Oakland, CA – Today, the Board of Directors of Amazon Watch announced that Leila Salazar-López will become the new Executive Director of the international environmental and human rights organization effective immediately.
All: 2015
Rising for the Amazon: A Message from Leila Salazar-López, Executive Director
Twenty years ago I traveled to the Ecuadorian Amazon and my life was forever changed. As a volunteer at the Jatún Sacha Biological Station, I learned the basics of tropical ecology and became quickly fascinated by the interconnectedness of all life. I also witnessed the devastation caused by oil spills, firing me up to take action and to design a...
Commonwealth Club to Fête Chevron CEO
The public affairs nonprofit plans to bestow John Watson with its "Distinguished Citizen Award" despite the oil giant's environmentally destructive practices.
East Bay Express | The Commonwealth Club of California is drawing criticism from dozens of environmental and human rights groups from around the globe because of its plans to fête Chevron CEO John Watson and bestow its "Distinguished Citizen Award" on him at its annual fundraising gala this week. The environmental groups have asked the Commonwealth Club to...
Brazil: Mired in Scandal, Refusing to Progress
With Belo Monte's criminal irregularities in the spotlight, one would think the Brazilian government would lay low – perhaps even learn from the current crisis! Unfortunately we I was seeing the opposite here on the jungle jet and throughout the nation.
The Farce of Clean Energy
The construction of mega-dams involves human rights violations and other impacts
O Globo | The construction of mega-dams involves grave human rights violations as well as other disastrous socio-environmental impacts. Belo Monte, for example, was described by Thais Santi, a Federal Prosecutor, as "an indigenous ethnocide in a world where everything is possible" taking place within the rule of law of a democratic state.
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Peruvian Indigenous Leader: "We Don't Want to Die Because of Oil"
Huffington Post | Leaders from the indigenous Matsés people in the Peruvian Amazon say they remain vehemently opposed to potential operations in their territory by a Canada-based oil company.
Colombian Tribe Scores "Historic" Victory Versus Big Gas
State company Ecopetrol pulls out of drilling site in territories belonging to the indigenous U’wa people
The Guardian | The indigenous U'wa people living in north-east Colombia have won what observers call an "historic" and "decisive" victory after state oil and gas company Ecopetrol dismantled a gas drilling site in their territories.
Bringing Dishonor Upon an Honorary Award
We just found out that the Commonwealth Club of California plans to honor Chevron CEO John Watson as a "distinguished global citizen" who has "given back" to the global community. WHAT?!
Human Rights Groups Denounce Chevron CEO John Watson Over Citizenship Honor
San Francisco, CA – Major environmental and human rights groups contest the San Francisco Commonwealth Club’s decision to award one of the world’s most notorious corporate polluters, Chevron CEO John Watson, with a citizenship award.
Mounting Evidence of Corruption in the Brazilian Dam Industry
Last Sunday millions of citizens in dozens of cities throughout Brazil took to the streets to protests rampant corruption, erroneous economic policies and rollbacks of social benefits. Protestors called for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, claiming government mismanagement and a possible direct link between the president and an...
Uyantza Raymi and the People of the Zenith
Observing the mountains on a sunny afternoon in the Amazon, my home, I began to reflect on the past few months I have spent on the road as an active voice advocating for the defence of indigenous territories, our rights and the rights of the future generations who have an inherent right to live in a healthy world. We all do.
Organizations Request That the IACHR Strengthen State Obligations to Supervise Corporate Activities That Violate Human Rights
In a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, they highlighted the opportunities that the Commission has to address the problem through the creation, implementation and strengthening of international standards on business and human rights.
Washington, DC – In a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, civil society organizations requested that the Commission provide renewed attention to the problem, increasingly experienced in the hemisphere, of human rights violations committed by corporations.
Occupy Amazonia? Indigenous Activists Are Taking Direct Action – and It's Working
The Conversation | The relative success of direct action in recent decades contrasts with the often bloody encounters that went before, from which poorly-armed Indians invariably emerged badly.
Ecuadorian Indigenous Movement Unites in Defense of Territory
This week hundreds of representatives from five indigenous nationalities came together in a special assembly to defend their Amazon territory from oil, mining, logging, destructive dams and the commodification of nature.
