COICA ORG

What COICA ORG does

COICA (Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica) is a non-profit indigenous rights and territorial governance organization founded in 1984 and headquartered at Calle Sevilla N24-358 y Guipuzcoa, La Floresta, Quito, Ecuador. It is the sole regional coordinating body for 511 indigenous peoples across nine Amazon basin countries — Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana — operating through nine national member organizations: COIAB, CIDOB, AIDESEP, CONFENIAE, OPIAC, ORPIA, APA, OIS, and FOAG. Core outputs are policy advocacy, territorial defense, indigenous economy programs, and capacity-building, not commercial products. Its current general coordinator is Fany Kuiru Castro.

The organization's programmatic portfolio comprises five strategic initiatives. (1) Fondo Amazonía para la Vida (FAV) — a $10 million direct-financing mechanism launched with the Inter-American Development Bank (BID) at COP28 in July 2024, now being scaled via country-level agreements with ORPIA (Venezuela), AIDESEP (Peru), and OPIAC (Colombia). (2) Programa de Defensa de Defensores y Defensoras Indigenas (PDDD) — a regional digital platform protecting indigenous human rights defenders, with technical support from DAR since 2019. (3) Programa Regional de Economía Indígena — including Amazon Fair Trade and Con Amazonía forest-economy initiatives. (4) Escuela Indígena Nugkuag — diplomacy and international-advocacy training. (5) Programa Regional de Transmisión de Conocimientos Ancestrales — focusing on intergenerational knowledge transfer and indigenous women's leadership. Underlying technology rests on the Sistema de Información Territorial y Geográfica (SITG) and the Red Regional de Alertas Tempranas; COICA is currently harmonizing an Indigenous Amazonian Indicators Framework first developed by COIAB.

COICA does not generate commercial revenue. Its funding model is grant-based, anchored on the $10M FAV mechanism with BID and the EU-financed Amazonía+ Program administered through Expertise France, supplemented by partnerships with WWF, Darwin, and other civil-society donors. Programs are distributed via the nine national member organizations and through direct participation in international policy venues including UNFCCC COPs (COP16, COP28, COP30), IUCN World Conservation Congresses, CBD negotiations, and London Climate Action Week 2026. Staffing is lean at 7 employees, reflecting a coordinator-advocate role rather than an implementing-organization operating model.

Name

COICA ORG

Legal name

Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica

Website

https://coicamazonia.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

COICA is a non-profit indigenous rights organization founded in 1984 in Quito, Ecuador, coordinating 511 indigenous peoples across nine Amazon basin countries through nine national member organizations via grant-funded programs in territorial governance, climate advocacy, indigenous-led financing, and defender protection.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Indigenous Rights Coordination

NAICS

Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Stakeholder Engagement, Indigenous/Tribal Consultation & Social Impact (SIA) (EUAHAAAH)

Keywords

• Indigenous rights advocacy
• Territorial governance
• Amazon basin coordination
• Climate action programs
• Indigenous economy development

Headquarters

HQ city

Quito

HQ country

Ecuador

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Grants and International Funding: COICA receives funding through grants and financial partnerships with international development banks and donor organizations to support its programs on indigenous governance, climate action, territorial defense, and biodiversity protection.
2. Fondo Amazonía para la Vida: A $10 million fund launched in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (BID) at COP28, designed to provide direct financing to indigenous peoples and organizations for territorial governance and Amazon protection.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

COICA (Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica) is a regional indigenous rights coordination organization that represents 511 indigenous peoples across nine Amazon basin countries. It delivers programs on territorial governance, direct financing mechanisms, indigenous defender protection, indigenous economy, ancestral knowledge transmission, and international climate and biodiversity advocacy.

