If Not Us Then Who supports environmental leadership from Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities to build networks and cultivate inclusive impact driven storytelling.

Stories
If Not Us Then Who works in partnership with communities to co-create impact-driven art and media – telling stories through film, photography, podcasts, writing and digital communications
Knowledge Sharing
If Not Us Then Who works with Indigenous, Afro-descendent and Local Community filmmakers & photographers to support their journey to becoming professional creatives – curating learning spaces for peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, providing mentorship, delivering training and developing opportunities to distribute their work.
Impact Events
In collaboration with our global partners, If Not Us Then Who produces an impact event series ‘Our Village’ – experiential gatherings where communities, activists, artists, and decision makers connect to showcase ideas and generate dialogue and collaboration, with the shared vision of healing our planet.
A Day on Earth
A Day on Earth is a global participatory film capturing the beauty, resilience, and diversity of communities worldwide on Earth Day, April 22. Filmed by Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and local storytellers, the documentary highlights the voices of those protecting biodiverse and often overlooked regions. Premiering on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, August 9, 2025, in partnership with Earth Alliance, it will emphasize the vital role of underrepresented communities in environmental conservation.
FILM
Seeding Sociobioeconomies
Film exploring the rise of the socio-bioeconomy in Brazil
A new film produced by Nature4Climate and INUTW, in collaboration with APIB, explores this vision for the socio-bioeconomy in Brazil. This new economic model brings together traditional knowledge with scientific technologies to transform hegemonic agricultural practices – offering a way to meet climate and biodiversity targets while providing jobs and fair pay. By fully developing the socio-bioeconomy, the GDP of the Brazilian Amazon could increase by R$40 billion annually, achieving zero deforestation and restoring 24 million hectares of forest by 2050. Watch the film as part of the Nature in Action series and discover more about this model.

LAUNCH
Indigenous Impact Storytellers Podcast Season Two
Amplifying Voices for Climate Justice
We continue our mission to amplify the voices of Indigenous communities, creatives, and leaders. This season, is co-hosted by the Indigenous Storytellers Isabela Santana and Elizabeth Swanson, both part of the INUTW team, connect the audience with insightful narratives of Indigenous cultures and explore their stories, deeply rooted in traditional knowledge and creative insights. Listen to the podcast and discover powerful stories from guests Myrna Cunningham Kain, Edivan Fulni-ô, João Victor Pankararu, Helena Gualinga, and Alexis Grefa.