Resistance! Facing Down Goliath Oil Companies
The Achuar and U'wa indigenous peoples have me in awe of the immense power of grassroots resistance in the face of multi-billion dollar corporations. Years after graduating from university, I find myself once again a student. Throughout my tenure at Amazon Watch, I have been honored to "informally apprentice" under our wise and humble indigenous...
The Plan to Mop Up the World's Largest Oil Spill With Fungus
Motherboard | "Justice isn't something that the government has in its pocket or Chevron has in its bank account,” said Mitch Anderson of ClearWater. “It's something that communities build.”
Celebrate #InternationalWomensDay!
Amazon Watch is proud to partner with indigenous women from across the Amazon basin to support their work to protect their ancestral territories from oil extraction and destructive mega-dam projects. These women are true leaders in the growing movement to protect the rainforest and all life.
Decolonization and the Munduruku Protocol: It's Time to Listen
The Munduruku Protocol on consultation procedures, published couple of weeks ago and presented to the Brazilian government, is the first protocol of a consultation process proposed by an indigenous nation that I have ever seen. It is very well written, closely following international and national law.
Indigenous Peruvians Win Amazon Pollution Payout from US Oil Giant
Out-of-court settlement ends long legal battle for compensation for deaths, birth defects and environmental damage allegedly caused by Occidental's pollution
The Guardian | Members of the indigenous Achuar tribe from the Peruvian Amazon have won an undisclosed sum from Occidental Petroleum in an out-of-court settlement after a long-running legal battle in the US courts.
Massive Corruption Scandal Implicates Brazil's Amazon Dam Builders
Testimony from jailed operators of Petrobras scandal point to similar corruption scheme involving politicians and major construction firms
Brasilia, Brazil – This week, imprisoned executives from one of Brazil's largest construction firms, who are implicated in an unprecedented corruption scandal involving the parastatal oil company Petrobras, promised to expose a parallel scheme of massive fraud surrounding hydroelectric dams in the Amazon.
Peruvian Indigenous Communities Pleased with Settlement of Pollution Lawsuit Against Occidental Petroleum
"The parties are pleased to confirm a mutual settlement of the claims in the litigation. Under the settlement, the terms of which are confidential, Oxy will provide assistance for community development projects for the benefit of these five Achuar communities. All parties are satisfied with the resolution of this dispute."
What Would Ingrid Do? War and Peace
Indian Country Today | I live in a country which spends a third of my tax dollars on the military, so I do not know actually how peace is found. So say that you wanted peace. How would that work out?
Amazon Deforestation Soars After a Decade of Stability
New Scientist | Deforestation in the Amazon has skyrocketed in the past half a year, according to analysis of satellite images issued by Brazil's non-profit research institute, IMAZON.
2015 Achievements and Priorities
It costs only $.03 per acre per year to support Amazon Watch's work with indigenous peoples to protect more than 60 million acres of rainforest from oil development and mega-dams. Please join us!
Stand-off in the Amazon: Tribes Shut Down Oil Company Airport
Digital Journal | Members of two different Peruvian native groups have occupied the airport of Pluspetrol, an Argentine oil company that is accused of failing to compensate local communities for damage to the environment.
Brazil's Arrested Forest Kingpin Isn't the Only Problem Facing the Amazon
VICE News | "We're concerned that deforestation will continue unabated despite the fact that [Castanha]'s been arrested," Christian Poirier, said the Brazil-EU Advocacy Coordinator for the forest and indigenous rights protection group Amazon Watch. "There've been arrests made. There've been some serious attempts to break up these [deforestation] mafias. But...
Shuar Community Expels the Secretary of Hydrocarbons from Its Territory
CONFENIAE/CONAIE | Over and over again the participants expressed their rejection of oil activity and of the illegitimate free, prior, and informed consultation, and demanded the immediate withdrawal of Secretary of Hydrocarbons' office of information.
Victory! Gas Project in U'wa Territory Dismantled
"The U'wa people would like to inform national and international public opinion that the Magallanes gas exploration block has been completely dismantled. Ecopetrol has removed all the machinery that had been found there in a demonstration of respect for our rights as an indigenous people."
Investor's Eye on the Amazon
In our Winter 2015 issue, we bring you the latest updates and investor risks associated with companies operating or investing in the Amazon region.
