Patricia Gualinga

Indigenous Kichwa leader protecting the Amazon rainforest through grassroots activism and international advocacy

Patricia Gualinga is a Kichwa Indigenous leader from the Sarayaku community in Ecuador's Amazon region. Since 2018, she has been at the forefront of global environmental campaigns to protect the Amazon rainforest from oil drilling and deforestation. Her work gained international attention in 2020 when she led a coalition of Indigenous groups to block government plans for new oil concessions in the Amazon. Through her organization Sarayaku, Patricia has pioneered legal strategies using ancestral land rights frameworks to challenge extractive industries. She also co-founded the Women's Earth Alliance, connecting Indigenous women globally in climate justice efforts. In 2022, she testified before the United Nations Human Rights Council about Ecuador's violation of Indigenous rights in oil-rich areas. Patricia's activism intersects with digital advocacy, creating viral social media campaigns that have mobilized over 500,000 supporters worldwide. Her 2023 TED Talk "The Amazon is a living being - we must protect it" has been viewed over 2 million times. Through her leadership, the Sarayaku community secured a landmark 2021 ruling from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights recognizing Indigenous peoples' right to prior consultation before resource extraction projects. Patricia continues to advocate for biodiversity conservation while promoting Indigenous knowledge systems as critical to global climate solutions.