In August 2026, more than 2,500 Indigenous Peoples and communities from the Amazon basin met in Puyo, Ecuador for the 12th Pan-Amazonian Social Forum (FOSPA).
Patricia Gualinga is from Sarayaku, a Kichwa community in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The community has spent decades defending its territory from oil exploration. She writes in El Pais that one of the proposals at the Pan-Amazonian Social Forum is to promote fossil fuel-free zones — permanently protected territories free from oil and gas exploration.
Gualinga writes that in Ecuador, the Amazon region faces the threat of 6.7 million hectares of oil blocks. 57% of the Ecuadorian Amazon is threatened. That’s 5.5 million hectares of primary forest. Oil and gas exploration threatens 4.4 million hectares of Indigenous territories, or 61% of Indigenous territories in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
The Political Declaration of Puyuk
The Political Declaration of Puyuk came out of the Pan-Amazonian Social Forum. Puyuk is the original name of Puyo. The Declaration states that,
We live in a time of a global capitalist system unlike anything seen before in world history, amid a fiercely competitive multipolarity, where the old, declining U.S. imperialism and the Global North refuse to give up their unipolar power, relying largely on military force and fascist politics in a new version of Plan Condor in Latin America. . . .
We cannot ignore that the XII FOSPA is taking place in a historic moment of multiple global conflicts — wars between empires over the reshuffling of planetary hegemony, and a bitter dispute for control of energy resources, minerals, rare earths, water, and biodiversity – which have in turn unleashed wars within the Amazonian countries: colonial invasion and occupation as in Venezuela, or the so-called internal wars taking shape or intensifying within countries like Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru, threatening to spread across the Pan-Amazon and the Amazonian countries – wars in which the “internal enemy” is none other than the peoples resisting dispossession.
Less than two weeks after this Declaration, the Trump regime announced a deal to control more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil. This follows the January 2026 illegal military attack on Venezuela by US forces, including the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
The Declaration also denounces false climate solutions such as “carbon markets, debt-for-nature swaps, and thematic bonds, among others, as well as the announcements by countries of the North that they are cutting climate financing in order to prioritize war over life”. The Declaration demands “non-repayable climate financing and reject[s] carbon markets, debt swaps, and other false solutions”.
No carbon credits with jaguars!
And the Pan-Amazonian Social Forum rejected digital jaguar carbon credits. This follows on from the press release put out in April 2026 during the 25th Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues by the Indigenous Environmental Network, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, Acción Ecológica, and the Global Justice Ecology Project.
The press release from the Pan-Amazonian Social Forum follows in English and Spanish:
Pan-Amazonian Social Forum Rejects Carbon Credits with Jaguars
August 25, 2026, Puyo – The XII Pan-Amazonian Social Forum categorically rejected the use of the Amazon and jaguars as carbon credits because it violates the Sacred, dispossesses Indigenous Peoples of their territories, and is a false solution to the climate crisis, which greenwashes oil companies that are destroying the Amazon and the climate.
Today, polluters can buy digital carbon credits with jaguars (Panthera onca) – which are essentially permits to continue polluting – online using a credit card or cryptocurrencies from projects like Greenoxx’s Jaguar Amazon REDD Project, which supposedly protects jaguars, but actually logs the rainforest where they live.
In the Puyuk Political Declaration, launched at the closing ceremony of the XII Pan-Amazonian Social Forum, which was attended by more than 2,500 people from the nine Amazonian countries, Indigenous, Afro-descendant, peasant, feminist, and youth organizations denounced the “hegemonic capitalist development model, based on the commodification and appropriation of nature and the commons.” In particular, the Forum rejected the carbon market and “jaguar credits” and other “false solutions” to the climate crisis caused by “the burning of fossil fuels” and “mining.”
Similarly, the Declaration of Women Against Extractivism and Violence presented to the Pan-Amazonian Social Forum by the Conference of Women Defenders of the Territories of Abya Yala, also explicitly opposed jaguar offsets. “We reject the use of our territories and sacred animals—such as jaguars— for carbon credits, since these finance the dispossession of our territories, commodify our Pachamama (Mother Earth); and greenwash the polluting industries responsible for the destruction of the Amazon and the climate crisis, such as the oil company Chevron-Texaco.”
Felipe Bonilla of the renown environmental NGO Acción Ecológica of Ecuador states that “using animals for carbon offsets is the worst form of the current colonization of nature, because it commodifies the most sacred beings that inhabit the rainforest.”
In 2026, the United Nations and conservation NGOs launched the Jaguar 2030 Roadmap to commodify and privatize jaguars and their habitat as “natural capital,” which includes their use as carbon credits. The plan covers 18 countries from Mexico to Argentina, mostly targets Indigenous Peoples’ territories, and does not exclude extractive industries or dams from the projects.
Indigenous leader Marlon Santi of the Kichwa Nation of Sarayaku, former president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) and co-founder of the International Campaign Enough is Enough! Jaguars are NOT carbon credits, explained that jaguar credits are offensive to Indigenous Peoples because “in our worldview, the jaguars of the rainforest are the sacred spirits of our ancestors, so jaguars absolutely cannot be used for the carbon market. The West doesn’t understand this because it turns everything into a commodity.”
Nicole Auz of Quito Sin Minería (Quito Without Mining) also clarifies that “jaguars and whales are not offsets or carbon credits to justify—or, as they say, ‘compensate’—the pollution caused by oil and mining companies. Nature doesn’t need us to put a price on her: she needs us to stop destroying her and respect the people, cultures, and territories that care for her.”
The Province of Pastaza and Yasuní rainforest in Ecuador are priority areas for jaguar offset projects. According to Waorani leader Alicia Cawiya from Yasuní, “governments want to implement REDD+ and SocioBosque carbon offset programs in our rainforest and put jaguars into the carbon market. But for the Waorani, the jaguar, the condor, the snake, lightning, thunder, and rain are our family. Hear our cry: Jaguars cannot be sold as carbon credits because that destroys our family and violates our rights. Our beloved Amazon and our jaguars ensure our existence and the future of humanity.”
In addition to jaguars, lions, whales, and elephants are used for carbon credits by oil and mining companies. The UN is building a Global Carbon Market with Wild Animals. Such false solutions exacerbate global warming and could accelerate the extinction of the jaguar, the largest feline in the Americas.
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Contacts: Acción Ecológica, Felipe Bonilla +593 98 786 1386 (English and Spanish)
Enough is Enough! Jaguars Are NOT Carbon Credits Campaign, Marlon Santi +593 99 366 1570 (Spanish)
Foro Social Panamazónico rechaza bonos de carbono con jaguares
25 de agosto 2026, Puyo – El XII Foro Social Panamazónico rechazó rotundamente la utilización de la Amazonía y los jaguares como bonos de carbono porque viola lo sagrado, despoja territorios de los Pueblos Indígenas, y es una falsa solución a la crisis climática, que sirve como lavado verde para las petroleras que destruyen la Amazonía y el clima.
Hoy en día contaminadores pueden comprar bonos de carbono digitales con jaguares (Panthera onca) - que son permisos para seguir contaminando – en el internet con una tarjeta de crédito o criptomonedas de proyectos como REDD con Jaguares en la Amazonía de Greenoxx que supuestamente protege los jaguares, pero tala la selva donde viven.
En la Declaración Política de Puyuk, emitida al cierre del XII Foro Social Panamazónico, que contó con la participación de más de 2500 personas de los nueve países amazónicos, organizaciones indígenas, afrodescendientes, campesinas, feministas y juveniles denunciaron el “modelo capitalista de desarrollo hegemónico, basado en la mercantilización y apropiación de la naturaleza y los bienes comunes.” En particular, el Foro rechazó el mercado de carbono y los “bonos jaguar” y otras “falsas soluciones” a la crisis climática causado por “la quema de combustibles fósiles” y “extracción minera.”
De igual manera, el Encuentro de Mujeres Defensoras de Territorio de Abya Yala en su Declaratoria de las Mujeres Frente al Extractivismo y la Violencia presentada ante el Foro Social Panamazónico también se opuso a los bonos jaguar. “Rechazamos la utilización de los territorios y animales sagrados -como los jaguares- para obtener bonos de carbono, ya que estos incluyen financiamientos a favor del despojo a nuestros territorios, mercantilizando a nuestra Pachamama; al mismo tiempo que lavan la cara de las industrias contaminantes responsables de la destrucción de la Amazonia y la crisis climática como la petrolera Chevron-Texaco.”
Felipe Bonilla de Acción Ecológica de Ecuador afirma que “los bonos con animales es la peor forma de colonización actual de la naturaleza, porque mercantilizan lo más sagrado de los seres habitantes de la selva.”
En 2026, las Naciones Unidas y ONGS de conservación lanzaron el Plan Maestro Jaguar 2030 para mercantilizar y privatizar los jaguares y su hábitat como “capital natural” que incluye bonos de carbono. El plan abarca 18 países desde México a Argentina, se concentra en los territorios de los Pueblos Indígenas, y no excluye el extractivismo ni las represas de los proyectos.
El dirigente indígena Marlon Santi de la nacionalidad Kichwa de Sarayaku, expresidente de la CONAIE y co-fundador de la Campaña Internacional ¡BASTA YA! Los jaguares NO son bonos de carbono, explicó que los bonos jaguar resultan ofensivos para las Nacionalidades Indígenas porque “en nuestra cosmovisión, los jaguares de la selva son los espíritus sagrados de nuestros padres, así que definitivamente no se pueden utilizar a los jaguares para el mercado de carbono. El occidente no entiende esto porque convierte todo en mercancía.”
Nicole Auz de Quito Sin Minería también aclara que “los jaguares y las ballenas no son bonos ni créditos para justificar —o, como dicen, ‘compensar’— la contaminación de empresas petroleras y mineras. La naturaleza no necesita que le pongamos precio: necesita que dejemos de destruirla y respetemos a los pueblos, sus culturas y los territorios que viven con ella.”
Pastaza y Yasuní son áreas prioritarias para proyectos de bonos jaguar. Según la dirgente Waorani Alicia Cawiya de Yasuní, “los gobiernos quieren hacer REDD+ y SocioBosque con nuestra selva y meter los jaguares en el mercado de carbono. Pero para los Waorani, el jaguar, el cóndor, la serpiente, el relámpago, el trueno y la lluvia son nuestra familia. Escuchen nuestro grito: Los jaguares no se pueden vender como bonos de carbono porque eso violenta nuestra familia y viola nuestros derechos. Nuestra Amazonía amada y nuestros jaguares aseguran nuestra vida y el futuro de la humanidad.”
Además de jaguares, se utilizan a los leones, las ballenas y los elefantes para bonos de carbono de las petroleras y mineras. La ONU construye un Mercado Mundial de Carbono con los Animales Silvestres. Semejantes falsas soluciones agudizan el calentamiento global y podrían acelerar la extinción del jaguar, el felino más grande de América.
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Contactos: Acción Ecológica, Felipe Bonilla +593 98 786 1386
Campaña ¡BASTA YA! Jaguares NO son bonos de carbono, Marlon Santi +593 99 366 1570