Indigenous women from seven Amazon nationalities gathered in the city of Nueva Loja, Ecuador, on March 14 for a multi‑day “toxitour” that took them to the Libertador oil field in the northern Amazon. The trip, organized by activists and Indigenous groups, was intended to show women from central and southern Amazon provinces the environmental damage that decades of oil and gas extraction have left behind.
Standing beside a stream darkened by an oily sheen, 76‑year‑old Shuar leader Julia Catalina Chumbi said the water, air and forest were all contaminated. “Everything is contaminated, even the air,” she said, adding that in her own territory rivers remain drinkable while communities near the oil fields can no longer safely drink local water and must purchase bottled supplies.
The women rode a bus past endless pipelines before arriving at the Libertador field, which is operated by state oil company Petroecuador. There they saw polluted streams, broken pipelines, and gas flares burning above the treetops. Salome Aranda, a 43‑year‑old Kichwa activist, noted that animals were disappearing and crops no longer grew as they once had. “In our area we are not allowed to enter,” Aranda said, describing the restriction on Indigenous access to nearby oil sites.
After the field visit, the group reconvened in Nueva Loja for workshops where they exchanged experiences and plotted strategies to resist new oil concessions. Natalia Yepes, a legal adviser for Amazon Watch, said the tour’s purpose was to share lessons from women who have lived through more than 50 years of oil exploitation with communities now facing fresh threats.
Ecuador’s government has recently unveiled a sweeping “hydrocarbon road map” worth about $47 billion, proposing new licensing rounds for exploration blocks in the Amazon provinces of Pastaza and Napo. Officials claim the plan will modernize the industry and attract foreign investment, but Indigenous leaders argue the projects could open vast tracts of rainforest to drilling, pipelines and gas flaring. They also warn that many of the new blocks lack the free, prior and informed consent required by Ecuador’s constitution and international human‑rights standards.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines declined to comment when asked for a statement.
The women’s concerns echo past Indigenous victories. In 2019, judges blocked oil drilling in Block 22 in Pastaza after finding the government had failed to properly consult Indigenous communities. A separate 2023 referendum saw Ecuadorian voters halt drilling in Block 43 inside Yasuní National Park, an area overlapping Waorani ancestral lands.
For Dayuma Nango, vice president of the Association of Waorani Women of Ecuador, the tour reinforced her determination to keep oil companies out of Waorani territory. “Our forest is our mother,” she said, noting that she has received death threats for her advocacy. Ruth Peñafiel and other participants concluded the visit with International Women’s Day demonstrations in Puyo, demanding respect for Indigenous rights and a healthy environment.
The tour and its findings will be part of broader discussions at an international conference in Santa Marta, Colombia, in April, where governments, Indigenous leaders and civil‑society groups will debate pathways to transition away from fossil fuels following the 2025 U.N. climate summit in Belem, Brazil.