Tuntiak Katan Jua
Originating from the Ecuadorian Amazon town of Shuar, Tuntiak began his work in his Tuutinentsa community supporting the organization la Federación Interporvincial de Centros Suhar (FICSH). This work focused on the social and environmental rights of the indigenous communities of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Tuntiak became the leader of the Territorios y Recursos Naturales en la Confederación de nacionalidades Indígenas de la Amazonia Ecuatoriana (CONFENIAE), engaging with communities of the Ecuadorian Amazon in the construction of the PDI Implementation Plan for the framework of Climate change and REDD+, RIA+, and Sacred Basins.
Tuntiak completed a certificate in Conservation Biology and Natural Resource Management with the Missouri Botanical Garden and studied Applied Ecology and Environmental Management at the University of San Francisco in Quito.
He has led and managed many environmental, social, and linguistic projects in Ecuador and internationally with funding from USAID, NORAD, NICFI, IKI, NFS, National Geographic and others. Since 2018, he has been the Deputy Coordinator of the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), an indigenous organization represented in nine countries. Since 2019, he has served as the General Coordinator of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, made up of five international indigenous organizations that own more than 600 million hectares of tropical forests throughout the world. His interest is to generate concrete actions in the Amazonian territories, communities, and tropical forests throughout the world.