As our planet’s mightiest river, the Amazon and its tributaries form the most intricate and biodiverse water system in the world. Without it, we would lose over one fifth of our planet’s freshwater supplies and our largest rainforest – the lungs of the world – would cease to exist. In the face of escalating pressures and threats from the industrialized world, indigenous peoples are at the forefront of movements to protect water and the rivers that are the lifelines to their ancestral rainforest territories.

Rivers are essential for the daily life of thousands of indigenous communities across the region, and have sustained their cultures, their livelihoods, and ways of life for thousands of years. Yet the health of the Amazon’s rivers is increasingly at risk. Unprecedented rates of deforestation and the advance of the extractive frontier are pushing the Amazon rainforest towards a dangerous tipping point, which could be less than thirty years away. Scientists affirm that at the current rate of deforestation, the Amazon’s rainfall will soon be drastically reduced, drying up rivers and the rainforest, and dramatically altering our planet’s climate, health, and freshwater resources.

Indigenous peoples are on the frontlines taking action and building solutions to defend rivers and their biodiversity for their peoples and the planet. In the following photo-essay, we take a snapshot journey through the Amazon’s rivers, and into the lives and struggles of the Amazon’s indigenous water protectors who are winning remarkable victories for rivers and the rights of nature despite all the odds.