Monthly letter from the Executive Director: Since April, people around the world have watched the heartbreaking Gulf oil spill expand across the sea and onto land. This black, toxic tide is all too familiar to our indigenous allies on the ground in the Amazon basin. In response, Ecuadorian community leaders in the fight against Chevron traveled to Louisiana's Gulf Coast accompanied by Amazon Watch to offer support to Native American communities affected by BP's oil spill. As all eyes remain on the Gulf spill, we are supporting solidarity among oil-afflicted indigenous communities in order to help turn the Gulf oil disaster into a breakthrough moment in the transition to a clean energy future. As you will see in the update that follows, in recent months, we've kept up a busy pace on other fronts as well, supporting many grassroots campaigns in defense of the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous stewards. In April, I journeyed by boat to a remote village along the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon with Avatar director James Cameron and our team to support the indigenous peoples along the Xingu who are opposing a mega-dam that threatens their way-of-life. Reflecting on the commitment displayed by a new friend, I'm reminded of the importance of continually seeking new allies in the work to defend the Amazon. While the struggle to stop the dam is far from over, we have been able to spotlight the Xingu communities' courageous efforts and bring new pressure to bear. Today, from the Amazon to our own backyard, we find our mission as inspiring and urgent as ever. Thank you for standing with us.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: I'm writing you from Manaus in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon where we have had an exciting week accompanying Avatar Director James Cameron on his first visit ever to the Amazon. Earlier this week, our Brazil Program Coordinator, Christian Poirier and I led a field trip for Mr. Cameron to the lower Xingu River region to visit the forests and the indigenous and riverine communities threatened by the proposed Belo Monte hydroelectric project – world's third largest dam. We also convinced the New York Times to come to the Xingu at the same time and cover the growing Belo Monte controversy. Mr. Cameron was incredibly moved by his experience and commented that the real "Pandora" is here. Yesterday, Mr. Cameron participated in a press conference joined by local environmental and indigenous leaders. He called on Brazil's President Lula to reconsider the Belo Monte Dam and vowed to do what he can to spread the word about this issue. The trip and his remarks are among today's top stories in Brazil. Also look for a story in the New York Times this Sunday.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: This month, we'd like to ask for your help in stopping Brazil's plans to move ahead with the massive Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River. Please take a moment to respond to this urgent action alert today! As you see in this month's newsletter, there are a number of other new developments in our campaigns to press the Inter-American Development Bank to reform its lending policies, hold Chevron accountable for past harm in Ecuador and challenge the Peruvian Government's attempts to auction more of its Amazon to oil and gas drilling.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: The new year has been off to a roaring start at Amazon Watch with many new developments. This week, we are asking you to help the Amazon by taking two specific actions:
1. Vote for the French multinational company, GDF Suez in the 2010 Public Eye Awards, as one of the most irresponsible corporations on the planet for their lead role in construction of the Madeira Dam in the Brazilian Amazon.
