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'I'm here to tell you my story, which is also the story of my people and the story of this forest.'
Born into the Waorani tribe of Ecuador's Amazon rainforest, Nemonte Nenquimo was taught about plant medicines, foraging, oral storytelling, and shamanism by her elders. Age 14, she left the forest for the first time to study with an evangelical missionary group in the city.
Eventually, her ancestors began appearing in her dreams, pleading with her to return and embrace her own culture. She listened.
Two decades later, Nemonte has emerged as one of the most forceful voices in climate-change activism. She has spearheaded the alliance of indigenous nations across the Upper Amazon and led her people to a landmark victory against Big Oil, protecting over a half million acres of primary rainforest. Her message is as sharp as the spears that her ancestors wielded – honed by her experiences battling loggers, miners, oil companies and missionaries.
In this astonishing memoir, she partners with her husband Mitch Anderson, founder of Amazon Frontlines, digging into generations of oral history, uprooting centuries of conquest, hacking away at racist notions of Indigenous peoples, and ultimately revealing a life story as rich, harsh and vital as the Amazon rainforest herself.
Nemonte Nenquimo, a Waorani leader, was born in Ecuador's Amazon, one of the most bio-diverse and threatened rainforests on the planet. She is the co-founder of both the Indigenous-led non-profit Ceibo Alliance and its partner organization, Amazon Frontlines. Nemonte led her people in a historic legal victory against the oil industry, protecting half-a-million acres of rainforest and setting a precedent for Indigenous rights across the region. Her leadership has been widely recognized; in 2020, she won the Goldman Environmental Prize for Central and South America and was named to the BBC 100 Women and TIME 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Mitch Anderson is co-founder and Executive Director of Amazon Frontlines, a non-profit organization based in the Upper Amazon, which defends indigenous peoples' rights to land, life, and cultural survival. In 2011, he moved to Ecuador's northern Amazon to start a grassroots clean water project with Indigenous communities living downriver from contaminating oil operations. Through building more than 1,000 clean water systems in over 70 villages, Mitch supported the formation of the Ceibo Alliance, an Indigenous-led non-profit that won the prestigious UN Equator Prize and whose victories for the Amazon rainforest have inspired millions worldwide.
"Here is a must-read for anybody concerned about the future of rainforests and, ultimately, our planet. This is one of the first books that reflects the life experiences and eco-philosophy of an actual forest dweller, Nemonte Nenquimo, rather than relying on the observations of anthropologists, missionaries or foreign adventurers. [...] We Will Not Be Saved is a truly remarkable collection of such stories, told by the people who have harvested the bounty of the forest sustainably from time immemorial. [...] A remarkable achievement"
– Herbert Girardet, Resurgence & Ecologist 347, November/December 2024
"If you want to understand the climate crisis and do something about it, read this book. Nemonte's writing is as provocative as it is inspiring, a heroine speaking her truth which is exactly what we need to hear. Had we listened long ago to these voices we wouldn't be in the eye of the storm now."
– Emma Thompson, actor and writer
"We Will Not Be Saved is the story of the humanity and fierce determination of Nemonte Nenquimo, one of the most effective leaders for indigenous rights and environmental justice. In her gripping memoir, Nenquimo shares her journey from childhood to warrior leader, fighting the forces of greed and destruction that threaten the Waorani People and their vast, spectacular rainforest. Her story highlights the love and strength required to overcome the forces that threaten our planet."
– Laurene Powell Jobs, founder and president, Emerson Collective
"On one level, Nemonte Nenquimo's memoir is inspiring, moving and unforgettable; a rarely seen, first-hand insight into a childhood spent in the Amazon rainforest and the extraordinary story of her fight to save it from oil companies. On another level, this intimate and motivating book should spur action from all of us: the fight to save our planet from exploitation is something that affects us all and is the responsibility of us all. Nenquimo's leadership and example should shame those of us in industrialised countries into changing the way we live and the way we see our world."
– Rowan Hooper, author and senior editor of The New Scientist
"This incredible memoir is one of the most spiritual and mind-broadening I have ever read; the story of its warrior heroine truly inspiring and humbling."
– Caroline Sanderson, associate editor of The Bookseller
"Everyone should read this – never has a book been more urgent. Truly soul-stirring, Nemonte's book is a radical manifesto for our times. It moved me to tears. Her story flows like a mighty river, and I was utterly taken by its current."
– Vanessa Kirby, actor and activist
"We Will Not Be Saved by Nemonte Nenquimo and Mitch Anderson is an act of story-telling generosity unlike any other I know, offering to share with us the healing powers of the Amazon and the struggle to protect and respect her. To read this book with an open heart is to glimpse a truly other world, and come away transformed."
– Nathalie Kelly, actress and activist
"Nemonte Nenquimo's We Will Not Be Saved is a profoundly generous offering. She shares precious joy and love, loss and struggle, and gives us much more than a book, but a living thing. Nenquimo's journey is an example of the tender fearlessness required to find a way out of no way, and an invitation to be brave enough to love and to protect every life we can reach."
– Cameron Russell, supermodel, author and activist
