José María Gualinga

Originally from Sarayaku, José María Gualinga is a charismatic leader of the Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku. José served as the Tayak Apu (president) from 2011 to 2014. Currently, he is a member of the Political Advisory Council of the Sarayaku Government Council and the Coordinator of the Strategic Plan to Implement the Kawsak Sacha-Living Jungle Declaration.

During the 1990s, José was the representative in Europe of the Organization of the Indigenous Peoples of Pastaza (OPIP). He is the author of the Sisa Ñampi Plan (Camino de Flores or Frontera de Vida) and co-editor of several documentaries, including Black Blood and The Song of the Flower.

He participated in the creation of the Kindy Challwa (Canoe of Life), which is exhibited at the Museum of Man in Paris.

José is also the author and philosophical intellectual behind the proposal for the Kawsak Sacha-Living Forest Declaration, approved in 2014 by the Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku, launched globally in 2015 at COP21 in Paris, and declared in 2018 in Quito. José is also a key member of the ICCA Consortium in the Ecuadorian Amazon.