Amazon Sacred Headwaters Bioregional Plan 2030

Summary

In September 2021, following a 3 year process of participatory planning among 30 indigenous nations and civil society organizations, the Amazon Sacred Watershed Initiative (ASHI) published the Bioregional Plan 2030 which articulates “realistic and viable solutions to address the economic and social challenges” facing the Amazon Sacred Headwaters of Ecuador and Perú. The Plan is intended as a tool to facilitate a just ecological transition in the region.

The rights of Nature and Buen Vivir are foundational concepts referenced throughout the plan. The Plan seeks to uphold the rights of Nature in Ecuador in Peru, and states that this region is composed of Living Forests that are made up of communicative beings or “persons” such as trees, insects, animals, or even their emergent associations. The plan contends that recognizing the spirit quality of these “persons” “helps us deepen our understanding of the close relationship between Human Rights and the Rights of Nature which this Initiative seeks to uphold (14). The Plan also notes that “Indigenous peoples do not talk about conserving nature, we talk about respecting nature because we see her as our family, we see her as the mother, we see her as our home. It is time for the work that indigenous peoples have done to be recognized.” (12).

The plan describes a just transition would model a new form of economy that does not violate rights of ecosystems. The vision of the Plan is that by 2030, the Amazon Sacred Headwaters is a permanently protected and restored living bioregion that is inspired by indigenous peoples’ forest stewardship practices (32). The Plan explains that Indigenous peoples of the Amazon Sacred Headwaters bioregion are key stakeholders “who have the local knowledge and the track record of stewardship to be launching this process…This document is the starting point for such a process.” (31).

To achieve its vision, the Plan proposes the creation of a Sacred Headwaters Fund that is jointly administered by indigenous organizations, civil society, governments and the socially responsible private sector, which would aim to ensure the health and well-being of Amazonian peoples and ecosystems (37). Other strategies include declaring the Sacred Headwaters region as an off-limits zone to extractive industries, and strengthening indigenous governance over their lands and territories by finalizing the pending legalization of more than 22 million acres of indigenous territories in Peru and Ecuador (38).

Ultimately, the Plan’s success will depend on support from the Ecuadorian and Peruvian governments.

Proponents of the Bioregional Plan:
The Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance was initially founded by Amazonian Indigenous federations CONFENIAE (Ecuador), AIDESEP (Peru), ORPIO, and COICA, in partnership with Pachamama Alliance and Fundación Pachamama. The Alliance has now grown to include 24 Indigenous organizations and three NGOs.

The spokespersons and representatives who lead this alliance are the leaders of different organizations of the Amazonian nationalities of the bioregion of the Sacred Headwaters. From Peru, the Inter-Ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP), the Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Oriente (ORPIO), the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Wampís Nation (GTANW), and the Achuar Federation of Peru (FENAP) are members of the Alliance. From Ecuador, the Federation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENIAE) is the lead organization, which in turn is coordinating the evolution and development of the initiative with the grassroots representative organizations of each nationality, such as the Achuar Nationality of Ecuador (NAE), which is also part of the alliance. At the regional level, The Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) was a founding convener of this effort. A complete list of contributors can be found on pg. 6-7 of the Plan.

Involved Organizations

Related Initiatives