Manari Ushinga of the Sápara people in Ecuador shares his community's perspective on the natural world, interconnectedness, and the critical importance of leaving the oil beneath the Ecuadorian

Manari Ushinga of the Sápara people in Ecuador shares his community's perspective on the natural world, interconnectedness, and the critical importance of leaving the oil beneath the Ecuadorian Amazon untouched.

This content was published on April 15, 2014, by the Pachamama Alliance.

Manari is a ceremonial leader and healer, offering natural, non-invasive cures for 'modern day' sicknesses through dream interpretation, spiritual connections, and medicinal plants, including

Manari is a ceremonial leader and healer, offering natural, non-invasive cures for 'modern day' sicknesses through dream interpretation, spiritual connections, and medicinal plants, including natural tobacco. He inspires a rediscovery of our bond with nature.

As an indigenous rights advocate, Manari has stopped perforation efforts in his native territory. His work has defended the Sapara community's rights at international forums, including the Interamerican Human Rights Court, the United Nations, and the European Parliament.

Manari also manages NAKU, the communitarian enterprise ('The Jungle' in Sapara). NAKU offers ecotourism, healing alternatives, and natural medicine research, leveraging indigenous cultural heritage and native tools.