Engagement with First Nations peoples in Canada and Indigenous and Afro-descendent populations in Colombia near our operations is an important part of the work we do. Gran Tierra follows all laws and regulations stipulated by the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) Guiding Principles, and Colombian and Ecuadorian Law. At the heart of GTE’s success, building strong relationships is something very simple: respect for and understanding of the communities that it interacts with.
Gran Tierra Energy is committed to respecting and promoting the rights of Indigenous peoples in Canada, Colombia, and Ecuador through strong, collaborative relationships based on open communication, respect, and accountability. The Company adheres to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) principles as defined by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, ensuring that Indigenous communities have an active role in decisions affecting them. In Colombia, GTE consults with Afro-Colombian, Indigenous, and underserved communities to develop strategies that address project impacts while honouring cultural heritage and local priorities. In Canada, the Company builds respectful relationships with First Nations and Métis communities near its operations, emphasizing transparency and prioritizing the hiring of First Nations contractors.
For more information about GTE’s commitment to learning about its neighbours through listening and dialogue, while also protecting their culture and improving their quality of life, please read the stories below.
Engagement with First Nations Peoples in Canada
Prior Consultation with Indigenous Groups
Threads of the Earth
The Suruma Museum
Protecting Colombia’s Archaeological Heritage
SWIPE FOR MORE
Engagement with First Nations Peoples in Canada
GTE’s engagement model in Western Canada is built on the same foundational principles as in the rest of its operations: respect, collaboration, and transparency. The Company recognizes that working with Indigenous Nations requires effective and transparent communication, cooperation, and mutual understanding. GTE’s approach is guided by:
1. Open and Ongoing Dialogue
GTE prioritizes proactive, clear, and transparent communication to ensure meaningful consultation and engagement. This includes initiating early discussions, providing regular updates, and responding promptly to questions or concerns.
2. Respect for Rights and Traditions
The Company acknowledges and respects Indigenous rights, cultural heritage, and the significance of Traditional Territories.
3. Economic Participation and Opportunities
GTE supports Indigenous businesses, workforce development, and capacity building by actively integrating local vendors, contractors, and service providers from various First Nation businesses into its projects.
Prior Consultation with Indigenous Groups
Colombia’s Constitution grants Indigenous groups the right to “Free Prior Informed Consultation” or Prior Consultation (PC) before any project is considered near Indigenous land. These communities can be found throughout the country, and there are a number of Indigenous groups and several Afro-Colombian groups in the Putumayo near Gran Tierra’s operations. With its increased exploration and development activities in the Putumayo, many of which interact with these protected communities, GTE has created a department focused solely on the Prior Consultation process.
PC represents a formal process for establishing dialogue between ethnic communities and the Company to ensure they are adequately informed and consulted about company activities; how these activities might interact with and/or impact them; and how any impacts will be mitigated, compensated or prevented. GTE, like other companies in Colombia that participate in the PC process, works with Colombia’s Ministry of the Interior, which follows the formal process and ensures that representatives from the ministry or local government are present during each community interaction.
GTE believes that the culture, beliefs, and worldview of Indigenous and ethnic communities offer immense value to society, and Prior Consultations are opportunities to strengthen relationships with these important stakeholders. In 2025, GTE initiated five Prior Consultation processes, four of which remain ongoing. Since 2016, GTE has completed 53 Prior Consultation processes, with 85% resulting in successful agreements.
Furthermore, the Company has several programs designed to support the Indigenous and Afro-descendant population through socio-cultural, social infrastructure and development projects. The Company has also built four ancestral cultural centres for community meetings and activities in order to strengthen the traditions of the Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities of Orconepul, Alto Orito, Afro Council of Puerto Limón and Martin Luther King.
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Threads of the Earth
Gran Tierra Energy recognizes the importance of strengthening relations with Indigenous communities living in areas near GTE’s operations. With this in mind, Gran Tierra, in partnership with the World Corporation for Women in Colombia (CMMC) created the Threads of the Earth (Hilos de la Tierra) program in 2021, which aims to recover ancestral practices through the creation of handcrafted designs using recycled materials as well as innovate with new materials and techniques in design.
