Alexandra Narváez
Goldman Environmental Prize 2022 winner for environmental activism against illegal gold mining
The Goldman Environmental Prize honours the achievements of grassroots environmental activists from around the world. Alexandra Narváez and Alex Lucitante from Ecuador were announced as joint winners of one of this year’s prizes. The pair led an indigenous movement to protect their people’s ancestral territory from gold mining. Their efforts resulted in a historic legal victory in October 2018, when Ecuador’s courts cancelled 52 illegal gold-mining concessions. Their action also contributed to the country’s supreme court ruling for stronger land rights for indigenous communities in early 2022.
“The A’i Cofán community of Sinangoe consists of about 300 people, and we protect about 63,000ha of land, including some of the most biodiverse flora and fauna in the world,” says Narváez. The Sinangoe live on the shores of the Aguarico River, in the Ecuadorian province of Sucumbíos and have relied on the natural environment for subsistence farming, hunting and wild harvesting for thousands of years.
“I saw my father, as a former president of the community, always leading, and my grandfather emphasising the need to preserve our culture and land,” she says. “Although it was all our responsibility to defend our territory, I didn’t see a lot of women taking up the fight.” Narváez decided to join a forest patrol called La Guardia, which was formed in 2017 to monitor and halt illegal activities taking place in Cofán territory. It was La Guardia that discovered that the Ecuadorian government had issued 20 large-scale mining concessions without informing or consulting the community.
While Narváez organised patrols and served as the spokesperson for Sinangoe, Alex Lucitante organised the legal and media strategies. “The legal precedents that we achieved in 2018 and in 2022 have inspired other communities to fight for their land and stand up for their rights,” says Narváez. “We all have the responsibility to take care of the planet and say ‘yes’ to life.”