Nemonte Nenquimo is an activist and leader of the Waorani nation in the Amazon in Ecuador. Recently, she has been in the spotlight and even caught the attention of actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio.
According to him, he admires her for her tireless fight in defense of the region. She was chosen by Time magazine and the BBC as one of the most important women in the world. Her story and her struggle are intertwined with nature.
Activism in the Amazon: the voice of indigenous peoples against resource exploitation
Nemonte Nenquimo. (Photo: Amazon Frontlines).
For the activist, “the territory is everything: if the jungle gets sick, we get sick too”.
There is a deep connection between the health of tropical forests and that of local communities, a premise that guides her fight against the onslaughts of the oil industry.
The battle intensified after the landmark 2019 judicial ruling that prevented oil extraction in over 500,000 hectares of ancestral forests. A decision that Nemonte and her people supported.
Nemonte also received top-level awards for her activism and her message has been amplified by personalities like Leonardo DiCaprio, who describes her as “a jungle warrior”.
Through an Instagram Takeover on the actor’s account, Nemonte took her followers on a personal tour of her Waorani territory, real images that demonstrate the connection between her people and the jungle, and a call to support indigenous communities on the front line.
“We Will Be Jaguars”
She recently released the book We Will Be Jaguars (from the Tendencias label), in which she recounts about that jungle she loves so much: a place that has been threatened for years by extractivist interests.
That’s why she raises her voice firmly, in her defense and that of all her people. “The territory is everything: if the jungle gets sick, we get sick too,” she told Clarín recently, also the founder of the organization Amazon Frontlines.
We Will Be Jaguars is a defense of nature. “I am the founder of the organization Amazon Frontlines, which supports the struggles of the Amazon indigenous people, and I have lived with other peoples and I was also the first leader of my people, whom I led to a historic victory against the government,” she said.
The connection of indigenous peoples with nature.
Regarding the book, she explained the reason for the title. “The jaguar is God to us“, Nemonte explains.
“It is a very powerful animal, because the ancestors had a connection with the jaguars, especially whenever they wanted to protect the territory around the walking patrol,” she expressed.
