Jane Fonda Is on a Mission to Save Ecuador's Rain Forest
Jane Fonda has always been one to stand up for what she believes in. With a lifetime of activism under her belt, the Oscar-winning actress has turned her attention to the climate crisis—choosing action over despair.
In 2019, she started Fire Drill Fridays, as a way to inspire people to participate in non-violent direct action in support of the climate movement, and created her own climate PAC in 2022 to help elect politicians that prioritize the climate. Now Fonda is turning her attention to the Amazon, partnering with Amazon Frontlines, a non-profit organization working with Indigenous peoples to defend their land rights. Together, they are urging Ecuador's Constitutional Court to create a national framework that enshrines the rights of Indigenous people to decide what happens in their home—guarunteeing the right to free, prior, and informed consultation and consent.
To this end, on May 13 several hundred Indigenous people delivered an open letter to the Constitutional Court in Ecuador. On the same day Fonda is also delivering a printed copy to the Ecuadorian embassy in Los Angeles—which includes signatures from a number of organizations, including Greenpeace and Amazon Watch, as well as advocates like Lupita Nyong'o, Emma Thompson, and Mark Ruffalo. The campaign comes as Ecuador's President, Daniel Noboa, announced plans last year to auction off 8.7 million acres of Indigenous territory in the Amazon rain forest to oil companies—despite Ecuadorians voting to stop oil drilling in the region.
Time spoke with Fonda ahead of planned actions in Quito and in Los Angeles on May 13 with Amazon Frontlines.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
TIME: How did you get involved with Amazon Frontlines?
Fonda: I don't think it's a secret that I'm a climate activist. I'm very concerned about what burning oil, gas, and coal has done to our climate. It's created a pollution blanket around the planet that's heating the climate, such that ecosystems that are critical to our survival are risking collapse.
The rain forests in South America determine a lot about the welfare of the entire world, not just the people who live there. A number of tribes that live in that northern forest have created an organization called Ceibo Alliance [to defend their community and culture]. This is really the first time that this has happened where not just one tribe of Indigenous peoples, but many tribes have come together in an organization to save their forest. The Amazon Frontline is the outward looking arm of the Ceibo Alliance. It is the people who live outside the forest who are helping Ceibo succeed. I'm part of that group now.
[Last year] I met an Indigenous woman named Nemonte Nenquimo, whose ancestral lands are in the northern part of the Ecuadorian rain forest. I asked if [Ceibo] would invite me to the rain forest. I had two reasons for going. I wanted to just experience the forest and understand it and feel it. And then I wanted to find out what I could do to help them save the forest.
Can you tell us a bit about the open letter you signed with the Amazon Frontlines? What is the action about?
Indigenous peoples in Ecuador are leaving their forest today and traveling by canoe, by foot, to get to Quito on the other side of the Andes, to deliver a letter and a message to the Constitutional Court of Ecuador saying, 'Give us our rights. We need to have a voice in what happens to our land, informed prior consent.' This is a really important case, because the prior victories that the Indigenous peoples have had didn't lock this into law. The informed prior consent in this case is not only to save the forest, but is to lock in the law that they have to be informed before any action is taken on their homelands.
Why is Amazon preservation a critical part of the climate fight?
The Amazon, along with all the other rain forests in the world, but the Amazon happens to be the biggest, does two things for us.…
The forests absorb a whole lot of the carbon that we burn, which reduces the pollution, and that is critical.
Also, there are species that still exist in the forest that we don't know, that we've never discovered. So many cures, so many solutions to problems exist in the rain forests that we haven't discovered yet. So it's a fountain of information, of knowledge, of cures, of medicines. Those creatures and plants, the flora and fauna that live there, are part of the fabric of life that is required for human beings to survive on the planet. It would be a critical blow to the fight against the climate crisis if 8.7 million acres of ancient rain forests are cut down for oil.
You recently traveled to the Amazon. What did you learn about the grassroots work happening in Ecuador?
It's unprecedented. [The place where we stayed] was a series of very beautiful thatched buildings, including a seven story high tower with thatched roofs all the way down. It was gorgeous. [The Indigenous people] run it, they own it, and they benefit from it. We stayed there, and it's incredible. They're working on ways to create eco-tourism that they can benefit from.
I was shown what plants heal toothaches, what plants heal broken bones. The forest becomes a pharmacy. They listen to the plants, they talk to the animals. It made me very sad, because I realized how much we've lost our connection to nature. They understand that we're part of nature.
For many people, tackling climate change feels like an insurmountable task. What advice do you have for people who want to take action but don't know how to?
The vast majority of Americans are really concerned about climate, and they don't do anything because they don't know what to do. First of all, talk about it. Talk about your concerns. We have to make people understand that the natural world is why we are alive, and that we have to care about it.
Number two, be sure you're not invested in fossil fuels. Trillions have been taken out of banks and investment companies by people who are concerned about the climate crisis. If you're disinvested, think about your city, your school, all the organizations that you know, and start to build support for getting them to divest from fossil fuels.
Third, vote for climate champions. Find out if the people you're thinking of voting for take money from the fossil fuel industry. Most of them do, and vote for people who don't, because if they do, they're going to be supporting legislation that helps the corporations, not you as a citizen.
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