Product overview

COICA ORG (Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica) is an indigenous rights advocacy organization representing 511 indigenous peoples across 9 Amazon basin countries. Rather than a commercial product company, COICA operates several strategic programs: the Fondo Amazonía para la Vida (a direct financing mechanism with BID partnership), the Programa de Defensa de Defensores y Defensoras Indígenas (a protection platform for indigenous defenders), the Programa Regional de Economía Indígena (indigenous economy program including Amazon Fair Trade), the Escuela Indígena Nugkuag (diplomacy training), and the Programa Regional de Transmisión de Conocimientos Ancestrales (ancestral knowledge transmission). These programs work together to advance territorial governance, climate action, biodiversity protection, and indigenous rights at international forums.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Fondo Amazonía Para La Vida: Direct financing mechanism for indigenous peoples with leadership from indigenous organizations
• Escuela Indígena
• Amazon Fair Trade
• Guardianes de la Amazonía
• Cumbre de Mujeres

Quantifiable outcome

• 175 million hectares of indigenous territories within the Amazon basin conserved
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• COIAB (Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Amazonía Brasileña)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 February 2026Strategic articulation for constructing indigenous Amazonian indicators and defending the Amazon basin as a unified territorial unit. COIAB shares its participatory territorial monitoring system methodology for potential regional harmonization under COICA leadership.
• AIDESEP (Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 February 2026Partnership for implementing the Fondo Amazonía para la Vida in Peru. AIDESEP serves as pilot experience for regional scaling of indigenous-led financing mechanisms, demonstrating institutional, technical, and political strength for direct financing access.
• ORPIA (Organización Regional de Pueblos Indígenas del Amazonas)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 January 2026Strategic partnership for implementation of the Fondo Amazonía para la Vida in Venezuela. COICA and ORPIA collaborate on territorial governance, financing access, and indigenous-led conservation through joint planning workshops and coordination.
• OPIAC (Organización Nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas de la Amazonía Colombiana)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 December 2025Partnership with COICA and BID for strengthening indigenous bioeconomy in Colombia through the Fondo Amazonía para la Vida implementation workshop in Bogotá.
• DAR (Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 12 December 2019Technical support partnership for the Program of Defense of Indigenous Defenders (PDDD). DAR provides legal and technical assistance to develop protection mechanisms for indigenous human rights defenders in the Amazon basin.
• WWFminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTraining partnership for REDD+ initiatives, including the Amazonian Indigenous REDD+ (RIA) initiative under holistic territorial management for full life.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Conservation International: Large global environmental NGO operating across biodiversity, climate, and indigenous partnerships in the Amazon; broader portfolio player that occasionally partners with COICA but is not indigenous-led.
• WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature): Global conservation incumbent with active Amazon programs (including REDD+/RIA training that COICA partners on); operates across a far broader portfolio but overlaps with COICA on Amazon conservation and indigenous engagement.
• IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature): Global conservation body that approved COICA's Motion 129 in 2021; a much larger, broader incumbent whose policy and membership forum COICA engages with but does not directly compete against.

Direct peers

• Amazon Watch: Amazon-focused NGO working to protect the rainforest and advance indigenous rights in partnership with COICA and its member organizations. Direct peer on Amazon territorial defense and climate advocacy.
• Gaia Amazonas: Colombian-based organization supporting indigenous governance and territorial protection in the northwestern Amazon; works closely with OPIAC and other COICA member organizations on overlapping agendas.
• Forest Peoples Programme: Organization supporting forest-dependent indigenous peoples' rights, especially in tropical forest countries including the Amazon. Operates at the intersection of indigenous rights, biodiversity, and international policy — directly comparable scope to COICA.
• Survival International: Global indigenous rights advocacy organization that campaigns on tribal land rights, territorial defense, and policy influence — directly comparable to COICA's mission, though with a worldwide rather than Amazon-specific focus.
• Indigenous Peoples Rights International: Dedicated to defending indigenous human rights defenders globally; directly comparable to COICA's PDDD program (Program for Defense of Indigenous Defenders) in mission and approach.
• Rainforest Foundation Norway: Funds and supports indigenous and community-led forest protection in tropical countries including the Amazon basin; comparable operating model of grantmaking plus advocacy on indigenous territorial rights.
• Cultural Survival: Indigenous rights organization supporting self-determination, land rights, and advocacy at international forums such as the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues — closely mirrors COICA's advocacy and capacity-building model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/coicaorg
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@coicaorg1588
• Facebookweb.facebook.com/coica.org
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/coica-org
• Instagraminstagram.com/coica_org/?hl=es-la
• TikToktiktok.com/@coica.org

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about COICA ORG