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Amazonia Indigenous Women's Fellowship© Emilio Aparicio
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Amazonia Indigenous Women's Fellowship© Emilio Aparicio
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Amazonia Indigenous Women's Fellowship© Emilio Aparicio
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Amazonia Indigenous Women's Fellowship© Emilio Aparicio
About the program
The AIWF aims to promote the ideas and actions of Indigenous women to conserve the Amazon and maintain climate stability. It seeks to promote conservation, leadership, and environmental initiatives based on the knowledge of Indigenous women.
The program provides the tools, training and funding needed to implement their initiatives, manage their territories, and promote the overall conservation of the Amazon.
The 2nd Meeting of Indigenous Women of the Amazon was held in Colombia in October 2023. The meeting was a space for fellows to celebrate their achievements and their roles in building a movement in conservation and natural resource protection. It was a space for them to share their struggles, their experiences in protecting Indigenous worldviews and the valuable solutions they bring to their communities. As they shared their vision for the future of their territories, they saw in themselves and in each other the leaders fighting today to protect the Amazon.
Our History
Fellowship principles
- Improve gender balance in conservation decision-making.
- Foster innovation through local actions and Indigenous knowledge systems.
- Provide personalized guidance and mentoring to build women´s leadership.
- Promote the development of Indigenous women leaders’ networks.
In 2011, Conservation International's Indigenous Peoples program launched the Indigenous Leaders Conservation Fellowship. Since then, various fellowships have flourished as an opportunity for inspiring leaders to access direct financing for learning and capacity building. In 2021, the AIWF was launched to create opportunities for Indigenous women to lead conservation actions in the Amazon basin. The program recognizes the far-reaching roles of Indigenous women in their conservation efforts, land management abilities, biocultural innovations, and applied traditional knowledge and seeks to collaborate with funding, advisory, and networking opportunities.
Our scope
Ecuador, Perú, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, Suriname, Guyana
Our impact
95
Indigenous women participating
72
Women influencing decision-making
90
Indigenous organizations involved
Our focus
Indigenous women are essential to securing lasting conservation impact. At Conservation International we:
- Recognize Indigenous Women's knowledge as key for effective conservation solutions.
- Foster locally based solutions. Indigenous women are more locally based and much less visible than men. Many are faced with fewer economic opportunities, limited participation, and access to formal education. By supporting Indigenous women, we are contributing to the issues that matter most to communities as they understand local needs intimately.
- Address conservation through the priorities of Indigenous women to mitigate the impacts of climate change while respecting Indigenous cultural heritage.
- Generate long-term sustainability through the network of Indigenous women and their collective actions to both face environmental challenges and promote the well-being of communities.
- Contribute to overall conservation of the Amazon.
We, Indigenous people who come from the living forest, care for, and protect the Amazon rainforest. As women we know our land and its needs. We women have always had a spiritual connection with our pacha mama and that makes us unique.
Valeria Etzamaren
Ecuador
Meet the fellows
Exchange: reproducing bees and knowledge
Indigenous women from Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia gathered to learn and share experiences in working with Amazonian Melipona bees.
Filomena Quispe, Bolivia
Learn more about Filomena, an Indigenous leader from Bolivia. From an early age, she fought to be heard and today, together with the women of her community, she is working to establish a community agroforestry system and encourage native beekeeping of Melipona bees.
Cecilia Martínez, Peru
Cecilia Martínez is a technical coordinator at the Federation of Native Yanesha Communities (FECONAYA). Becoming an example of self- confidence for young Yanesha women was the main reason that encouraged her to apply to AIWF program.
