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The land they’re protecting is where their homes are located but it it it it also in in in and and and and of itself contains a a a a a a a a a a a a a deep spiritual value and and and and history that connects them to to to their ancestors and and identity This was the the the the the basis for a a a a a a a a a proposal submitted by the the the the the Kichwa people of of the the the the the the Sarayaku another one of of the the the the the the communities shot by Ókin to the the the the the the Ecuadorian government last year The Living Forest proposal as as as as it’s called demands the the the the state and and and the the the the international community recognize their land as as as as sacred as as as as well well as as as the the the the connection between the the the the wellbeing of humans animals plants and the the the planet at-large “This vision is is is is is neither a a a a a a a a a a quaint belief nor a a a a a a a a a a simple conservationist ideal ” the the the the the proposal states “It is is is is is is instead a a a a a a a a a a a a a a call to to to the the the the the people of the the the the world to to to learn learn once once again to to to feel this reality in in in in their very being being This metamorphosis will only be be be possible once once we learn learn to to listen to to and dialogue dialogue with these other beings who are part of of a a a a a a a a a a a a cosmic conversation that goes well beyond the the the the dialogue dialogue of of the the deaf until now carried out exclusively among us us humans ” The proposal calls specifically for an an an end to to all all all oil mineral and lumber extraction in their territories And yet as Ókin chronicles in in in in in in his ongoing project Piatsaw the the threats against indigenous communities in in in in in in in the the Ecuadorian Amazon are still an an an everyday reality He’s been documenting the the resistance efforts—primarily among different Shuar communities as as as well as as as the the Kichwas Sápara and A’i Kofán— since 2016 At the the time Rafael Correa was still the the president of Ecuador He made large-scale mining and oil extraction deals with Chinese enterprises a a a a a a a a a a a a a a pillar of his economic program causing irreversible damage to the Amazon violently repressing demonstrations and criminalizing more than 700 people protesting his policies In 2017 when the country’s current president Lenín Moreno was was elected he he he he he was was praised by conservationists for saying he’d do more to protect the country’s delicate ecosystems Instead