OPIP

From NativeWiki

In 1978, the Kichwa, Achuar, Shuar, and Zápara peoples of the province of Pastaza in Ecuador formed the Organización de Pueblos Indígenas de Pastaza (OPIP, Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Pastaza). OPIP sought to promote unity and organization of the peoples of Pastaza; obtain land rights to their ancestral territories from the government of Ecuador; and press for environmental policies for the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources in their territories for the benefit of Indigenous peoples and for the rest of humanity. OPIP was particularly active in petitioning the Ecuadorian government for autonomy over native lands in the Amazon region. Activists presented the Ecuadorian government with a plan to hand over control of 90 percent of the land in the eastern province of Pastaza to the Indigenous peoples. The plan would not only have given the people in the Amazon autonomy over their own affairs, but it would also have stopped the ecological and cultural devastation of their territory. Rather than exploiting the land for short-term benefits, OPIP's natural resource management plan would preserve the environment "for the benefit of the children of our grandchildren."

OPIP is part of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENIAE).