Wampis strike like lightning to limit illegal mining

The Wampis Nation has shown that it is possible to defend Indigenous territories in the Peruvian Amazon against systematic attacks by illegal economies, particularly mining which has overtaken narcotics production as the main illegal economic activity in Peru.

For years, illegal miners have been entering Wampis territory in the Kanus River area of the northern Peruvian Amazon, causing serious environmental and social damage. Tired of state inaction, in February 2024 members of the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Wampis Nation (GTANW) created the Charip Group for socio-territorial control, to patrol and monitor their territory, find the miners and expel them from their lands.  

Charip means lightning. As one Charip member explains: “We as Charip act fast and retreat. It is a force of Nature.”

Over the course of 2024, Charip confiscated and destroyed at least 7 mega-dredges which had been operating along the Kanus River.

FPP, via the GTANW, helped provide materials, including fuel and food, to support Charip’s efforts.

Based on self-determination and socio-political territorial governance, Charip is working to recover the peace, tranquillity and harmony of the Wampis communities of the Kanus watershed.

We always have faith in our arutam, our spirits, our ancestors who are in the waterfalls and the cascades. That is why we will always be victorious in our struggle for the reconstruction of autonomy. We have this faith that various allies will collaborate with us because this work is not only for one people, but for the benefit of the national and international community. - Charip member.