Indigenous communities along the Amazon River are grappling with severe challenges as an unprecedented drought causes water levels to plummet. Unforeseen scarcity is threatening livelihoods and access to basic resources. People who have relied on the river for centuries in Colombia, Brazil, and Peru, now face dwindling fish stocks, shortages of clean water, and isolation as transport routes dry up.
Water levels in some parts of the Amazon have dropped as much as 90 percent in recent months, according to Colombia’s National Unit for Disaster Risk Management. This steep decline has hit Indigenous communities hardest since they rely on the river for food, water, and transport more than anybody. Álvaro Sarmiento, head of operations for the Colombian Civil Defense in Leticia, said:
“I’ve been very concerned, particularly for the Indigenous communities that are affected the most because all the food has already run out. For Indigenous people, fishing is their main source of food.”