2. Sign our global petition to Chevron’s new CEO John Watson and urge him to do the right thing and clean up Chevron’s legacy in Ecuador.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: As the climate talks in Copenhagen enter their final hours, there is little hope that world leaders, in particular the U.S. government, will agree to meaningful commitments to safeguard the future of our planet. In solving the climate crisis, Amazon Watch sees real promise in working with indigenous peoples who are the guardians of climate stabilizing tropical rainforests and whose ancient and traditional knowledge offer humanity ways of coping and adapting to climate change. Our team in Copenahagen has been accompanying indigenous leaders from the Amazon and intervening in the negotiations about REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Developing Countries) to ensure that the rights of indigenous peoples are guaranteed in the text of the REDD agreement. Otherwise, the mechanism could be a threat to the rights and livelihoods of indigenous and forest-dependent peoples and enable unjust land grabs in the name of forest preservation.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: While Atossa is away in the Himalayas I write to tell you about some of the recent events in what has proven to be an exciting month for Amazon Watch and our partners. First, we were thrilled at the attendance at our fourth annual celebration and want to thank all who came, volunteered, and brought their friends to share some of our experiences and learn about Amazon Watch. October also saw our third CRUDE premiere event, this time in Washington, D.C., where the film sold out the first night and was held over an additional week. Our event was a big hit with many members of national and international press as well as Rep. Jim McGovern who gave a passionate speech on behalf of the affected communities. Perhaps most moving of all were the events in Peru around the first annual "Amo Amazonia" festival. Amazon Watch was proud to play a role in planning and supporting this powerful week-long series of events to help the people of Lima better appreciate the beauty and power of the Amazon and support its peoples.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: These are incredible times for indigenous peoples in the Americas. Last week, the Ecuadorian police attacked a blockade by the Shuar who were protesting proposed land and water rights laws. Sadly, a Shuar teacher was killed and dozens were wounded on both sides, reminding us of the violent June 5 attack on demonstrators in Peru over virtually the same issues. We request that letters be sent to the President of Ecuador asking him to peacefully resolve this conflict. Also last week, David O’Reilly, the CEO of Chevron, announced his retirement by the year’s end. The timing of his resignation was auspicious given the award-winning documentary CRUDE had just opened in theaters in Chevron’s “home town.”

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: At Amazon Watch, momentum has been building in the lead-up to the much awaited theatrical release of CRUDE , a powerful documentary about the epic battle to hold oil giant Chevron accountable for its systematic contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon. The New York Times calls CRUDE “a sprawling legal thriller with rare depth and power.” As judgment day draws near for Chevron in this landmark trial, we invite you to help spread the word about the film that Chevron doesn’t want you to see and be part of the groundswell to compel the company to clean up the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: It is with renewed optimism that I write to you today. In late June, the Peruvian Congress revoked two hotly contested laws that undermined indigenous land rights. The victory came in the aftermath of unprecedented public outcry over the government's brutal attacks on peaceful indigenous protests. For now, the Garcia administration has been slowed in it's stampede toward unchecked industrial development of the Amazon. This welcome legislative backpedal is due to the strong resolve of the local communities supported by more than two hundred thousand individuals who responded to Amazon Watch and Avaaz's action alerts. Thank you to all who took action.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: It is with deep sadness and great urgency that I write to you this month. On June 5, peaceful indigenous blockades in the Peruvian Amazon were marking their 56th day when they were violently attacked by the police. The protests are about a series of 'laws' that were passed to facilitate the Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Eyewitness testimonies that Amazon Watch has helped distribute worldwide, say that Police Special Forces opened fire on peaceful demonstrators, killing dozens and wounding over a hundred in an orchestrated attempt to open up the road. After days of hard work by the Amazon Watch staff and Peruvian indigenous rights advocates, the truth is finally being reported on CNN and other outlets.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: I invite you to watch the latest segment of 60 Minutes featuring one of the most significant investigative reports ever aired about Chevron's Toxic legacy in Ecuador. The exposé left Chevron with no room to hide.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: I am writing to you from a rainforest lodge in the Peruvian Amazon where the sound of heavy rain has begun to drown out this evening's orchestra of frogs and insects. I have been attending an inspirational gathering of indigenous organizations and their allies to discuss strategies for defending the basin's indigenous territories and forests. Tomorrow, I leave for Medellín, Colombia joining some 50 of my colleagues from around Latin America to participate in the annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank. We will be there to deliver an alternative view on the Bank's 50th anniversary "celebration."

