Main content

Nemonte Nenquimo: Love and battle in the Ecuadorian Amazon

After Nemonte Nenquimo saw the destruction the oil industry was bringing to the Amazon, she fought back and won a landmark legal victory protecting 500,000 acres of rainforest.

Nemonte Nenquimo's childhood was influenced by her Waorani culture and also by the Christian missionaries who had come to live in her village. The missionaries wanted Nemonte to strive for their way of life and, for a while, she felt conflicted. But all uncertainty left her when she witnessed the damage the oil industry was having on on her rainforest home.

She met an American called Mitch Anderson who was working to protect the rainforest and their love for each other, and their shared mission, propelled Nemonte on to achieve a landmark legal victory on behalf of her indigenous community against the Ecuadorian government. Nemonte and Mitch have written a book together called We Will Not Be Saved: A Memoir of Hope and Resistance in the Amazon Rainforest.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: May Cameron
Voice over: Cecilia Cruz

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

(Photo: Waorani leader Nemonte Nenquimo carries her people's lawsuit in her hands. Credit: Amazon Frontlines)

Available now

41 minutes

Last on

Wed 21 Aug 2024 02:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Tue 20 Aug 2024 11:06GMT
  • Tue 20 Aug 2024 17:06GMT
  • Tue 20 Aug 2024 21:06GMT
  • Wed 21 Aug 2024 02:06GMT

Contact Outlook

Contact Outlook

Info on how we might use your contribution on air

Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Step into someone else鈥檚 life and expect the unexpected