In Ecuador’s Amazon, planting a tree can mean much more than restoring a patch of forest. For Indigenous women such as Flor Juanga, a Shuar community representative from Sucumbíos Province, trees are tied to food, wildlife, family, culture and the future of the community. Juanga says women in her community grow fruit and food crops while planting forest and native trees that provide shelter and food for birds, insects and other animals. They are also growing crops such as cacao and coffee, creating a way to support their families while reducing pressure to clear more forest. Her story forms part of wider conservation and sustainable-production efforts supported through Ecuador’s PROAmazonía programme and its Life Plans, which have sought to put Indigenous communities at the centre of decisions about their territories. In this model, protecting nature is not separated from earning a living or preserving a way of life.
Indigenous women are putting conservation into everyday life
For Juanga, conservation begins with ordinary activities on the land. She describes women cultivating food and fruit crops while deliberately planting trees that can support the wider ecosystem. She says she has planted species including laurel, balsam and melina, explaining that the trees attract birds and contribute to the balance of the surrounding environment. Her approach reflects a broader idea behind community-based conservation: forests do not have to be viewed only as protected areas separated from people’s lives. They can also be part of farms, food systems, livelihoods and cultural practices when land is managed sustainably. Juanga says seeing forests cleared is painful because the consequences extend beyond the loss of trees. In her view, birds and other animals lose habitat, families lose part of the natural environment around them, and communities become more vulnerable to the effects of environmental degradation. She sees planting as a way of restoring damaged land and creating healthier surroundings for both people and wildlife. The wider PROAmazonía programme was similarly designed around forest conservation, restoration, sustainable production and better forest management rather than treating environmental protection as an activity separate from local communities.
For the Shuar, the forest is also part of their identity
The conservation story becomes more significant when viewed through the cultural relationship between Indigenous communities and their territories. Juanga’s testimony repeatedly connects the forest with family, children and the community’s future, while the wider Shuar experience shows how land, ancestral knowledge and community planning are intertwined. In Sucumbíos, PROAmazonía and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon, or CONFENIAE, worked with the Shuar community of Yamanunka to develop a Life Plan. The process brought together community knowledge, including historical information preserved in the memories of elders, with an assessment of the changes affecting the territory and the community’s current needs. The Yamanunka territory covers about 8,826 hectares and has around 1,661 inhabitants, according to UNDP’s programme documentation. The Life Plan was intended to help the community identify its aspirations and priorities rather than simply imposing an outside conservation model. Women were also involved in activities that used ancestral knowledge and forest products, including training in the use of forest seeds to make handicrafts. UNDP says such activities can help women generate income while strengthening their role in forest conservation and community self-determination.
Cacao can give families a reason to protect the forest
One of the most important parts of Juanga’s story is that conservation is linked to livelihoods. She explains that her community has received support to grow cacao while making a commitment to reforest and protect native trees. This matters because communities need ways to earn money and provide food without depending on continual forest clearing. Cacao, coffee and other crops can therefore become part of a broader effort to move towards sustainable, deforestation-free production. PROAmazonía specifically worked on sustainable production chains including coffee, cocoa, oil palm and livestock. UNDP has reported that more than 34,000 hectares had been involved in the transition towards sustainable and deforestation-free production systems, with producers committing to conserve native forest on their farms. The programme also helped connect producers with markets, including sales of organic and fine-aroma cocoa and Arabica coffee. More recently, UNDP has described Ecuador’s broader deforestation-free strategy as an effort to connect Indigenous Peoples and local communities with higher-value economic opportunities while tackling agricultural expansion and other drivers of forest loss. This creates an important link between the environment and household economics: if families can earn from productive land while keeping native forest standing, protecting trees can become part of the livelihood strategy rather than an obstacle to it.
Women are carrying conservation into the next generation
Juanga places particular emphasis on women because she sees them as central to decisions affecting families and children. She describes women as caregivers and planners and says that when a woman plants cacao or coffee, she is investing in something that can benefit her children in the future. She also believes environmental education begins at home, with children learning through the example set by adults. Her message is simple: children should learn how to plant, care for nature and understand the value of forests. This emphasis on women is reflected in PROAmazonía’s wider work. UNDP has described women as important participants in Ecuador’s sustainable agriculture and forest-conservation efforts and has highlighted initiatives designed to strengthen their role in Amazonian agriculture. More than 70,000 men and women were reported to have received training in sustainable practices involving livestock, coffee, cacao and guayusa. The programme also included initiatives specifically designed to increase women’s participation in agricultural activities. For Indigenous women, the significance extends beyond employment. Their participation can help keep traditional knowledge in use while creating new economic opportunities. In this sense, planting a tree can become an act that connects three generations at once: knowledge inherited from elders, work undertaken by adults and a healthier landscape intended for children.
Protecting the forest means protecting a way of life
The larger story unfolding in Ecuador is about whether conservation can work when local people are treated as partners rather than simply as beneficiaries of environmental programmes. PROAmazonía was built around territorial planning, sustainable production, forest conservation, restoration, good forestry practices and support for bio-enterprises. UNDP has reported that its work included more than 15,000 hectares undergoing restoration and more than 90,000 hectares covered by sustainable forest-management actions, while other programme reporting has documented substantial conservation and sustainable-production gains. The approach has continued to evolve beyond PROAmazonía. In 2025, UNDP reported progress in recognising ancestral land rights for Shuar communities, describing territorial security as a foundation for sustainable projects, biodiversity conservation and the continuation of ancestral practices. It said stronger territorial rights can reinforce protection of forests, biodiversity and the future of Ecuador’s Amazon. For women such as Flor Juanga, that future begins with something tangible: planting a tree, growing cacao, caring for the land and teaching children why the forest matters. Her story shows that for an Indigenous community, conservation is not only about protecting wildlife. It can also mean protecting food, income, traditions, identity and the relationship between people and the land they call home.
