“War and fires have much in common. It is not known how or when they begin, or how they will end. The only certainty is that the spark and fuel are human’s greed and ambition, and this is caused by lack of understanding and fear. Like all wars, fire only brings us sadness, pain and disease”

– Alcides V., an activist from Chiquitanía, Bolivian Amazon, September 2019

With their cameras loaded, two young indigenous photographers and filmmakers from the Ecuadorian Amazon began the long journey to the Bolivian Amazon amidst the fires. Jimmy Piaguaje and Ribaldo Piaguaje were headed to Chiquitano, in the country’s fire-ravaged lowlands of the southern Santa Cruz region.

The destruction of millions of acres of primary rainforest in the Bolivian Amazon by the fires are part of a global crisis and assault on the Amazon rainforest’s resources, and the lands and rights of indigenous peoples. Between May and September 2019, the world’s headlines were gripped by the apocalyptic images of burning forests across Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay. The vast majority of the fires were intentional, and were fueled by the policy changes and agendas of governments in the region encouraging deforestation and promoting agribusiness and extractive interests at the expense of the rights of indigenous people and conservation. Today, indigenous people’s resource-rich rainforest territories are more threatened than ever by land grabbing, invasions, and deadly violence.

In this unique photo reportage, indigenous youth Jimmy Piaguaje and Ribaldo Piaguaje, along with members of Amazon Frontlines’ communications team, take us on a journey to investigate and experience the frontlines of the fires in the Bolivian Amazon and meet the affected communities, through their eyes, perspectives, and memories.