The Amazon Defense Coalition (Frente de Defensa de la Amazonia) is an Ecuadorian non-governmental organization

Non-governmental organization

A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

 created on May 16, 1994 and approved by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Social Welfare on June 4, 1998 under ministerial reference #535.

It comprises six principal indigenous peoples

Indigenous peoples

Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....

 of the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest

Amazon Rainforest

The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...

: the Cofán

Cofán

The Cofán people are an indigenous people native to Napo Province northeast Ecuador and to southern Colombia, between the Guamués River and the Aguaricó River...

, the Huaorani

Huaorani

The Huaorani, Waorani or Waodani, also known as the Waos, are native Amerindians from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador who have marked differences from other ethnic groups from Ecuador. The alternate name Auca is a pejorative exonym used by the neighboring Quechua Indians, and commonly adopted by...

, the Kichwa

Kichwa

Kichwa is a Quechuan language, and includes all Quechua varieties spoken in Ecuador and Colombia by approximately 2,500,000 people...

, the Secoya, the Shuar

Shuar

The Shuar people are an indigenous people of Ecuador and Peru. They are members of the Jivaroan peoples, who are Amazonian tribes living at the headwaters of the Marañón River.-Name:...

, and the Siona

Siona people

The Siona people are an indigenous ethnic group living in the Ecuadorian Amazon or Oriente , and in Colombia...

 as well as campesino (farmer) migrants to the area. It focuses on regional, national and global environmental and collective rights in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

It has offices in the rainforest towns of Nueva Loja

Nueva Loja

Nueva Loja, is the capital of the province of Sucumbíos in Ecuador. It was founded in the 1960s as a base camp of Texaco. The official population estimate as of 1995 was 19,262 and as of 2009 its population is calculated to be 26,004....

 (also known as Lago Agrio) and Coca, as well as the nation's capital, Quito

Quito

San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...

.

The ADC structure is focused on training (a three-year integral leadership training course offered to rainforest residents in Orellana

Orellana Province

Orellana is an inland province of Ecuador. The capital is Puerto Francisco de Orellana . It was created on July 30, 1998, from part of Napo Province....

 and Sucumbíos provinces); legal (legal advice and defence of campesino and indigenous socio-environmental community rights); environmental monitoring (a technical team which monitors and reports on areas and communities that suffer from oil pollution as a result of drilling in the rainforest); and alternative products (promotion of cleaning and energy products that do not harm the environment as well as seeking local sustainable development and biodiversification).

In 1993 the Amazon Defense Coalition brought an environmental clean-up lawsuit against Texaco

Texaco

Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....

 (incorporated into Chevron Corporation

Chevron Corporation

Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...

 in
2001) in the name of 30,000 rainforest residents in a region the size of Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

. The case was initially heard in a U.S. court
in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

and then moved to Nueva Loja, Ecuador in 2003, and, with a 2011 judgement of $18 billion against the oil giant, is potentially the biggest environmental litigation ever
brought against a multi-national corporation.