The Federation of Native Communities of the Middle Napo, Curaray, and Arabela (FECONAMNCUA) held its 2023 Congress from March 16 to 20 in the town of Santa Clotilde in Loreto, Peru. Community authorities and leaders from 33 communities participated, as well as representatives of public institutions and civil society.

With the aim of generating spaces for dialogue and decision-making to strengthen the governance of Indigenous peoples, the Federation of Native Maijuna Communities (FECONAMAI) was invited to join the organization through its president, Rúsber Tangoa. He shared the objectives and challenges of his organization in the face of threats to their culture and territory.

OnePlanet and Law, Environment and Natural Resources (DAR) informed participants about the impacts of the Bellavista – Mazán – Salvador – El Estrecho Highway Project, which threatens the collective rights, biological and cultural resources, and ancestral lands of the Maijuna and Kichwa communities.

Both indigenous federations share the vision of preserving their traditional cultures, closely linked to forests and rivers; and they express their rejection of the project, which fails to consider their right to Prior Consultation and to be informed in a timely manner regarding the serious and irreversible cultural and environmental consequences that threaten their communities.