In Putumayo, the program works with artisans and ethnic women’s groups using natural fibers, dyes, seeds, and recycled goods to help facilitate the recovery of ancestral practices. In the Middle Magdalena Valley, the program works with vulnerable women dedicated to fashion. The project is aimed at improving the incomes of participants and addresses gender bias in traditional family dynamics. Since its inception, Hilos de la Tierra has supported 255 artisans, 90% of whom are women and launched over 130 product lines.
The handcrafted products reflect the culture, traditional practices, and history from local Indigenous, Afro-Caribbean and rural communities. These traditional artisans preserve their culture through their collections and share stories about their lived experiences and their territories as a way to inform and educate others.
The resulting collections have been presented at 14 major Colombian and international shows, including Expoartesanías in Bogotá, Feria Eva, various trunk shows, and Vancouver Fashion Week in Canada. While runway and trade show participation generate important exposure, the program’s core impact lies in increased financial autonomy at the community level; particularly in regions where formal employment opportunities are limited.
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The Suruma Museum
Gran Tierra Energy in partnership with Corpoamazonia and the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH) built and opened, in November 2021, a museum in Putumayo that serves local communities as a permanent archaeological exhibition.
The Suruma museum is located in the Amazon Experimental Centre (CEA) near Mocoa, Putumayo, and is an educational space to preserve historical artifacts and tell the story of the history and culture of the Putumayo department. There are 15 permanent museum exhibits, distributed in two structures and a central area showcasing the reconstruction of an archaeological excavation area. The museum contributes to the social growth of these territories and their communities by allowing visitors to explore and celebrate the cultural diversity of Putumayo and the Colombian Amazon.
The museum is the first archeological museum in Colombia’s Amazon region and all of the artifacts on display were discovered by Gran Tierra Energy through our archaeological activities in Putumayo. These specific archaeological activities took more than four months of work and during this period of time, 25 archaeologists and 160 local field helpers excavated more than 3,300 square metres.
To date, more than 20 tons of archaeological materials have been recovered and the inventory of the recorded archaeological material is composed of ceramic fragments, lithic artifacts (two carved projectile points), complete pottery pieces, archaeological features (coal and fire pits) and a goldsmith’s piece.
From the beginning, Suruma was designed to also work as a travelling museum that could share its exhibits, culture, and traditions with other communities. In 2024, it was featured at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (COP 16), with support from Colombia’s Ministry of Culture. To help share the museum’s story more widely, the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH) created a replica with seven different displays. This replica was also previously shown at the Jorge Garcés Borrero Departmental Library in Cali, where visitors from over 190 countries had the chance to experience it. The exhibit offered a valuable contribution to global conversations about biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources.
The temporary exhibit “People of Putumayo Narrate: Journeys, Exchanges, and Claims” has also travelled across Colombia in past years, including to the National Museum of Colombia in Bogota and UNESCO-declared World Heritage Site, San Agustín Archaeological Park in the department of Huila.
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Protecting Colombia’s Archaeological Heritage
As an operator in a country with significant archaeological potential, Gran Tierra implements the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History’s (ICAHN) Archeology program that guides our projects during the early stages of operations. This allows the Company to identify and plan for the specific archaeological characteristics of the areas where the Company wants to build new civil works or infrastructure. In turn, this helps to assure the protection, conservation and recovery of the country’s archaeological heritage.
Gran Tierra’s Environmental Management Plan, the EMP, calls for the following measures to be taken before any operational development begins:
- Prior to the beginning of excavation in any area that has not been disturbed for the development of well pads or roads, a preliminary assessment of cultural/archaeological values will be conducted by a qualified specialist.
- If significant sites exist or are suspected, appropriate measures to protect or document these sites and recovery of any artifacts is implemented.
- In areas of suspected high archaeological value, a local archaeologist will be employed to provide on-site support in identifying chance discoveries and developing an appropriate approach to avoiding or preserving them.
In addition, as a prerequisite to receiving an environmental license, Colombian authorities require developers to prepare a site-specific archaeological management plan.
