Alianza Ceibo (Ceibo Alliance) is comprised of members from four indigenous nations in the western Amazon that are together building a holistic movement to prevent the destruction of their cultures and rainforest territories.
The Alliance was created in 2014 in response to oil fields polluting local water sources. In the process of building rainwater catchment systems (to store water for irrigation and other uses), they learned of common threats facing them all.
Believing that they are stronger together, Alianza Ceibo started a movement to:
- Empower communities to defend their territories through land patrols, high-tech monitoring and mapping, legal strategies and media campaigns;
- Connect youth with their cultural roots, leadership opportunities and each other so they value their identity and their forest and fight to protect it. Indigenous-made films, medicinal plant gardens and ceremonial spaces have been created as part of this work;
- Create solutions to the destruction of local forests, including building solar energy in communities and the creation of women-led micro-enterprises to promote sustainable economic alternatives to rainforest destruction while preserving endangered food crops and medicinal plants.
