An Evening with Amazon Watch in San Francisco

2 Marina Boulevard,San Francisco CA 94123

12 May, 2022

Description

Join us for an evening of connection, community, hope, and inspiration with Indigenous women defenders. The Amazon rainforest is at a tipping point. In solidarity with Indigenous peoples, Amazon Watch is stepping up and taking action like never before to stop Amazon destruction and defend the defenders by holding the drivers of deforestation and extraction accountable. Together, we are calling for the permanent protection of 80% of the Amazon by 2025 and to avert the tipping point! Join us on Thursday, May 12 at Greens Restaurant in San Francisco for a special evening reception of connection, community, hope, and inspiration with our team, donors and allies including Indigenous women defenders of the Amazon Nina Gualinga and Helena Gualinga, Kichwa from Sarayaku, Ecuadorian Amazon. Our intimate reception will include a short program moderated by our Executive Director, Leila Salazar-López. Light refreshments will be served. Amazon Watch respects and adheres to current local COVID-19 health guidelines and requests that all guests be fully vaccinated or provide a negative rapid antigen or PCR test result. Masks optional. Questions? Email Kathy at [email protected]. Nina Gualinga is an Indigenous woman defender of the Amazon from the Kichwa community of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon who advocates for women’s rights and climate justice. She is an international spokeswoman for Mujeres Amazonicas and the Women Defenders Program Coordinator at Amazon Watch. ​​“Extractive violence against the land and violence against Indigenous women go hand and hand. We believe that healing women is also healing the earth.” -Nina Gualinga Helena Gualinga is an Indigenous youth environmental and climate justice advocate from the Kichwa community of Sarayaku. She is a co-founder of Polluters Out and is a Young Women Project Lead with WECAN. Her work and story is featured in the recently released documentary, "Helena from Sarayaku," which premiered at the DC Environmental Film Festival. “The most urgent action this planet needs is the phase out of fossil fuels. It is no longer an option to keep burning fossil fuels if we want to have a livable planet.”- Helena Gualinga Leila Salazar-López is a mother; proud Chicana-Latina woman; and passionate defender of Mother Earth, the Amazon, Indigenous rights and climate justice. Since 2015 she has served as the Executive Director of Amazon Watch, leading the organization in its work to protect and defend the bio-cultural and climate integrity of the Amazon rainforest in solidarity with Indigenous peoples. “Amazonian women defenders bring myriad solutions to respond to the Amazon tipping point and climate chaos we’re facing. They are the turning point, the light, the joy, and the healers we need to meet this moment. They are on the front lines of resistance to the extractive industries that continue to threaten rights, rivers, rainforests, and our climate. We stand with them in solidarity and we thank you for joining us. Only together can we protect our Mother Earth.” - Leila Salazar-López