"The declaration by the government is a result of our fight, and it was forced to recognize that these territories are ours, we live there. We are asking the government to remove all oil concessions from our territories."
– Yanda Montahuano, Sapara leader

The indigenous resistance to oil extraction in Ecuador earned another major victory this week. Success was achieved in the multiyear effort to stop drilling plans by Chinese-owned Andes Petroleum in a rainforest concession known as Block 79, which overlaps the titled territory of the Sapara and Kichwa indigenous nationalities.

Last June, we shared the news that grassroots action in Ecuador had forced the government to shelve plans to tender two new controversial oil blocks due to indigenous community opposition. Building upon that success, national and international pressure has yet again thwarted efforts to expand oil drilling in the Amazon.

This victory comes on the heels of new momentum by the indigenous movement against extraction, attacks against indigenous earth defenders, and a global outcry over the destruction of the Amazon.