and many of you who read this live far away – together, we can achieve great things for the protection of our forests and our cultures, and the planet we all share.” – Waorani Resistance
So they called themselves Resistance Waorani and had the support of politicians in their defense, NGOs, environmental groups, artists of the world (Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo “Hulk”, Chris Evans “Captain America” among many others) who faced openly the erroneous decisions of the Ecuadorian government to negotiate these territories for extractive purposes of hydrocarbons and in a short term seriously affect part of the Amazon
THEY GO FOR MORE: THE FIGHT CONTINUES FOR 7 MILLION ACRES
In 2018, the Ecuadorian government auctioned another 16 new concessions that cover new forest areas, Exxon and Shell companies have already shown high interest in these areas, which include other indigenous territories of the Shuar, Achuar, Kichwa, Waorani, Shiwiar, Andoa nations and Sápara, indigenous nations of the southern Ecuadorian Amazon. The Waorani are already activated to fight for the protection of these almost 7 million acres of indigenous region, which houses some of the highest levels of biodiversity on the planet.
https://twitter.com/WaoResistencia
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzy8b-0Cx75/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz36ZwNlJqV/
https://waoresist.amazonfrontlines.org
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