In the lead-up to the Second Amazon Water Summit, to be held in Puerto Maldonado, Madre de Dios, in 2027, the first “Maloca del Agua” took place on October 5. This virtual space for dialogue and collaboration seeks to build networks among communities, organizations, the Church, public institutions, academia, and other actors committed to defending water and life in the Amazon.
The initiative, spearheaded by the Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Maldonado (Peru), draws on the spirit of the first Amazon Water Summit and proposes that this process be understood not as an isolated event, but as a journey of participation, reflection, advocacy, and collective action.
“The Malocas are also woven together,” it was explained during the meeting, referring to these traditional gathering spaces of the Amazonian peoples, where knowledge is shared, dialogue takes place, and community decisions are made. From this perspective, the Malocas del Agua seek to become spaces for connecting experiences and proposals from the territories.
Water: A Priority for the Amazonian Church
The meeting began with remarks by Bishop Miguel Ángel Cadenas, bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Iquitos, who outlined the origins of the first Amazonian Water Summit and the process that led to the creation of the Vicariate of Water.
The bishop explained that nearly 70% of the territory of the Vicariate of Iquitos is flood-prone and that these areas are home to, among other peoples, the Kukama people, whose lives and culture are deeply intertwined with the rivers.
Through pastoral accompaniment of the communities and their efforts to defend their territories, various issues emerged related to oil pollution, formation waters, infrastructure projects, and the lack of access to safe water.
Bishop Cadenas also highlighted the legal process that recognized the Marañón River as a subject of rights, as well as the lawsuits filed by communities in Iquitos demanding access to drinking water and basic sanitation.
For the bishop, these experiences show how the care of water has become a concrete expression of a synodal and missionary Church that accompanies the Amazonian peoples in the defense of life and their territories.
“The Spirit is inspiring the Amazonian Churches to stand with the Amazonian peoples as a whole in conserving water as a vital source of life and also in protecting the territories of indigenous peoples.”
From a Summit to a Process of Coordination
For her part, Bárbara Fraser, a journalist and coordinator of the Vicariate for Water of the Apostolic Vicariate of Iquitos, shared her experience of the first Amazon Water Summit, held a year ago.
Fraser recalled that the first summit brought together more than 400 participants from 13 countries, far exceeding initial expectations. The gathering provided an opportunity to share experiences, strengthen ties, and shed light on the various dimensions of the water crisis in the Amazon.
One of the main outcomes was the drafting of a declaration and an agenda for next steps, including leadership training, raising awareness, strengthening advocacy efforts, exchanging experiences, and establishing coordination mechanisms at the Amazon basin level.
“The summit should not be just a moment, just another event; it must be part of a process,” said Fraser, emphasizing the importance of maintaining coordination among organizations and stakeholders working on water issues in different territories.
Among the advances made since the first summit, collaboration with organizations such as REPAM, CEAMA, CELAM, church networks, and social organizations was highlighted, as well as the preparation of contributions to a report on water in the Amazon promoted within the framework of the United Nations.
Indigenous Peoples: Territory, Water, and Governance
The voice of indigenous peoples was represented by Julio Cusurichi Palacios, an indigenous leader of the Shipibo people and representative of AIDESEP (Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest), who emphasized that for indigenous peoples, territory constitutes the foundation of life, culture, and the continuity of their communities.
“For us, territory is the fundamental basis (…) not only for the survival or continuity of our people, but the territory that gives us life,” he stated.
Cusurichi emphasized that rivers, streams, forests, medicinal plants, and other elements of ecosystems are an integral part of the territory and require proper governance.
He also warned of threats arising from extractive activities, regressive regulations, land invasions, and other processes that endanger Indigenous territories. In this context, he proposed strengthening the legal security of communities, monitoring systems, and the participation of Indigenous men and women in the management of their territories.
He also highlighted the importance of making progress toward recognizing rivers and streams as subjects of rights, as a tool to strengthen their protection.
Public Policies That Address the Reality of the Amazon
Mariano Castro Sánchez-Moreno, a specialist in public policy and environmental management, drew attention to the need to place Amazonian waters at the center of public policies.
During his remarks, he noted that water-related problems are not exclusive to the Amazon but have national, regional, and global repercussions.
Among the main challenges, he mentioned gaps in access to safe water and sanitation; pollution from wastewater and heavy metals—especially mercury; deforestation; and the loss of ecosystems.
Castro emphasized that public policies must translate into concrete actions, budgets, responsibilities, indicators, and monitoring mechanisms.
Among the proposals put forward for the Second Amazon Water Summit, he highlighted the need to strengthen information and research; integrate scientific knowledge with indigenous knowledge; improve public investment; prioritize wastewater treatment; strengthen monitoring of water, fish, and sediments; ensure the participation of indigenous peoples and women in governance forums; and promote public monitoring and accountability mechanisms.
“Monitoring must demonstrate improvements in water quality and community health,” he emphasized.
From the Local Level to the Global Agenda
The fourth panelist, Francisco Javier Cortés Fernández, director of the Basque Agency for Cooperation and Solidarity, offered a perspective aimed at connecting local challenges with the global agenda.
Cortés raised the need to build a local-global architecture capable of linking the experiences and struggles of Amazonian territories with international processes related to human rights, sustainability, and the 2030 Agenda.
To this end, he highlighted the importance of strengthening the capacities of local actors, promoting multilevel governance processes, engaging the productive sector, and forging alliances among communities, institutions, academia, social organizations, and international cooperation agencies.
His proposal is based on a systemic approach: water challenges cannot be addressed in isolation but must be considered in relation to the economy, production, rights, culture, the environment, and the social dynamics of each territory.
Building Networks to Move Toward 2027
During the dialogue session, concrete actions were also proposed to strengthen the inter-summit process. These include the creation and consolidation of local networks, the exchange of experiences among Amazonian countries, the strengthening of information platforms, the establishment of a potential observatory for public water policies, and the formation of partnerships with public, private, academic, and social actors.
From the perspective of indigenous peoples, it was emphasized that these processes must be built “from the bottom up,” recognizing the leading role of communities and their knowledge.
The meeting concluded by reaffirming that the Second Amazon Water Summit must be understood as a process of territorial coordination, participation, advocacy, and hope, capable of connecting local experiences with a pan-Amazonian and global agenda.
The upcoming meetings of the Maloca del Agua will address eight thematic areas: the human right to water; indigenous peoples and territorial governance; water and climate change; extractive activities and pollution; water, health, and sanitation; Amazonian youth; the Amazonian Church’s reflection on water from a faith perspective; and the leadership of Amazonian women in the defense of water and territory.
The journey toward Puerto Maldonado continues with a conviction shared by those who participated in this first meeting: