Indian Country Today | When Brazil announced plans September 12 to build a new dam on the Tapajós River, they violated their own legal requirements to comply with a process of free, prior, and informed consultation with threatened indigenous and traditional communities.
All: 2014
Brazil Waffles on Indigenous Rights and Dams in the Amazon
If the Belo Monte disaster set a grim paradigm for human rights and environmental protection in the Amazon, then the manic race to dam the nearby Tapajós River confirms that the Brazilian government will stop at nothing to produce energy at any and all cost.
AIDESEP: Responding to El Comercio's Baseless Accusations about the Bagua Case
AIDESEP | We cite as the sole responsible parties for the violence unleashed on June 5th the government of ex-President Alan García and other representatives. They allowed for a massacre against the demonstrators. The police, following the orders of the Interior Minister, Mercedes Cabanillas, opened fire on and launched tear gas from helicopters against the...
Brazilians March for Clean Energy Not Mega-Dams
Last Sunday the world – and likely you, our readers – took notice as powerful actions took place in over 2,000 locations around the world for the People's Climate March. Where I live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 400 people braved pouring rain, marching for hours as we called for clean energy, not mega-dams in the Amazon.
Ecuadorian Government Apologizes to Sarayaku Indigenous People
Ceremony in Sarayaku's rainforest territory represents the first time in Latin America a sitting government has apologized to indigenous peoples for human rights violations
Quito, Ecuador – History was made today in the Kichwa community of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon, where representatives of four Ecuadorian government ministries along with the Attorney General's office publicly apologized to the indigenous nation for human rights violations that occurred in their rainforest territory in 2003. It is...
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Ecuador Minister to Apologize Publicly to Indigenous People Over Oil Project
Justice Minister Ledy Zuniga to Offer Apology in Ceremony Wednesday
Wall Street Journal | Quito, Ecuador – Justice Minister Ledy Zuniga will offer a public apology to a community from the Sarayaku indigenous group on Wednesday over the development of an oil project in their ancestral lands almost two decades ago, which an international court said was a violation of their rights.
Business Journalists Rush to Rescue Chevron from Its Ecuador Disaster
Chevron got a little help from its friends in the corporate media last week. It is clear that business journalists will come out of the woodwork to defend the company from attacks on their own kind, even if the truth about Chevron’s human rights violations is sacrificed in the process.
Ecuadorian State to Recognize Its Responsibility by Asking Forgiveness of the Sarayaku People
Four Ecuadorian Ministers and the Attorney General will travel to the community of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon to ask the Kichwa first nation of Sarayaku for forgiveness given the human rights violations committed against them during the oil operation carried out by the company CGC.
Peruvian Ecologist Vows "You Fight Until You Fall Dead"
As Peru relaxes environmental safeguards, a prominent ecologist explains why he resigned from his government post
National Geographic | Ráez-Luna resigned over the administration's support of a law that, to the horror of environmental groups around the world, rolled back many green policies established in Peru during the past decade.
The Climate "Marchers" Who Fought and Died in the Amazon
Huffington Post | The 400,000 people who walked across New York City in this month's People's Climate March may not have known it, but their actions came on the heels of another event far away, involving indigenous activists in a remote part of the Amazon rainforest.
Drought Bites as Amazon's "Flying Rivers" Dry Up
Scientists in Brazil believe the loss of billions of litres of water released as vapour clouds by Amazon rainforest trees is the result of continuing deforestation and climate change – leading to devastating drought
Climate News Network | The unprecedented drought now affecting São Paulo, South America's giant metropolis, is believed to be caused by the absence of the "flying rivers" – the vapour clouds from the Amazon that normally bring rain to the centre and south of Brazil.
Big Dams Are Not Clean Energy Sources
An open letter signed by 52 NGOs working in Latin America
As critical climate negotiations take place this week in New York, Amazon Watch joined a coalition of 52 NGOs working in Latin America to insist that large dams should not be considered a clean energy source, nor an energy solution to climate change.
Indigenous Voices Lead Largest Climate March Ever
Momentum building as indigenous representatives call to Keep the Oil in the Ground at the People's Climate March in New York
This past week a small group made big waves in New York City. Amazonian indigenous spokespeople and social movement leaders joined the Indigenous Bloc in leading more than 400,000 others at the People's Climate March. Amazon Watch joined front-line indigenous communities and representatives in demanding that humanity keep the oil in the ground as...
Amazon Women on the Frontlines of Climate Change
A selection of photos from Amazon Women on the Frontlines of Climate Change, a traveling photography exhibit with written and live testimonies from indigenous women leading solutions on the frontlines of the Amazon as the region confronts the impacts of climate change.
Amazon Women on the Frontlines of Climate Change
"When women decide to do something, when we are firm and radical, we will be successful and make it happen!" Patricia Gualinga addressed a packed crowd in the very spirit of her words, moving the entire room to a standing ovation. "Everywhere on the planet, we have such a powerful impact."
