14/11/2018 Kichwa Santa Clara community, Pastaza Province in Ecuador.
Young Kichwa men stand guard near the caterpillars set to excavate the forest for the construction of Genefran’s hydro-power plant over Piatúa River. The project did not offer prior, free and informed consultation to the Santa Clara community as it should have according to law. Genefran’s preliminary construction work was halted by Indigenous protesters in defense of the river Piatúa, the community’s main water source.
The Piatúa, a tributary of the Amazon located in the Pastaza region of Ecuador, is thought to be millions of years old, home to one of the most biodiverse areas of the world, where flora and fauna is yet to be know. For the Kichwa Indigenous people of Pastaza, the Piatúa river is sacred: it is a living being, revered and feared, loved and protected.