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: Greetings from the World Social Forum in Belem, Brazil, where Amazon Watch helped organize a series of activities in coalition with indigenous leaders and international environmental and human rights organizations to call attention to the urgent need to stop widespread destruction of the Amazon before the world's largest rainforest reaches the tipping point of ecological collapse. On the opening day of the Forum, nearly 1,700 people gathered to form a human banner visible from the air. The majority were Amazonian indigenous people in full headdress, body paint, bright colorful feathered headdresses with their spears, bow and arrows pointed to the sky. The action was covered widely in the Brazilian media and international news agencies.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: As 2008 comes to a close, we thank you for supporting Amazon Watch and our local partners in standing up to oil companies and other powerful interests. We invite you to make a year-end tax-deductible gift to rainforest protection and help us deliver on an ambitious agenda for 2009. There are many signs of hope on the horizon. Take the growing public awareness and political will for addressing the global climate crisis. The role of tropical rainforests in stabilizing our global climate is becoming more widely recognized. With your financial backing, we can turn this growing awareness into direct support of initiatives led by indigenous communities to protect their forest homelands from deforestation and industrialization. In this economy, every gift counts. So please make a gift today. On behalf of the Amazon Watch staff in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Quito, Ecuador, I wish you a peaceful and happy New Year.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: October was a powerful month in campaigns for corporate accountability, indigenous rights and rainforest protection. More than 10,000 indigenous people have been marching from all over Colombia to the city of Cali to oppose the Free Trade Agreement with the United States and to demand respect for their land rights. Amazon Watch supported the U'wa who kicked off the nationwide mobilizations on Indigenous People's Day. In other news, Amazon Watch's campaign to force Chevron to clean up the Ecuadorian Amazon won first place in the Business Ethics Network's Benny awards! Meanwhile, Chevron faces continued trouble at the Nigerian human rights trial "Bowoto vrs. Chevron", which opened in the U.S. federal court of San Francisco last week. More exciting change is in the air. We hope this week's US elections bring about positive change for the people and the planet!

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: The news of a meltdown on Wall Street has shed a spotlight on out of control corporate greed, failure of government and the need for radical change of our global economic system. From the climate crisis to the financial crisis, the world, and especially the US, need more far-sighted leadership. In contrast, the past month has brought a series of exciting and hopeful developments for the Amazon rainforest and the forest communities therein. On Sunday, Ecuador made history when voters approved a new constitution that includes articles granting inalienable rights to nature. Also last week, we celebrated Petrobras’s forced departure from the controversial oil block in Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park, home to several isolated indigenous groups. Earlier this month, the Ecuadorian Government indicted two of Chevron’s attorneys for falsifying prior remediation efforts. And last month, Peru’s indigenous movement organized nationwide protests that effectively forced the Peruvian Congress to reverse several Presidential decrees that attempted to roll back indigenous land rights. These important advances are the result of a growing movement of people like you, working to recreate our world. Crisis is opportunity. Let’s dream big.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: Once again, Chevron is resorting to desperate measures to evade a potential $16 billion liability for clean up in the Ecuadorian Amazon. This time, Chevron has hired former Republican Senator Trent Lott to lobby the Bush Administration to pull Ecuador’s special trade preferences unless Ecuador dismisses the $16 billion lawsuit against the company. See the hard-hitting story by Michael Isikoff in the latest issue of Newsweek. In other news, Ecuador’s Constitutional Assembly voted last week to include “rights of nature” in the country’s new constitution. Lastly, please save the date: Amazon Watch will hold our annual celebration and fundraising luncheon on October 30th at the Green Room in San Francisco. We hope you can join us for this inspiring event!

