About The Cofán
Nation

The Cofan: Guardians of the Amazon Forest

According to historical sources, the indigenous communities originating in the lower Putumayo settled along the banks of the San Miguel River in Colombia. They also settled regions near Aguarico and Napo Rivers in Ecuador. The territory currently occupied by the Cofan people is approximately 430,000 hectares (about 1,000,000 acres) of tropical, subtropical, and montane rainforests in northeastern Ecuador. In 1955 the Cofan people were the sole inhabitants of more than 1,000,000 hectares (25,000,000 acres) of pristine forest in northeast Ecuador. By 1965 oil exploration and exploitation began, and by 1975, the forests were rapidly disappearing before a mass colonization created by roads to access large quantities of petroleum.

This invasion resulted in rivers and waterways that became toxic with chemicals and waste. Animals and natural forests disappeared under this onslaught. The Indigenous Cofan tribe, now less than 1200 people, was left to survive on less than 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of badly degraded rainforests and toxic waterways.  Something needed to be done to save the Cofan people and the rain forest. The “Guardians of the Amazon Forests” created the Fundación para la Sobrevivencia Cofan, holding the vision of sustaining the Amazon Rain Forests and the creatures and  Indigenous people that lived there

Founded in 1999, the Fundación Sobrevivencia Cofan (FSC) is an organization whose Cofan leadership is dedicated to the survival of the Cofan indigenous culture and its Amazonian rainforest environment. FSC dedicated itself to recovering legal rights over Cofan ancestral territories and establishing mechanisms to conserve and protect these territories.

FSC was founded to reclaim and protect Cofan territory, primarily driven by the need to respond to oil exploitation in the region and the colonists who followed in the oil companies’ wake. Inspired by the “fight for our rights or disappear” mindset, FSC focuses on finding practical, on-the-ground solutions that contribute to the survival of the Cofan Nation and our forest home on which we depend, and managing the natural resources in Cofan ancestral territory in northeastern Ecuador for the long term.

Presently, FSC continues to work with the Cofan Federation in acquiring environmental services to help cover recurring costs of Cofan conservation programs and to continue the support of the Cofan Ranger Program.