In Ecuador, members of the indigenous Waorani tribe celebrated as a court upheld a ruling barring the government from selling land in the Amazon to oil companies. The Waorani argued they had not been consulted over the government’s plans to auction off their ancestral lands. The historic ruling could set a precedent for other indigenous groups fighting exploitation of their lands. This is Waorani activist Nemonte Nenquimo.

Nemonte Nenquimo: “And this victory means that our Waorani people and the future generations, the children, our children, will live healthy and without contamination. And that also means to the world that we contribute to the air that you breathe, which is from the Amazon.”