Ecuador: In Ecuador’s Rainforest, Women Gather to Defend the Amazon With Law—and Sisterhood

Jul 4, 2025 | Latin American Post
Latin American Post
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Forty Indigenous leaders, lawyers, and organizers journeyed deep into the Ecuadorian Amazon last week, not for protest or spectacle, but to build a transnational legal shield. Their message from Sarayaku was urgent and straightforward: only collective defense can outlast oil, patriarchy, and politics.

Sarayaku, a Kichwa community nestled in the dense forests of Ecuador’s Pastaza province, isn’t just a village. It’s a living legal landmark.

In 2012, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that Ecuador had violated the rights of the Sarayaku community by authorizing oil exploration on their land without their prior consent. The case didn’t just vindicate one community—it changed international law.

“That judgment still protects every tree you see,” said community leader Noemí Gualinga, standing beneath a palm-leaf canopy adorned with banners woven by local women.

To outsiders, Sarayaku may seem remote. But for Cristina Mélo, of Fundación Pachamama, co-organizer of the week’s event—the Encounter of Women Jurists and Indigenous Defenders—the setting was essential.