Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative

In 2017, during the 8th Pan-Amazon Social Forum (FOSPA) in Tarapoto, Peru, representatives from various organizations in Ecuador and Peru decided to create the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative. This effort, led by strong Indigenous representation, emerged in response to growing threats to territories and with the goal of proposing solutions to improve the quality of life for communities and mitigate biodiversity loss in the Amazon. After a process of ideation and research, a collective vision for 2030 was developed.

The Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative is building a shared vision among indigenous peoples, NGOs, the philanthropic community, social entrepreneurs and governments towards establishing a bi-national protected region – off-limits to industrial scale resource extraction, and governed in accordance with traditional indigenous principles of cooperation and harmony that foster a mutually enhancing human-Earth relationship.

The Initiative is led by Amazonian indigenous federations CONFENIAE (Ecuador), AIDESEP (Peru), ORPIO, and COICA, in partnership with Pachamama Alliance, and Fundación Pachamama.

Activity period	2018–present
Last CoAct update	2025
Web URL	https://sacredheadwaters.org/
Output effectiveness	0.46
Accountability Index	0.19
Inclusiveness Index	0.58
Capacity Index	0.64
Num. actors	9
Functions	Knowledge production, Knowledge dissemination, Institutional capacity building
SDGs
Themes	land use
Policy focus	Mainly mitigation
Sectors	Agriculture, forestry and fishing
Implementation countries	Ecuador, Peru