- Lucas Freire
- Aug 5
- 5 min read
By Elielson Almeida, journalist and member of the Pororoka collective
The first flight departed from Quito, Ecuador, bound for Belém, in the Brazilian state of Pará. From there, another short flight reached Macapá, the capital of Amapá. While continental distances were crossed in just a few hours, the 500 kilometers separating Macapá from Oiapoque seemed to divide two different worlds. It was there, in Brazil's northernmost municipality, that Ramiro Ávila arrived to meet with Indigenous leaders and discuss what they consider the greatest threat since Portuguese colonization: oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River.
Notebook in hand, the Rapporteur of the International Rights of Nature Tribunal arrived with a simple intention: to speak little and listen carefully. After only a few days among the communities, one question emerged: how can the law engage with peoples who have always understood nature as inseparable from—if not greater than—human existence itself?
"When You Destroy a River, It Is Like Destroying a Person's Arm"
The remark was not made as a metaphor or a political statement. It was spoken matter-of-factly during one of the boat journeys through the rivers of the Indigenous territories in Oiapoque. It was simply how the communities explain something that has always been self-evident to them: everything is connected within a single living organism.
"When you destroy a river, it is like destroying a person's arm. When you cut down a forest, you are also removing a part of our body. Everything is connected; it is all one living organism", says Luene Karipuna, Executive Coordinator of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of Amapá and Northern Pará (Apoianp).
The landscape is also what makes spiritual connection possible. The caruanas are spiritual beings that inhabit the waters, the trees, and the depths of the sea, guiding the relationship between people, animals, and the territory. Within this worldview, nature is not regarded as a resource but as the very condition that makes life possible.
"We do not own the territory. We are part of it. There is a balance between the trees, the fish, the animals, and the human beings who live here. That is why we have cared for these territories for thousands of years without destroying them", Luene says.
It is precisely here that the legal debate begins to shift. While legal systems seek to develop mechanisms for recognizing rivers and forests as legal persons, Oiapoque challenges us to go even further—or perhaps to return to a time when the rhythms of nature guided human life in perfect harmony. Over millennia, that relationship was gradually forgotten as technological progress enabled humanity to dominate animals, plants, and even the courses of rivers. To dismantle the idea of nature as mere property, the law must learn from those who have never ceased to understand nature as something greater than themselves.
"Here in Brazil, we see an extraordinary diversity of peoples. They eat different foods, think in different ways, and have different origin stories. Yet they all share one fundamental value: profound respect for what surrounds them. As Indigenous peoples often say, the Amazon is their pharmacy, their university, and their supermarket. When we are in their territory, we come to understand that these other forms of life exist and make our own survival possible."
The Amazon: A New Oil Frontier
The concerns of Indigenous leaders are focused on Brazil's Equatorial Margin, a maritime region stretching more than 2,000 kilometers from the coast of Amapá to the state of Rio Grande do Norte. It is along this coastline that Petrobras plans to expand offshore oil exploration.
The first step is Block 59, located in the Amazon River Mouth Basin, one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth, home to extensive mangroves, coral reef systems, and countless fishing communities.
In January of this year, a leak of 18,000 liters of synthetic drilling fluid prompted the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office to ask the courts to suspend the drilling license. Prosecutors cited technical shortcomings, the absence of an adequate emergency response plan, and the failure to conduct Free, Prior, and Informed Consultation with Indigenous peoples.
Environmental agencies, scientists, and traditional communities have also warned that any oil spill could cause irreversible damage to one of the region's most important ecosystems, undermining both biodiversity and efforts to confront the global climate crisis.
It is precisely this understanding of nature that has brought the case before the International Rights of Nature Tribunal, which is examining whether oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon River could constitute a violation of nature's own rights.
The Amazon at the Forefront of Environmental Rights
When it comes to the Rights of Nature, the Amazon can rightly claim a pioneering role in recognizing rivers and forests as rights-bearing entities, no less entitled to protection than human beings. Much of that intellectual foundation owes itself to Ramiro Ávila Santamaría, one of the world's leading scholars on the subject.
Born in Ecuador, Ramiro has spent years following conflicts involving oil extraction, Indigenous peoples, and environmental destruction throughout the Amazon. It was within this context that he helped shape one of the world's most influential legal experiences concerning the Rights of Nature. In 2008, while serving in Ecuador's Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, the country became the first in the world to incorporate the Rights of Nature into its Constitution, recognizing rivers, forests, mangroves, and other ecosystems as subjects of rights.
In Oiapoque, the jurist realized that there was no need to explain what the Rights of Nature are. Instead, what was needed was a legal language capable of translating an Indigenous worldview into concepts that courts, legal systems, and public institutions could recognize.
"Indigenous peoples may not use this exact expression, but they undoubtedly live it, feel it, and embody it. The substance is the same. What is still missing is a language that allows this worldview to dialogue with other worlds."
The Brazilian State in the Dock
In April this year, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of Amapá and Northern Pará (Apoianp) submitted a complaint against the Brazilian State to the International Rights of Nature Tribunal.
Created in 2014, the International Rights of Nature Tribunal is a global civil society initiative that examines alleged environmental violations committed by governments and corporations. Although its decisions are ethical rather than legally binding, they help shape legal thinking, inform academic research, and build an international historical record on the Rights of Nature.
The complaint argues that authorizing oil exploration along Brazil's Equatorial Margin may constitute a violation of nature's own rights and asks the Tribunal to recognize Brazil's responsibility for the risks posed to the region's ecosystems and Indigenous peoples.
As rapporteur for the case, Ramiro Ávila traveled throughout Oiapoque before preparing his report, listening to Indigenous leaders, navigating their territories, and witnessing firsthand the ways of life the complaint seeks to protect.
By the end of his visit, Ramiro realized that what truly separates Oiapoque from the rest of the world may not be physical distance, but a way of thinking that could hold the key to overcoming today's climate crisis. While capitalism continues to generate new forms of consumption that degrade the environment, Indigenous peoples demonstrate that a fulfilling life is only possible when every form of life exists in balance with the others.
"The Western world has much to learn. That is exactly what happened to me during these days. We have much to learn from peoples who have been ignored, exploited, and subjected to violence. Their stories, their knowledge, and their ways of understanding the world may help save this planet", Ramiro concludes.
