The delegates may all have returned to home, but the legacy of COP26 continues in Glasgow, where many local residents opened their homes to climate activists from around the world. For Issue 5, Craig Hunter, found out about the plight of indigenous leaders from the Sapara community in the Amazon rainforest.

By Craig Hunter

American environmentalist and poet Gary Snyder once said that “Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.” Indigenous leaders Manuela Dahua and Gloria Ushigua from the Sapara community in the Amazon rainforest would agree. Unfortunately however, their home is under siege from the government of Ecuador, which prioritises the extraction of natural resources over the rights of inhabitants.

While their trip to Glasgow for the COP26 conference in November may not have led to the progress they would have liked, they left the city with a new friend and advocate in Natalia Equihua, who hosted the pair for the duration of their stay.

“I thought I would be protesting every single day,” says Natalia. “But in the end, for the first week, all I was doing was making sure they had food that they could enjoy in my home, a place that was clean, warm and comfortable, and somewhere they could shelter from the rest of the world. I think they really appreciated that.

“Every single night they would sit around and tell stories about the spiritual world and life in the rainforest. It really brought me out of the world of technology. Gloria said that our home was like her rainforest, which was the biggest compliment.”

The Sapara have been facing constant threats to their territory from the Ecuadorian government and big business, from mineral extraction, deforestation and contamination from factories. Initially focussing on direct action, the group now presses for change at a political level at events such as COP26, but this has its own challenges, explains Natalia:

“During the conference, Gloria was hoping to enter the negotiation zone and talk directly to her own government and say ‘please stop doing this, you’re killing us’. When they arrived she discovered she had only been given an observer pass, so she couldn’t even speak at an event or access negotiations.

“Initially they were disappointed and frustrated, powerless. It was lucky that her organisation of Sapara women had been nominated for a prestigious Ashton award. They didn’t win but the nomination meant that they were contacted by a lot of journalists. I helped with the translation and it was good for them; they made contact with Greenpeace for example, who do a lot of direct action in the Amazon. It wasn’t what they wanted to get out of COP but they left with a lot of contacts, which for them are like gold.”

Natalie with Manuela Dahua and Gloria Ushigua during their visit

Natalia, a communications worker at the Scottish Women’s Right Centre, is a native Spanish speaker, originally from Mexico. While Manuela and Gloria’s first languages are Quechua and Sapara respectively, their shared use of Spanish allowed the relationship to develop further. Natalia is now assisting the Sapara with media relations.

“It is a bit challenging communicating with them,” says Natalia. “They are in a different time zone and right now they are back in the rainforest where they have no internet or phone signal. They have a little house in the nearest city in Pastaza, Ecuador, where they have access to communication technology. We usually exchange WhatsApp voice messages because it’s faster and they feel more comfortable. Gloria, for example, doesn’t write or read, so it’s just easier to communicate orally.

“The work they are doing to protect their territory, with human rights groups and environmental activists, means they have to spend chunks of time outside the rainforest co-ordinating, sometimes months when there is an imminent threat to their land. They miss being there because it is the environment they know and, for them, the city is a difficult place to be.”

Despite the obstacles in their path, Natalia found inspiration in their warmth and strength. “When I met them I was quite burnt out,” she recounts. “The pandemic was hard, especially in organisations like ours, so the connection was very healing for me. We found a lot of common ground as humans, trying to get by and find joy in life. We bonded so strongly that I feel like they are like my two new grandmothers.

“During their visit I had a terrible flu so they were nurturing me back to health and it healed me to talk to these women who had taken on this 24/7 activism. For them, it is more than activism though, it is survival. While they are probably burnt out from doing this, they are still able to tell stories and laugh and I think that’s what really brought things into perspective for me.

“That doesn’t mean if you are doing this work you shouldn’t complain or be tired, but I think it makes you understand why we are driven to do this. I found that very powerful. I understood much more why it is important to have some rest and look after yourself.”

Natalia has set up a fundraiser to assist with their costs and hopes to visit her new friends in the rainforest this year. “I never imagined I would be going to the Amazon to visit my friend”, she laughed.

Those wishing to support the campaign to protect the Sapara territory can donate here: www.gofundme.com/help-amazonian-women-to-protect-their-territory