Amazon Watch | Protecting the rainforest and our climate in solidarity with Indigenous peoples

    Amazon Watch
    Amazon Watch

    Eye on the Amazon

    Guardians Unite: Defending the Xingu Against Belo Sun’s Threat

    The Gathering was a key moment to reaffirm our collective resistance and understand the realities of communities grappling not only with the disastrous Belo Monte hydroelectric dam but also the looming threat of Belo Sun’s proposed mine. 

    February 6, 2024
    4,350 views
    3 min read

    Belo Sun Mining Seeks to Criminalize Amazon Defenders

    The Canadian gold mining company’s criminal lawsuit attempts to silence and intimidate defenders of the Volta Grande do Xingú, including community leaders, Amazon Watch, and other environmental and human rights activists

    In a blatant effort to intimidate and silence its critics, Belo Sun Mining has filed a criminal lawsuit targeting more than 30 people – most of them small-scale farmers – as well as community leaders, environmental defenders, researchers, and representatives of Brazilian and international organizations.

    February 1, 2024
    3,604 views
    6 min read

    Despite Victory in a Historic Referendum, Yasuní National Park Is Again at Risk

    Ecuador's president announces plans to ignore the popular vote and continue drilling for oil in one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, home to Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation

    The government seeks to upend the will of voters and continue drilling in Yasuní under the pretense of funding the country’s escalating conflict with organized crime. 

    January 30, 2024
    3,003 views
    7 min read

    Petroperú Is Desperate for Cash, But We’re Going to End Amazon Crude!

    The company is now in talks with Citi and JPMorgan Chase, and Indigenous nations tell them again: no new financing for Petroperú!

    Joining forces with our partners, Amazon Watch is gearing up to launch a series of campaign actions in 2024. Our mission: to ensure financiers, including commercial banks, investors, and insurers, fully grasp the perils of financially supporting Petroperú. 

    January 25, 2024
    6,638 views
    2 min read

    Recent Reports

    Amazon Underworld

    Criminal Economies in the World's Largest Rainforest

    This report shows how criminal organizations and armed groups have expanded their presence, increased their political control, and diversified their economies in the Amazon with disastrous impacts on Indigenous peoples.

    November 2023
    4,894 views
    2 min read

    Amazon in Focus 2023

    Over the last year, hope and progress for the future of the Amazon and climate has been restored. With immense joy and pride, we celebrate recent victories to protect Indigenous land rights with the civil society consultation to keep oil in the ground in the Yasuní National Park in Ecuador and the Brazilian Supreme Court ruling declaring “Marco...

    Fall 2023
    3,395 views
    3 min read

    Unmasking Canada: Rights Violations Across Latin America

    Amazon Watch was joined by more than 50 civil society organizations to compile three critical reports - covering Regional, Amazonian, and Oil and Gas - under the campaign Unmasking Canada: Rights Violations Across Latin America.

    August 31, 2023
    2,327 views
    2 min read

    News on Indigenous Rights, the Amazon, and Our Global Climate Crisis

    Indigenous Rights Battle Resumes in Brazilian Supreme Court

    The continuing struggle against “Marco Temporal” and escalating anti-Indigenous politics

    The Supreme Court’s rejection of the Marco Temporal thesis was arguably the most significant victory of the Indigenous movement in the 21st century. It marked the culmination of years of grassroots organizing, legal struggles, and mobilization.

    January 18, 2024
    3,630 views
    5 min read

    Solidarity, Advocacy, and Resistance in the Amazon and Beyond

    This solidarity grantmaking is built upon a multi-decade track record as a trusted partner among Indigenous nations and local organizations and guided by the principles and cosmology of Indigenous peoples. 

    January 11, 2024
    3,526 views
    3 min read

    Investors Must Respect Indigenous Rights to Protect the Amazon

    Respecting Indigenous Rights: An Actionable Toolkit for Institutional Investors provides investors with a starting point to educate themselves and others about Indigenous rights, as well as practical tools to develop policies, case studies, and data sources to identify and address Indigenous rights abuses.

    January 5, 2024
    773 views
    4 min read

    2024 Could Be the Endgame for Indigenous Land Rights in Brazil

    "I will not feel defeated. Defeated are those who are sitting on their hands. We will continue to fight for the demarcation of Indigenous lands. Because those who have territory have a place to go back to, and those who have a place to go back to, have a mother, a lap, and a cure."

    December 20, 2023
    2,994 views
    3 min read

    Indigenous Women Leaders Took Center Stage at COP28

    Hope for the path to COP30 as Indigenous women demonstrate effective advocacy, leadership, and solidarity

    “There are reasons to be hopeful. Lula delivered what he promised as far as deforestation and has promised zero deforestation by 2030. And he is very focused on climate justice – bringing those most vulnerable to the table.”

    December 14, 2023
    2,351 views
    5 min read

    Autonomous Indigenous Nations Fight to Stop the Flow of Money to Petroperú

    As Petroperú ramps up efforts to exploit oil in Block 64, Indigenous nations, in partnership with Amazon Watch and the Sacred Headwaters Initiative, launch a public campaign to pressure commercial banks to commit to no new Petroperú financing

    Their efforts effectively put the multimillion dollar deal at a stalemate, and prevented Petroperú from attaining new long-term financing for the Talara Refinery in the past six months.

    December 7, 2023
    4,500 views
    3 min read

    The Growing Threat of Organized Crime in the Amazon

    Supporting Indigenous rights and territories is an essential element of any strategy

    Organized crime has been present in the region for many years, and it has recently become a major threat to the Amazon and Indigenous rights and territories.

    November 16, 2023
    2,471 views
    5 min read

    Indigenous Women Reforesting Hearts and Minds to Heal Mother Earth

    “The struggle for Mother Earth is the mother of all struggles!”

    “We are here to say that we are the healing of the Earth, we are the ancestral voice of the Earth speaking to us. It is not possible to think about valuing human rights if you kill the Earth."

    November 14, 2023
    1,859 views
    4 min read

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