"This global gem of biodiversity is home to powerful dream cultures guided by a deep commitment to protect and defend nature. Our Alliance seeks to curb extractive industries and accelerate an ecological transition towards a regenerative bioeconomy, rooted in Indigenous worldviews and traditional knowledge. Our collective vision is to permanently protect the Sacred Headwaters as a space for all life to thrive."
– Amazon Sacred Headwaters
"This global gem of biodiversity is home to powerful dream cultures guided by a deep commitment to protect and defend nature. Our Alliance seeks to curb extractive industries and accelerate an ecological transition towards a regenerative bioeconomy, rooted in Indigenous worldviews and traditional knowledge. Our collective vision is to permanently protect the Sacred Headwaters as a space for all life to thrive."
– Amazon Sacred Headwaters
GREAT NEWS!
OUR ALLIANCE HAVE BEEN SELECTED AS FINALIST IN THE EARTHSHOT PRIZE'S PROTECT AND RESTORE NATURE' CATEGORY
The Amazon Sacred Headwaters bioregion is one of the main sources of the Amazon River and home to 700,000 people from diverse Indigenous nationalities. This region, rich in biodiversity and sacred to its inhabitants, faces increasing threats from the expansion of extractive industries.
The Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance is one of the world’s largest Indigenous-led forest protection initiatives. Comprising 30 Indigenous nations and peoples from Ecuador and Peru, we share a common vision to permanently protect 86 million acres of bio-culturally rich tropical rainforests—an area larger than Italy. This bioregion encompasses the watersheds of the Napo, Pastaza, and Marañon River Basins, forming the headwaters of the Amazon River." De esta forma, se enfatiza mejor la relación entre las cuencas.
OUR APPROACH
The future of the Amazon depends on Indigenous peoples’ continued forest stewardship.
The protection of Indigenous territories is key to protecting this vital ecosystem, and maintaining the Earth's climate.
From an Indigenous perspective, a just transition means that true development isn't solely dependent on extractive industries. We believe in showcasing alternative paths to progress that don't require polluting forests and rivers. Our vision promotes economic alternatives that respect both human rights and ecosystems, preserving these vital territories as spaces for life to thrive.
Our main programmatic priorities include:
Direct Aid with Our Bioregional Grants Facility
Strengthening Indigenous Institutional Capacity, Leadership, and Education
Defending Territories
Reforestation, Restoration and Food Forests
Indigenous Territories Legal Recognition
Calling for Systemic Solutions
OUR APPROACH
Why Bioregional?
Together with world experts in biodiversity conservation, land rights, alternative economics, climate science and thought leaders, we collectively produced and published the Bioregional Plan 2030—our comprehensive guide outlining key considerations and a strategy, guiding our mission to advance ASHA’s Indigenous-led initiative, protecting 86 million acres of the Amazon rainforest.
GOVERNANCE
Our Governance
In June 2023, ASHA’s General Assembly elected an 11-member Board of Directors for 3-year terms, including a board President and Vice-President. The Board of Directors meets monthly to provide direction to the Secretariat and ensure timely operational decisions are made. The board includes four seats for the Indigenous co-founders of the newly constituted organization; three permanent seats for AIDESEP, CONFENIAE and COICA; two rotating seats from local Indigenous organizations; and two rotating seats for NGO members of the Alliance.
The following are the elected board of directors for the 2023-2026 period:
Uyunkar Domingo Peas Nampichkai
achuar
Founding member & President of the Board
Wrayz Perez
Wampis
Founding member & Vice President
Jorge Perez
AIDESEP
Founding member
Lolita Piaguaje
Siekopai
Founding member
Jamner Manihuari
COICA
José Esach
CONFENIAE
Elaine Shajian Shawit
CORPI
Olivia Bisa
GTA Chapra
Saúl Calapucha
PAKKIRU
Belén Páez
Fundación Pachamama
Kim Chaix
Rainforest Foundation US
Together, we can ensure that the Amazon rainforest remains a thriving ecosystem for future generations and that the voices of its Indigenous guardians are heard and respected.
See ASHA’s Full Members List Here
ACT NOW
Indigenous Peoples' Declaration for the Amazon Sacred Headwaters
The Indigenous federations that are part of the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance are calling for emergency support to stop the governments of Ecuador and Peru from expanding new fossil fuel, mining, and large-scale industrial development in one of the critical headwaters regions of the Amazon River. View their powerful declaration below, and spread the word!
Sign the Pledge of Solidarity to declare your support for the Indigenous federations, and other institutions working to protect the Amazon Sacred Headwaters for the benefit of all life.
The Amazon Basin is rapidly approaching a critical tipping point.
The ongoing loss of forests and biodiversity, driven by extractive activities such as mining, oil drilling, logging, and industrial agriculture threatens to push the Amazon past the point of recovery. The permanent protection of the rainforest is the only sustainable path to preserve these vital bioregion.
SIGN THE PLEDGE
I am signing:
DONATE
Join Us in Safeguarding 86 Million Acres of Vital Amazon Rainforest
Together we can make the difference:
Advance Indigenous-led efforts to protect 86 million acres of pristine rainforest from deforestation and extractive exploitation.
Support more than 30 Indigenous nations in safeguarding their ancestral lands and preserving their ways of life.
Contribute to initiatives regulating our global climate by maintaining one of the world's largest carbon sinks—the Amazon!
Your support is critical. By standing with us, you are standing with the Indigenous nations and the planet’s future.