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: While the oil industry has been busy reporting record profits, Amazon Watch has been shining the spotlight on its abuses. In the past month, we have organized delegations to and demonstrations at the annual stockholder meetings of Occidental Petroleum in Los Angeles, ConocoPhillips in Houston, Talisman in Calgary, and Chevron in the San Francisco Bay Area. Last week's showdown at Chevron over its human rights abuses dominated the company's annual meeting and received blanket TV coverage.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: Last week in Los Angeles, we had the honor of hosting Tomas Maynas Carijano, the Peruvian Achuar elder and spiritual leader who is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit filed against Occidental Petroleum in U.S. Courts. Joined by Amazon Watch, EarthRights International, and Actress Daryl Hannah, Maynas addressed a crowd of over 100 people inspiring a ground swell of support for his vision of justice and environmental restoration. His quest for justice also inspired the LA Times Editorial Board to issue a powerful editorial on March 29 calling for "corporations doing business around the world to take their best practices with them." The editorial brilliantly framed the issue: "Call it a reverse incursion -- tribes following corporate giants into their native habitats... Maynas and other indigenous leaders are bearding business lions in their own cultural dens: at shareholder meetings, in boardrooms and, increasingly, in court." I invite you to renew your support and help Amazon Watch gear up for the upcoming season of annual stockholder meetings where our indigenous partners will bring their message to the cultural dens of Oxy, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Talisman.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: 2008 is off to a roaring start at Amazon Watch.  Already we are celebrating a victory following the City of Berkeley’s adoption last month of a policy to boycott Chevron gasoline in city vehicles given the company’s dismal human rights practices. We are now looking to inspire similar bans throughout the US. Meanwhile, earlier this month, with support from Amazon Watch, indigenous leaders addressed participants of the Peruvian Government’s petroleum concession auction in Houston, warning potential bidders of the implications of bidding for blocks in indigenous territories and protected areas.  Their message was welcomed by investors keen on avoiding reputational risks. Now, even the Washington Post is declaring “a new age of corporate accountability for the oil industry.”   We invite you to give generously to Amazon Watch’s vital work to safeguard our future.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: I write from Lima, where I am traveling with Amazon Watch’s Peru team. We are here holding strategy meetings with our Achuar partners in northern Peru and meeting officials from the US Export-Import Bank, which is considering whether to lend hundreds of millions of US tax dollars to the controversial Camisea gas project. The project has had adverse effects on the indigenous Matsigenka people of the southern Peruvian Amazon, and the irreplaceable tropical forests on which they depend for all their life needs. As we look towards 2008, we at Amazon Watch increasingly realize how much we have achieved so far with our courageous indigenous partners during 2007 – and how much work remains to be done to protect indigenous lands across the Amazon basin.  We look forward to your continued support.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: As 2007 comes to a close, the landmark Ecuadorian lawsuit against Chevron also appears to be entering the final strait, in the glare of the world’s media; the communities’ lead lawyer, Pablo Fajardo received an unprecedented honor, being named a CNN “Hero” while in Quito the pattern continued of human rights abuses and intimidation against anyone involved in bringing Chevron to justice. Last week, the Wall Street Journal published a story on Hunt's Camisea project exposing Hunt Oil's political influence and featuring Amazon Watch's campaign. Now, as we prepare to enter a new year, the time has come to reflect on our work in 2007, and ready ourselves for the challenges of 2008.  I invite you to make a year-end contribution to Amazon Watch’s hard hitting campaigns in defense of Amazon rainforest and indigenous peoples' rights. So, until our next newsletter in February, I wish you a happy festive season and a peaceful New Year.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: On October 12, Indigenous Peoples Day, Amazon Watch held our second annual fundraising luncheon and celebration in San Francisco. Thanks to the host committee, to all who attended and who donated, the event was a resounding success, with a keynote presentation by Robert Guimaraes, a Shipibo leader and Vice President of AIDESEP, Peru’s national organization for indigenous Amazonian peoples. As you will see from the news below, your support for our work is timely and important on a number of fronts, including urgently calling on the U.S. Congress to reject the proposed Free Trade Agreement with Peru and in supporting efforts to protect indigenous territories and national parks. Thank you once again to all of our supporters for continuing to make our work possible.