It is critical that conflict between armed groups is not simply replaced by conflict between communities and mega projects over the protection of their livelihoods and environment.
All: 2017
Sápara People of Ecuador Fight Big Oil For Broken Promises
The Sápara people of Ecuador are fighting to keep more oil drilling out of their territory, especially after a recent meeting with the Ecuadorean government that left the issue unresolved, and silence from an international organization that had given them protective status.
Maps Reveal How Amazon Development Is Closing in on Isolated Tribes
Development projects in the Amazon Basin – including dams, roads, and oil and gas operations – are encroaching on forests that are the last refuges of thousands of indigenous people who continue to shun contact with the outside world, according to a study that estimates the tribes' locations.
Reclaiming Ancestral Territory: The U’wa Return After Years of Displacement
In July, ten U'wa families packed up their belongings and returned to the hamlet known as Río Negro in the municipality of La Salina. Amazon Watch is proudly supporting the return with funds for everyday necessities like soup pots, mosquito nets, and farming tools.
Victory for Indigenous Peoples as Brazil’s Supreme Court Rejects Attempts To Limit Indigenous Land Rights
In a major victory for indigenous peoples, Brazil's Supreme Court ruled unanimously this week in favor of indigenous land rights in two separate lawsuits, setting an important legal precedent.
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Victory for Indigenous Rights as Brazil’s Supreme Court Rejects Government Proposal To Limit Land Rights
In unanimous rulings on two disputed indigenous land-titling cases, the Court dismissed a legal opinion issued by the Attorney General and endorsed by President Michel Temer, which argued for the rejection of land claims by indigenous peoples unless they inhabited their traditional territories at the time Brazil's 1988 Constitution was ratified.
Brazilian Firm Wants To Build New Dams in Amazon’s Aripuanã Basin
With the bancada ruralista mining / agribusiness lobby in control of the Temer government and Congress, a Brazilian company, Intertechne Consultores, sees it as an opportune time to revive a shelved plan to build dams in the Amazon’s Aripuanã basin.
Protests in Bolivia Against Renewed Road Plans for TIPNIS Rainforest
Leaders of Bolivia's indigenous and environmental movements are staging emergency protests as the country's Senate meets to approve a law that would strip protections from the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory.
Chevron’s Toxic Legacy and Continued Destruction
There are countless actions that Chevron can and should take to be a less terrible neighbor and a better actor on the world stage. Two straightforward ones: stop purchasing and refining Amazon crude and stop fighting a greenhouse gas emissions cap on its Richmond refinery.
It Could Cost $1 Billion To Clean Up the Oil in Peru’s Northern Amazon
Who is going to clean up Peru's northern Amazon after decades of companies spilling oil and dumping billions of barrels of toxic production waters? Certainly not US company Occidental which ran the biggest concession, Lot 1-AB, until 2000, nor, it would seem, Petroperu, which ran the other major concession, Lot 8, until 1996 and operates the...
Deforestation May Soar Now That Colombian Civil War Is Over
The end of war doesn't necessarily bring peace to the environment. An increase in illegal logging could be one of the unexpected consequences of peace in Colombia.
Oil Exploration Is No Way To Protect Indigenous Culture and Territories
Even being recognized by the UN as a Patrimony of Humanity has not been sufficient to protect the culture and territory of the Sápara people, who face continued threats from oil drilling in their rainforest homes in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
We Are Made of the Sacred!
A mobilization of the Munduruku people, which began two months ago by women concerned with defending sacred places and indigenous rights and led to an occupation of the construction site of the São Manoel hydroelectric dam project, ended on Friday. The Munduruku, however, have made it clear that their struggle continues.
Desperate to Save His Job, Brazil’s President Temer Escalates Assault on Indigenous Peoples and Amazonian Forests
President Temer is personally driving an unprecedented series of assaults on human rights and environmental protection in Brazil. His actions must be categorically denounced as they portend disaster for native peoples, endangered biomes such as the Amazon, and humanity as a whole.
China’s Other Big Export: Pollution
A true climate leader would invest in the preservation of areas of global ecological importance rather than destroy them.
How We Win: Speak Truth to Power and Build Solidarity
"Andes Petroleum will have the blood of my people on their hands if it doesn't stay out of our sacred rainforest.,"
Brazilian Indigenous Group Occupies Amazon Dam, Halts Construction To Demand Rights
At dawn on Sunday, July 16th, 200 representatives of the indigenous Munduruku nation occupied the main work camp of the São Manoel hydroelectric dam on the Teles Pires River in the Brazilian Amazon, paralyzing the project.
Brazil Power Plant Construction Paralyzed by Indigenous Protesters
Construction of a power plant on the Teles Pires river in Brazil was paralyzed by protesters from the Munduruku tribe, a leader of the group told Reuters on Monday.
Ecuadorian Government Refuses To Appear at Hearing on Threat of Extractive Industry to Indigenous Peoples
The absence of government representatives at the hearing doesn’t bode well for such a visit, nor for an improvement in respect for human rights in the country. Hopefully, the new government will soon remember that, as a member of the Organization of American States, it’s not an option but an obligation to participate in the IACHR.
Deforestation Soars in Colombia After Farc Rebels’ Demobilization
"The Farc would limit logging to two hectares a year in the municipality," said Jaime Pacheco, mayor of the town of Uribe, in eastern Meta province. "In one week [last year], 100 hectares were cleared and there is little we can do about it."
Brazil’s Indigenous People Outraged as Agency Targeted in Conservative-led Cuts
The Brazilian agency charged with protecting nearly a million indigenous people and their extensive reserves is barely functioning after a debilitating assault from a powerful group of conservative politicians and a cost-cutting government.
Violence Against Indigenous Peoples Destroys Our Common Home
Over 60 uncontacted tribal peoples remain in the Brazilian Amazon. Protecting their independence would also preserve millions of hectares of tropical rainforest.
Brazil’s Rollbacks Jeopardize the Amazon’s Future
As steward of globally critical ecosystems like the Amazon rainforest, Brazil should immediately cease its attacks on environmental and indigenous rights protections.
New Highway Brings Deforestation Near Two Colombian National Parks
In the depths of the Ecuadorian Amazon, on its border with Peru, indigenous communities have been denouncing what they say is an uncontrolled onslaught of illegal logging and hunting.
Keep It in the Ground: From Ecuador to California
Last year, about 10% of the oil processed by California refineries came from the Amazon basin. This represents about half of the oil exported from the region. In other words, California refineries are collectively the largest consumers of Amazon oil in the world.
Unexamined Synergies: Dam Building and Mining Go Together in the Amazon
"The truth is that installing a hydropower dam provokes the installation of mining projects. This never, or extremely rarely, is integrated into the licensing process as a synergetic effect."
Long Road Ahead To Indigenous Land and Forest Rights in Peru
"It’s important that there is a clear road map, so the benefits of land and forest tenure reforms reach the communities they were meant to benefit."
Illegal Logging and Hunting Threaten Yasuní Isolated Indigenous Groups
In the depths of the Ecuadorian Amazon, on its border with Peru, indigenous communities have been denouncing what they say is an uncontrolled onslaught of illegal logging and hunting.
"This Is My Land": The Indigenous Women Chiefs Protecting the Amazon
Chiefs such as Tuire at the forefront of protests against illegal logging and mining, and have proved themselves to be valuable leaders and passionate, brave spokespeople.
