John,

It might be the most important rainforest you’ve never heard of. The Ecuadorian Choco is one of the most biodiverse places on the face of the Earth, a forest so rich with life that a recent trip by scientists took only 45 minutes to discover a new species!

But 98% of it has already been decimated by logging…and a palm oil giant wants to destroy what little is left.

Fortunately, a tiny local community is fighting back with all their might – and taking these planet-destroyers to court!

Legal experts say they can win – but the key to the case is a costly environmental study that they simply can’t afford. Can you help these local heroes save this critical piece of our planet’s nature?

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The Afro-Ecuadorian community of Baranquilla de San Javier owns this land. They even have the paperwork to prove it. And while they wait for the lawsuit, they’ve been peacefully organizing to defend their forest against this merciless ransacking.

They’ve blocked roads and done everything they can to slow down Energy Palm’s plans. But the moment the company got wind of the legal action, they retaliated with a lawsuit of their own, falsely accusing this tiny community of causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage.

This is a lie. Even police reports don’t show any material damage caused by Indigenous organizing efforts. But Energy Palm’s strategy is crystal clear: it wants to bury this small community under legal fees they can’t afford – and make them give up their resistance.

Your donation today will go to quickly hire researchers, pay for the field work the study entails, and support our campaigning to protect this small community and their precious ecosystem against yet another corporate bully. Can you chip in?

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If this community has to pay anything to this greedy company, it would be a huge loss for everyone organizing to protect forests everywhere. Peaceful forest protectors shouldn’t be legally bullied by rapacious companies that pillage one of our most precious collective resource.

But SumOfUs members like you have helped save rainforests and Indigenous ancestral lands all over the world before. We must repeat this miracle again and again.

Will you donate to give this small community a fighting chance?