Indigenous Groups Give Cautious Welcome to Deal Struck at UN
Governments pledge to consult native groups over projects on indigenous lands and improve access to education and services
The Guardian | Patricia Gualinga, from the Sarayaku community in the Ecuador Amazon, who travelled to the conference with Amazon Watch, was more skeptical about what the new document would bring. "Until now what I have seen and heard is that all presidents have beautiful discourses, but where I come from it just stays on paper and in discourses and not in...
Indigenous Groups Call for Drilling Limits to Fight Climate Change
The UN is holding the first World Conference on Indigenous Peoples during the General Assembly
Al Jazeera | "You don't have to look for where you are going to begin. We are already here fighting to preserve the jungle. We are present, we have been present, and we want to support the world and humanity. We in Sarayaku are betting on life, not death," said Patricia Gualinga.
"Keep the Oil in the Ground!" Key Message at People's Climate March
The key to solving the climate crisis starts with respecting indigenous rights and territory. Indigenous peoples whose lands, culture and way of life are already being destroyed are calling for a stop to the expansion of the oil frontier. Their voices deserve to be heard, especially since the regions they are trying to protect are vital for all of...
People's Climate March in New York City
Over 310,000 people filled the streets of New York City to participate in the largest climate march in history. Amazon Watch accompanied indigenous leaders from the Ecuadorian rainforest and marched with thousands of others calling globally to Keep the Oil in the Ground in the Amazon.
With Its Green Cred Under Fire, Peru Prepares to Host UN Climate Talks
The South American country has warmed up for the next mega-conference in Lima to negotiate a new Earth-saving climate treaty by rolling back its own environmental safeguards
GlobalPost | Many of the country's environmental problems are deep-rooted and predate the government of President Ollanta Humala, who took office in July 2011. Yet he has drawn green activists' ire for the "paquetazo," a package of economic reforms he signed into law on July 11.
Drowned Tropical Forests Add to Climate Change
New scientific data supports the belief that methane emissions from big hydroelectric dams in the tropics outweigh the benefits that this form of renewable energy provides
Climate News Network | Big dams built in the tropics to produce hydroelectricity have long been highly controversial – and data gathered in Laos by a French team studying methane emissions confirms that dams can add to global warming, not reduce it.
Voices from Ecuador Echo in New York
"We have to free ourselves from our addiction to oil. If we want to take on climate change, we can't continue extracting, consuming, looking for more oil and sacrificing more [indigenous] territories," said said Esperanza Martinez, founder and president of Acción Ecológica in an interview with Naomi Klein in New York City.
Peru Plans to Abolish Iconic Amazon Indigenous Reserve, NGO Claims
Upside Down World | Plans are afoot to abolish a reserve for vulnerable indigenous peoples in Peru's Amazon in order to exploit massive gas deposits and facilitate Christian evangelization, according to a report by Lima-based NGO Perú Equidad - Center for Public Policies and Human Rights.
Indigenous Block to Speak Out in Central Park Before Leading People's Climate March
New York, NY – As tens of thousands of people flood the city to participate in the People’s Climate March, a coalition of indigenous peoples from around the world will converge in a reserved area of south-west Central Park to speak out about the seriousness of climate change and the impacts of fossil fuels and oil related developments in...
Esperanza Martinez at This Changes Everything talk with Naomi Klein
The New School | Esperanza Martinez – President of Acción Ecológica, co-founder of Oilwatch, and one of Ecuador's most recognizable and influential environmental leaders – talks about the struggle to save the Yasuní National Park in Ecuador at the This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate event hosted by Naomi Klein.
Why I March: We Need to Leave the Oil in the Ground!
Huffington Post | If we continue preying on the Earth under the banner of the oil economy, we put at risk both our lives and that of the planet. Mother Earth is tired of so much abuse and ill-treatment. Now is the time to put on the brakes, to say, "this is the limit, we can't continue this way."
Brazil Reverses Approval of Concession Auction for Tapajos Hydro Project
HydroWorld | A day after a complaint by environmentalist lobbying groups, Brazil's mines and energy ministry revoked its approval of a concession auction to develop the Tapajos hydroelectric project on Brazil's Tapajos River.
Keep the Oil in the Ground!
Our future is in peril and the changing climate is a key indicator. Scientists warn us that global warming is spiraling out of control which is why we need to see immediate action now. As the Amazon basin is a keystone area in combating climate change, preserving this region is essential for humanity's survival.
"The Green Amazon is Red with Indigenous Blood"
Authorities pull bodies from river that may have belonged to slain leaders
Mongabay.com | Peruvian authorities have pulled more human remains from a remote river in the Amazon, which may belong to one of the four murdered Ashaninka natives killed on September 1st.