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: September has been a truly historic month for the 370 million indigenous people living around the world. After more than two decades of struggle, the United Nations Generally Assembly finally passed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This fundamental human rights document enshrines indigenous communitiesÕ right to veto the operations of the extractive industries, such as mining and oil and gas drilling, on their land; it will provide a powerful moral and legal tool in the struggle of our Amazonian partners such as the Achuar and UÕwa in defending their lands against the ravages of oil companies. Now, on a high, the staff at Amazon Watch looks towards an action packed October, including Amazon WatchÕs second annual fundraising lunch, in San Francisco, on October 12, Indigenous Peoples Day.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: The fate of the Peruvian Amazon remains in the balance this month as the Peruvian government unveiled the results of a bidding round for hydrocarbon concessions in the country’s vast rainforest. The good news is that several concessions, which would have intruded on indigenous Territorial Reserves, appear to have failed to find any buyers at the  first time of asking, following intense campaigning from Amazon Watch and our partners. The bad news is that other concessions intruding on the lands of isolated indigenous groups are now set for oil exploration — bringing the total area of the Peruvian Amazon zoned into hydrocarbon concessions to 65 percent. Meanwhile, in the United Nations, the coming weeks will prove critical for the proposed Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Amazon Watch will do what we can to ensure the Declaration passes.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: Summer has begun and Amazon Watch's campaigns are also heating up. Last weekend's Live Earth concerts, organized by Al Gore to highlight the climate crisis, presented us with a major opportunity. Our public service announcement about the oil industry's trashing of the Amazon was viewed by millions of people around the world as part of the Live Earth feed, generating unprecedented traffic to the Amazon Watch website. Meanwhile, in New York, a federal judge dealt a major blow to Chevron’s efforts to evade its responsibility to clean up the Ecuadorian Amazon. All in all, the last four weeks have been encouraging ones for Amazon Watch and our partners in South America.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: The last six weeks have been particularly busy ones for Amazon Watch as we organized a series of high-profile delegations to and from the Amazon. In late April and May, we took indigenous leaders to the annual general meetings of Chevron, Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) and ConocoPhillips, in San Ramon, Los Angeles and Houston respectively. The delegates made an impact at each of the shareholder meetings, engaging with sympathetic investors and leaving company management in no doubt about their determination to preserve and protect their rainforest homelands. Then, in June, Amazon Watch organized a delegation featuring the actresses Daryl Hannah and Q’orianka Kilcher to the Ecuadorian Amazon, giving them a chance to also attend the Quito opening of the Crude Reflections photo exhibit and lend their support to the 30,000 plaintiffs in the landmark class-action lawsuit against Chevron.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: April and May promise to be exceptionally busy months for Amazon Watch as we organize three delegations of indigenous leaders from the Amazon to attend the annual shareholder meetings of Chevron, Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) and ConocoPhillips, in San Ramon, Los Angeles and Houston respectively. More than any other, this tactic, of allowing members of affected communities to directly address shareholders and executives, defines Amazon Watch. Not just does it provide the dramatic moments that attract the attention of the media, but it also gives vulnerable communities a rare, often unique, opportunity to make their voices heard by corporate decision-makers. With Chevron’s Ecuador trial nearing a conclusion, Oxy attempting to walk away from its own environmental catastrophe in northern Peru, and Oxy and ConocoPhillips both considering new drilling in Peru, the stakes could not be higher.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: February saw a tactical triumph in the campaign by Peruvian indigenous peoples to protect their lands from the ravages of oil drilling. Taking the stage at a Houston Petroleum Club presentation by Perupetro, two Amazonian indigenous leaders left the audience in no doubt that their peoples had neither been consulted about nor were willing to permit the sale of the concessions intruding on their lands. This protest, and the Peruvian government’s response to it, demonstrates the success that can be had when Amazon Watch and our partner groups help indigenous peoples in the Amazon to make their voices heard in the corridors of power. As we gear up for the shareholder meeting season, this is a achievement that heartens Amazon Watch and the communities with which we work.

Monthly letter from the Executive Director: The last few weeks have seen some promising developments in Ecuador and a new crisis in Colombia. While the Ecuadorian government has now asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Chevron for fraud and appears poised to favor an oil drilling moratorium in the southern Ecuadorian Amazon, Colombia’s Ecopetrol has sent a vast fleet of trucks carrying drilling equipment and accompanied by soldiers to the U’wa’s cloudforest homelands. The coming days and weeks will be hard for the U’wa and critical for their defense of their ancestral lands. Please take the time to visit our Action Alert linked from the note below and do what you can to stand in solidarity with the U’wa at this difficult time.