Watch films
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Film10:51 mins
After the Highland Clearances in the 18th and 19th centuries, where communities were expelled from their lands in favour of sheep, legislation was brought in to give people secure tenancies, called crofts, to protect them from being cleared from the land again. In 2007 the Crofting Reform Act opened up the traditional crofting model to […]
Watch filmLand Rights -
Film8:20 mins
“If not us, who will protect our territories? Who will manage our territories?” Indonesian Indigenous Youth called their fellow brothers living in the cities and finished their studies back to the community. They called it the ‘Homecoming movement. Youth are driving new models of sustainable rural development, creating organic vegetable gardens, herbal medicine gardens and […]
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Film8:42 mins
Update: April 2021 The Dutch National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD Guidelines announced on April 20, 2021 that they would accept a complaint against Pluspetrol, a multinational oil firm headquartered in an Amsterdam mailbox. The decision gives Indigenous communities in the oil fields of the Peruvian Amazon a path for seeking remediation from Pluspetrol […]
Watch filmActivismBiodiversityFighting Big Corporations -
Film6:04 mins
The community of Lago do Mainá have lived with the forest and the river, nature for them is the most fundamental thing they have. However a military training base and increasing incursions by soldiers created tension between the community and the army. Through the use of social mapping the people of Lago do Mainá have […]
Watch filmBrazilLand RightsParticipatory-made film -
Film8:47 mins
Wildfires may grab headlines but indigenous peoples and local communities who depend the Amazon face many different threats. Not only are their territories targeted for illegal extractive activities such as gold mining and deforestation but without clear land titles their situation remains legally precarious. But more than this – indigenous peoples and local communities offer […]
Watch filmAncestral KnowledgePeru -
Film5:58 mins
Results of a new scientific study show that indigenous peoples using remote sensing technology can better survey their lands and reduce deforestation by half. Under the community-based forest monitoring program, called Rainforest Alert, indigenous scouts combine satellite imagery with foot patrols to verify evidence and equip community leaders with the information they need to take […]
Watch filmIndigenous SolutionsPeru -
Film6:35 mins
Having lived for millennia in the forests of the ‘Amazonian Trapezoid’, today the Amacayacu National Park, indigenous communities there are now treated as an obstacle to conservation. Their rights have been systematically violated since the National Park was created in 1975. In April 2015 the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism signed an agreement to […]
Watch filmBiodiversitycolombiaLand Rights -
Film7:49 mins
In a rapidly dwindling community forest the people of Pandumaan & Sipituhuta have put up a strong fight to stop the growth of monoculture eucalyptus plantations. But the aggressive actions of the company & its close alignment with local politicians & the police have led this struggle down a dark path – protests, intimidation, arrests […]
Watch filmActivismFighting Big CorporationsIndonesia -
Film6:32 mins
Imagine communities and land-owners being paid by the government to protect their forests & natural resources? Costa Rica is the only tropical country in the world that has reversed the process of deforestation through a unique fuel tax law that impresses the importance of protecting the environment & helping develop communities.
Watch filmBiodiversityCosta RicaIndigenous Solutions -
Film7:22 mins
The indigenous people of Sungai Utik, a Dayak Iban community in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, have maintained a strong traditional connection to their forests despite continuous pressure from logging and palm oil companies intent on taking their land. Their forests remain intact and their traditional values are keeping their community together. If we want to keep […]
Watch filmClimate Changeeducational packsIndigenous Solutions
Knowledge Sharing
Since 2013 If Not Us Then Who? has been connecting with and amplifying communicators from across the tropical forests regions.
Vibrant Indigenous visual storytelling supports:
Cultural resilience and resistance
Record ancestral knowledge and raise pride and profile of Indigenous Communities
Defence of Indigenous territories and rights
Digital storytelling enables injustices and incursions to be denounced to the world and catalyse action against them
Building solidarity
Sharing stories and solutions across greater distances than ever before
Biodiversity
Indigenous Peoples are guardians of 80% of the world’s biodiversity and strong Indigenous land rights have been recognised as an important climate solution
Read The Latest from Our Storytellers
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Storytellers
Welcome to the Indigenous and Afro-Descendant Storytellers Blog Series: Storytellers for Change. In this first feature, we’re proud to introduce Noveni Usun, a talented communicator and member of our multimedia team. Noveni has been at the forefront of documenting key moments during COP16, Climate Weeks, and community-driven events, offering a unique perspective that blends cultural […]
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Storytellers
Jimmy Piaguaje, an Indigenous filmmaker from the Siekopai nation in Ecuador, has emerged as a powerful voice in the field of Indigenous cinema, using the camera as a means to spotlight his community’s struggles to preserve their territories and culture. In this interview, we explore his journey, his recent projects, and how his participation in […]
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Storytellers
“This year has been one of the most exciting and challenging of my life. Embracing my new journey into motherhood intensified my commitment to climate justice. The call to Hollywood ignited my passion to continue advocating for oceans, coral reefs, and my Raizal community.”
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Storytellers
Interview by Yurshell Rodriguez – Indigenous impact storyteller, photographer, and part of the INUTW team. The Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) announced the projects selected for their first Development Lab for Projects by Indigenous Latin American Filmmakers. This innovative laboratory will take place as part of the Indigenous Peoples Forum, an initiative that FICM has […]
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Storytellers
This is the first part of the blog series about “Indigenous Imaginarium Experience Diary”, written by Yurshell Rodriguez. She is an Indigenous impact storyteller, photographer, and part of the INUTW team. Learn more about her experience during the Indigenous Imaginarium, A gathering of Indigenous Creatives with Hollywood Industry to re-imagine our climate futures, held from February 28 to March 7, 2023, in Los Angeles, US.
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Storytellers
Whether you live in a tropical forest or a global north city, we all belong to the same planet, the same future. We belong to the same global village. In the global village to which we all belong, climate change and environmental injustice are inextricably linked to the struggles of communities and peoples underrepresented in […]
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Storytellers
This is the last part of four blog series about “Stockholm+50 Experience Diary”, written by Elizabeth Swanson Andi. She is an indigenous impact storyteller, photographer, and part of the INUTW team. Learn more about her experience during the event Stockholm+50, held on the 2nd and 3rd of June, 2022. Stockholm+50, well I still have many […]
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Storytellers
This is the third part of four blog series about “Stockholm+50 Experience Diary”, written by Elizabeth Swanson Andi. She is an indigenous impact storyteller, photographer, and part of the INUTW team. Learn more about her experience during the event Stockholm+50, held on the 2nd and 3rd of June, 2022. During the afternoon, I was invited […]
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Storytellers
This is the second part of four blog series about “Stockholm+50 Experience Diary”, written by Elizabeth Swanson Andi. She is an indigenous impact storyteller, photographer, and part of the INUTW team. Learn more about her experience during the event Stockholm+50, held on the 2nd and 3rd of June, 2022. While documenting the “Leadership Dialogue 1: […]
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Storytellers
This is the first part of four blog series about “Stockholm+50 Experience Diary”, written by Elizabeth Swanson Andi. She is an indigenous impact storyteller, photographer, and part of the INUTW team. Learn more about her experience during the event Stockholm+50, held on the 2nd and 3rd of June, 2022. I remember his voice “kawsak sacha, […]
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Storytellers
Almost unthinkable and now it’s a reality. by Eli Virkina Image: Tirza Ixmucané “Kawsawnguichu” are you alive? an elder greets, “kawsawnimi” I am alive, I reply. “kawsawnchimi” we are alive. This way of greeting in my Kichwa language is vastly disappearing, yet the paths our ancestors, grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles have left for us […]
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Storytellers
As part of the Residency Program, Peregrino recently worked on his second documentary while contributing to the media coverage of COP16. Through his lens, he captures the resilience, leadership, and cultural richness of Indigenous Peoples, offering a powerful narrative that bridges tradition and modern advocacy. In this feature, Peregrino shares his journey, experiences from the field, and the lessons he’s learned while using storytelling as a tool for change.
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If Not Us Then Who? works with Indigenous networks and NGOs to deliver strategic communications and capacity building.
Partners
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