indigenous

• Following 80 years of displacement, Indigenous Siekopai communities regained ownership of their ancestral Amazonian homeland on Ecuador’s border with Peru.
• The provincial court of Sucumbíos ruled in favor of the community, saying the environment ministry must deliver a property title for 42,360 hectares (104,674 acres) to the Siekopai, as well as a public apology for its violation of their collective territorial rights.
• The ruling is historic because it’s the first time an Indigenous community whose ancestral territory lies within a nationally protected area will receive title to the land.
• According to experts, this new ruling may change the approach communities use to obtain their ancestral lands in Ecuador, and the country may see more communities filing similar lawsuits to obtain lands locked away for state conservation.

After winning a historic lawsuit, an Indigenous community in Ecuador has finally obtained legal ownership of its land in a protected area — 80 years since being forcibly displaced. According to experts, this new ruling may change the approach communities use to obtain their ancestral lands in Ecuador, and the country may see more communities filing similar lawsuits to obtain lands locked away for state conservation.

Ecuador now recognizes the 42,360-hectare (104,674-acre) ancestral Pë’këya territory in the northeast of the Ecuadorian Amazon, which is also home to some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, as under the legal ownership of the Indigenous Siekopai nation.

The decision by the provincial court of Sucumbíos means that the Siekopai people now have legal rights to the place where their ancestors are buried. It also means the community is free to sustainably manage the local natural resources as it sees fit.

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