Amazonian Leaders Win a Breakthrough in the Fight Against Environmental Crime

Indigenous leaders from Ecuador and three neighbouring Amazonian countries travelled to Vienna this week with a message: protecting the rainforest means confronting the criminal networks profiting from its destruction.

Among them was Patricia Gualinga, a Kichwa leader from Sarayaku, Ecuador, who joined representatives from Peru, Brazil and Colombia at a United Nations conference on organized crime, held October 19–23. Their concerns included illegal gold mining, logging and drug trafficking, which threaten Indigenous territories and contaminate rivers that communities depend on for fishing and drinking water.

The delegation argued that arresting individual miners or conducting occasional police operations is not enough. Governments must also investigate the money, buyers and international trading networks that make these activities profitable.

On October 23, the conference approved a resolution to begin negotiating a new international agreement addressing environmental crimes. The resolution explicitly recognizes the contribution of Indigenous peoples and local communities to combating these activities. Ecuador was among the countries supporting the initiative.

But an important question remains unresolved: although the resolution acknowledges Indigenous communities, it does not guarantee them a place in the negotiations.

For Gualinga and her fellow delegates, the next challenge is ensuring that the people protecting the Amazon every day have a voice in the international decisions affecting their territories.