Dear friend of the Amazon,

My name is Helena Gualinga, a youth climate advocate from the Kichwa community of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Today, I’m writing to ask for your solidarity.

Amazon Watch supports our resistance and solutions and amplifies our calls to protect our rights, rivers, rainforests, and our climate for all of our collective future. Will you support Amazon Watch with a donation today in solidarity and support with Indigenous peoples?

I just returned to the Amazon from crucial global negotiations for our future, including COP15 in Canada and COP27 in Egypt, where I joined Indigenous youth and allies — including Amazon Watch — in defending Indigenous rights and territories to protect biodiversity and the climate.

Together, we spoke out and marched to demand urgent action from global governments and financial institutions to stop the destruction of the Amazon. And, for as long as I can remember, Amazon Watch has been by my community’s side, from local actions to the global stage.

The climate crisis won’t end unless we stop extraction and halt financing of projects that violate Indigenous peoples’ rights and threaten ecosystems like my home. My community has been resisting these outcomes and uplifting our own visions and solutions.

Indigenous people of the Amazon need your solidarity and support to ensure we can permanently protect the rainforest. The time is now. Together we can do this!

Your donation today acknowledges our wisdom as land defenders and climate leaders, and provides the resources we need to protect living forests, end Amazon crude, and promote a just future for all of us.

Thank you for supporting our work together!

For the Amazon and our future,

Helena Gualinga
Kichwa Youth Climate Justice Activist