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Chevron’s Environmental Crimes: 13 Years of Evasion and Escalation

On the 13th anniversary of the historic $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron, Ecuador's current government could betray its own people in favor of big oil interests

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

Amazon Indigenous Woman Wins Goldman Environment Prize

Indigenous Rights Battle Resumes in Brazilian Supreme Court

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

Mining and International Investors Threaten Indigenous Rights and 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. 

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.

Indigenous Earth Defenders Under Threat

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.

“False Positives” in the Colombian Amazon

Indigenous peoples and others are struggling to protect their ancestral lands, livelihoods, and lives. In doing so, they run afoul of the men with guns who don’t hesitate to threaten and kill.

Josefina Tunki Delivers Testimony at the UN on Behalf of the Shuar Arutam People

Josefina joined communities affected by Chinese business operations in Latin America to testify at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva

“The Shuar Arutam People have already decided and have declared forcefully that we do not want mining or consultation in our territory.”

International Financial Institutions Are Fanning the Flames in the Amazon

Following the Money Behind Amazon Oil Development

Santander and HSBC worked on Petroperú bond issuance despite its record of Amazon oil spills

Financial Times | Local opposition has hampered Petroperú’s plans to start producing crude from two large blocks in the Amazon. For many banks, support for Amazon oil development must look like much more trouble than it is worth.

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. 

Canada Emerges As Key Culprit in Amazon Destruction

Despite its “climate forward” image, Canada is linked to corporate abuses and rights violations across mining and oil extractive projects in the Amazon

The rights violations discovered in the operations of Canadian companies in the Amazon rainforest are deeply troubling, particularly considering Canada's efforts to present itself as a human rights leader in the world.

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.

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...

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.

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

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. 

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.

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."

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.”

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.

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."

Abandoned Oil Mess Still Plagues Communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Mongabay | “For us, oil has been a curse because we haven’t seen any [benefits from] oil. The plans are always made in Quito and Guayaquil, in the big cities, but they seem to be unaware of the real damage; by producing a barrel of oil, they’re killing people or animals that should be able to subsist in the Amazon.”

Seven Challenges for the New Ecuadorian Government to Protect the Amazon and Indigenous Rights

Ecuador’s powerful business class is in power yet again following the election of Daniel Noboa

We question whether he will prioritize the protection of nature and the rights of Indigenous peoples as he promised during his campaign or – more likely – carry on with the extractivist agenda of prior administrations and continue to disregard Indigenous rights.

Taking on Cargill Alongside the Munduruku People

"We defend our lands not just for our people but for all of humanity. Your company is harming our collective future. We have lived here in the heart of the Amazon for over 4,000 years. But now our world hangs by a thread."

Legal Impunity for Loggers Behind the Brutal Murders of Four Indigenous Earth Defenders in Saweto

The abrupt annulment of the 28-year sentences that took families seven years of legal battles to achieve highlights the profound injustice and judicial discrimination they face in Peru

This decision is a strong affront to justice, memory, and the dignity of the victims and their families, who face yet another chapter of legal strife and uncertainty.

Brazil’s Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Indigenous Land Rights in Historic Win

Court voted against agribusiness-backed attempt to prevent communities claiming land they did not physically occupy in 1988

The Guardian | Nine of the court’s 11 members voted against what rights groups had dubbed the “time limit trick” – an agribusiness-backed attempt to prevent Indigenous communities claiming land they did not physically occupy in 1988.

Brazil’s Indigenous Lands at Stake: Marco Temporal’s Potential Boon for Mining Titans

Amid an impending Supreme Court decision, our latest report dives into the risks of this legal thesis, potentially jeopardizing Indigenous territories for the benefit of powerful mining companies

We stand on the edge of a decision that will significantly impact Indigenous peoples’ lands, their lives, and our collective future. If approved, it's not just a win for mining magnates like Vale, Bunge, and Anglo American. It's an irreversible loss for Indigenous rights, the Amazon rainforest, and for 77 yet-to-be-recognized Indigenous...

Yasuní Victory Shows Us the Way to End Amazon Crude

In a historic vote, Ecuadorians have shown the world what true climate leadership looks like. Their vote is a step toward a fossil fuel-free future that protects biodiversity and the rights of isolated Indigenous peoples.

Pulse, Xingu! The Way to Revive the Volta Grande after Belo Monte

Juruna researchers and riverine people from Volta Grande do Xingu, with academics from different areas of science, propose the Piracemas Hydrogram, a necessary action for fish to reproduce again

Instituto Socioambiental | The Xingu River needs to pulsate for life to exist. The flood pulse is the source of the life cycle in most Amazonian rivers. The Juruna Yudjá of the Paquiçamba Indigenous Land and the riverside communities of Volta Grande do Xingu have known this for a long time.