Climate Week – Cuencas Sagradas

"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

OUR AGENDA

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WHO WE ARE

A Lifeline for the Amazon and its Peoples

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.

SIGN THE PLEDGE

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.

Want to learn more about our approach and accomplishments?

Read our 2023 Annual Report

or our Informational Brochure

to learn more about ASHA and how you can get involved.