Indigenous alliance wins Gulbenkian prize to protect Amazon
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Leaders from the Alianza Ceibo, a coalition of Indigenous groups from the Amazon rainforest, accepted the 2026 Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity in Lisbon, Portugal, and called for a strong alliance between people and governments to defend the Amazon and the planet.
Hernán Payaguaje, co-founder of Alianza Ceibo and a member of the Siekopai people, explained the group’s message is that humanity is harming nature and must change.
The Alianza Ceibo unites Indigenous peoples from distant territories to protect their lands from threats like extractive industries, oil, mining, and agriculture, and colonization. The crisis of biodiversity loss already affects the communities represented by the alliance, the Siona, Siekopai, Waorani, and A’i Kofan peoples. They are fighting these threats through legal action and by preserving their cultures and traditions, while also pursuing development and education.
Payaguaje, whose grandfather was a traditional healer, earned a university degree to combine Indigenous knowledge with outside perspectives, allowing him to better advocate for his community. Alicia Salazar, from the Siona people, noted the importance of education within her community, where a basic school exists, and lamented that pollution now prevents children from freely playing in the Putumayo River, a tributary of the Amazon.
The one million euro prize will help Alianza Ceibo continue its work defending Indigenous peoples and the Amazon rainforest, ensuring the continued existence of their cultures and territories.
