Germana Carillo "If we allow the Amazon to be destroyed little by little, of course, this will affect us as indigenous peoples, but it will also affect everyone because of climate change. The fight we are doing is for all humanity because we all live connected to the earth"
@Stefan Ruiz
There is a precise point deep in the beating heart of the Amazon rainforest where the voice of a woman rose up to challenge governments, oil companies, and a long legacy of environmental colonialism. Her name is Nemonte Nenquimo, an Indigenous Waorani leader from Ecuador, an activist, and a symbol of resistance that speaks not just to her people—but to all of us.
Born in 1985 in Ecuador’s Pastaza province, Nemonte grew up immersed in the lush green of the Amazon, where every plant, river, and animal carries a name and a spirit. Her education didn’t happen in classrooms, but beneath the ancient forest canopy, where she learned what it means to live in balance, respect, and reciprocity with nature.
This ancient knowledge—ignored, trampled, and only now clumsily reclaimed by the Western world—has always been her compass.
The legal battle that stopped the bulldozers
In 2019, her voice echoed through Ecuador’s courtrooms with a force that shook the halls of power. Nemonte Nenquimo led a landmark lawsuit against the Ecuadorian government, which had illegally auctioned off more than 500,000 acres of Waorani territory without consulting the local communities. This move violated the ILO Convention 169, which mandates free, prior, and informed consent from Indigenous peoples.
The ruling came after months of mobilization, testimony, and international pressure. The court sided with the Waorani. Over 500,000 acres of rainforest were spared from oil exploitation—but even more important than the land was the precedent: Indigenous sovereignty over their future was upheld.
An activist speaking to the entire world
Global recognition quickly followed. In 2020, TIME named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. She received the Goldman Environmental Prize and the UN Champions of the Earth Award.
“I don’t want to be celebrated if it doesn’t bring real change. I want people to wake up.”
In a world where the green economy risks becoming yet another empty marketing label, Nemonte’s voice cuts through the noise. She reminds us that there can be no climate justice without social justice, and that the environmental crisis is—at its core—a crisis of vision, values, and power.
We will be jaguars: a spiritual revolution in memoir form
In 2024, alongside her partner and fellow activist Mitch Anderson, Nenquimo released the memoir We Will Be Jaguars. It’s more than just a personal story—it’s a political, poetic, and prophetic act. A call to reinvent our relationship with the planet, written by a woman who transformed her love for the land into a powerful tool for change.
This isn’t about “saving trees.” It’s about saving our ability to listen, to belong, to be human.
What’s at stake: far more than the Amazon
Nemonte Nenquimo isn’t looking for admiration. She’s calling for alliances. She wants the world to stop viewing Indigenous peoples as passive stewards of nature and start recognizing them as central actors in building a sustainable future.
Because the fight she leads in the villages of Pastaza isn’t just about Ecuador. It’s also about European cities choked by smog, Italian coastlines eroded by rising seas, and children growing up thinking plastic is part of nature.
This concerns all of us. And in the global noise, hers is one of the few voices with the clarity to remind us of that.
Today, Nemonte Nenquimo is the co-founder of Amazon Frontlines and Alianza Ceibo, continuing the fight for land, dignity, and life.
