As nations seek to position themselves as world leaders in the fight against climate change and the transition to renewable energy, some have invested heavily in wind farm construction.

China is one of the nations stepping up to act on climate, and in 2020 it added more wind farm capacity than the rest of the world combined. This surge in demand requires raw materials for windmill construction, and balsa wood has emerged as one of the best materials to build efficient, lightweight propellers that require little wind speed to produce energy.

Expanding the wind power industry sounds promising, but this demand for clean energy has created enormous pressure in the regions where balsa trees grow. The ancestral territories of the Wampís Nation, the Awajún Nation, and the Shuar Arutam People span the remote Amazon rainforest that straddles the border between Peru and Ecuador. It is also one of the places balsa wood grows naturally and abundantly on the river's banks.

In an ideal scenario, the demand for balsa wood would be excellent news for the Amazonian communities where it grows. Instead, increased demand brought an expansion of the black market and its illegal networks.