Amazon Futures: Indigenous Youth Leading Change
On August 12, 2025, in honor of both International Youth Day and the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (celebrated on August 9), the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program (ASL), led by the World Bank with support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), in collaboration with the Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA), hosted a webinar. The event explored how science, policy, and governance can be strengthened through equitable engagement with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, especially by recognizing the voices and leadership of Indigenous youth.
The webinar began with welcoming remarks by João Moura, Natural Resources Management Specialist at the World Bank’s Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy Global Practice and ASL Program Coordinator. He was followed by Benoit Bosquet, World Bank Regional Director for Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Benoit emphasized that youth plays diverse and vital roles in conserving and restoring the Amazon, and their voices are essential to shaping the future. Recognizing this, ASL established a regional gender and youth working group last year to ensure their active participation, with special focus on Indigenous women and youth. These and other initiatives promote equity and respect for cultural diversity. He also highlighted the role of the Science Panel for the Amazon in weaving together diverse knowledge systems to advance a sustainable future for the region.
The next intervention came from Simone Athayde, SPA Lead Author and member of its Science Steering Committee, and Research Integrity Lead at WRI. Simone gave a presentation on the SPA, outlining its vision and mission, its key achievements over the past five years and SPA’s ongoing engagement strategies. She highlighted SPA’s work with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, including: ensuring their direct participation as scientific authors in SPA publications; supporting Indigenous and Local authors to take part in international fora; and fostering intercultural knowledge dialogues.
She then presented SPA’s youth engagement strategy. A key milestone was the launch of the Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) in September 2024, through which ten initiatives are being advanced in areas such as knowledge sharing, science communication, networking, and representation. Among these initiatives is SPA’s new podcast “Conversations for The Amazon We Want”, featuring intergenerational dialogues between YAC members and SPA scientists.
Nadino Calapucha, SPA Author
Simone introduced the first featured speaker, Nadino Calapucha, SPA Author and young leader of the Amazonian Kichwa Nationality from the Shiwakucha Community in Arajuno Canton, Ecuador. Nadino delivered a powerful message: the Amazon is vital for global climate stability and biodiversity, yet it is nearing a tipping point. Climate change already affects those who defend the forest the most—Indigenous Peoples. He stressed that Indigenous science and governance are indispensable, but defenders face escalating violence. He issued an urgent call to change policies and improve financing, noting that only a minimal share of funds reaches Indigenous Peoples directly. Maintaining the Amazon’s connectivity requires Indigenous knowledge, but this knowledge must be recognized and supported.
The next speaker was Raquel Sousa Chaves, SPA Lead Author, Coordinator of the Tupinambá Indigenous Council in the Lower Tapajós (Brazil), and PhD candidate in Social Anthropology at the University of Brasília. Raquel reflected that to face current and future challenges, we must look to the past. During colonization, Indigenous Peoples were enslaved and marginalized, their knowledge and identity denied—yet their ancestral science and technologies shaped the Amazon we know today.
Raquel underlined that while the Amazon has long been treated as a periphery, its peoples generate socio-biodiversity and invaluable knowledge. Yet, Amazonian products remain undervalued. Grassroots social organizations have been and continue to be essential for defending Indigenous territories. Indigenous youth are organizing, communicating, and resisting, but they need stronger support. Many young people see no future, and that is also urgent. Echoing Nadino’s intervention, Raquel stressed the importance of channeling resources directly to grassroots organizations, supporting local products, and creating opportunities for youth.
The next speaker was Rut Nayiver García Morales, Indigenous leader from San Luis La Rompida, located on the Guaviare River within the Ramsar Site Estrella Fluvial de Inírida (EFI), Colombia. Rut presented a concrete example of intercultural exchange between Indigenous knowledge and Western science. In EFI, communities are contributing to the monitoring and conservation of fish and aquatic ecosystems in the Colombian Amazon. She shared details of these monitoring efforts, emphasizing the intercultural collaborations that bring together Indigenous Peoples, farmers, and especially youth.
After hearing from young Indigenous leaders representing three different Amazonian countries, Simone welcomed María Carmen Albertos de Ceano-Vivas, Senior Consultant for the World Bank’s Latin America Social Development and Inclusion Unit and faculty member at the Expert Program on Indigenous Peoples, Human Rights, and International Cooperation at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. María Carmen reflected on the earlier interventions, stressing the leadership already being demonstrated by Indigenous youth and their role in shaping the Amazon’s future. She noted that Indigenous youth embody both ancestral knowledge and Western learning, as well as new technologies, making them uniquely positioned to bridge knowledge systems.
María Carmen emphasized that all speakers called for a paradigm shift: changes in policy, development models, and financing. The participation of Indigenous Peoples and Amazonian youth is central to this transformation, with real potential for regional and global impact. She noted the call for concrete actions, recognizing the challenges posed by climate change, threats to defenders, and ongoing discrimination against Indigenous knowledge.
The floor then opened to audience questions and reflections. Nadino spoke of the triple effort Indigenous Peoples must make to participate in international decision-making spaces—learning new languages, mastering technical mechanisms, breaking barriers—just to be heard. These challenges are even greater for women and youth. What is needed is not only training but also long-term accompaniment for young leaders who want to share and expand knowledge within their communities.
The discussion also touched on the reality that some Indigenous communities become involved in unsustainable activities. Nadino explained that due to lack of sustainable alternatives, government neglect, and insecurity faced by defenders, some communities turn to extractive activities as a means of economic survival. Raquel added that communication is vital to show that sustainable alternatives are possible. Strengthening grassroots organizations is critical for the Amazon’s future, as is recognizing Indigenous processes, oral culture, and worldviews, so that public policies can embrace them and translate them into Indigenous education plans.
Rut reiterated the central role Indigenous Peoples have long played in conserving the Amazon. This knowledge can be shared and expanded, as demonstrated in their monitoring projects involving children and youth. She stressed the importance of working with multiple actors to strengthen these initiatives and promote knowledge exchange grounded in the territories.
From the audience, Adriana Moreira, Lead of the GEF Partnerships Division and former ASL Program Manager, also spoke. Representing GEF, which funds both ASL and SPA, Adriana expressed her strong support for this event and for the ongoing youth, women, and Indigenous engagement efforts of both programs. She mentioned the program honoring Gustavo Fonseca, focused on youth leadership, as well as other partnerships that provide specific support for Indigenous and local leaders.
Emma Torres, SPA Strategic Coordinator
Closing remarks were delivered by Emma Torres, Vice President for the Americas & Strategic Partnerships at SDSN and Strategic Coordinator of the SPA. Emma praised the inspiring exchanges, underscoring that Indigenous knowledge is science and must dialogue with Western science. On the road to COP30, she reflected on financing issues, stressing the need to compensate tropical countries for conserving standing forests. A new, transformative development model is needed—one that demonstrates forests can be conserved and contribute to sustainable development of the Amazon. Mobilizing both finance and knowledge is essential. She commended all the panelists advancing this transformative work.
The session highlighted that respecting rights, embracing diversity, and fostering intergenerational collaboration are key to building a resilient and inclusive future for the Amazon. This rich intercultural and intergenerational dialogue underscored the many challenges ahead, particularly the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ roles in conserving the Amazon. It also showed how collaboration can drive the paradigm shift needed: anchored in security, equity, and sustainability.
