2017 | Amazon Watch
Amazon Watch

All: 2017

Strength in the Face of Adversity: 2017 Victories to Give Us Hope for 2018

2017 was a tough year in so many ways, from corruption scandals to massive hurricanes to regressive legislation. But plenty of good things have happened, too – things that remind us of the perseverance, strength, and resilience of those who struggle every day for a better world. So we want to close the year reminding our community of readers...

Victory for Indigenous Self-Determination and Collective Territory in Peru!

Beyond titling for their ancestral territory, the Achuar are demanding that oil concession known as Block 64 – the majority of which is overlapped by their territory – be annulled for lack of consultation when it was established. We expect yesterday's ruling will be challenged by the Peruvian government, which has dispatched lawyers...

Victory for Indigenous Land Rights and Self-Determination in Peru

Yesterday a Peruvian court issued a precedent-setting ruling in favor of the Achuar people of the Pastaza in the northern Peruvian Amazon, recognizing their right to self-determination and collective territory. The court ordered the Peruvian government to proceed with the collective titling of Achuar ancestral territory and recognized the Achuar...

Ecuador Announces End to New Oil and Mining Concessions in Big Victory for Indigenous Rights

This is a major victory for Ecuador's indigenous movement and for the global effort to keep fossil fuels in the ground! It also sends a compelling signal to international commodities markets that new resource extraction without the consent of indigenous peoples is a clear rights violation and companies who invest in these resources will end up...

Ecuador Announces End to New Oil and Mining Concessions

"This is a major victory for Ecuador's indigenous movement and for the global effort to keep fossil fuels in the ground. This sends a compelling signal to international commodities markets that new resource extraction without the consent of indigenous peoples is a clear rights violation and these resources will end up as stranded assets. We call...

Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.

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Mining Concessions in Ecuador Stalled Over Compliance with Indigenous Rights

New mining concessions are now stalled until the companies can prove they've complied with all regulations under the constitution. This includes Article 57, which states that indigenous groups have the right to free and prior consultation before extractive projects take place near their land.

License Revoked for Belo Sun Gold Mine in Victory for Indigenous Rights in Brazil

"This ruling is a rare instance of justice for the indigenous peoples of the Lower Xingu, who have already suffered immensely after the construction of the Belo Monte mega-dam directly adjacent to their territories. Given the dam's impacts on local peoples and their ecosystem, it is essential that Belo Sun continue to be held to the highest...

Climate Justice Now! Keep It in the Ground!

"My message here at COP 23 for the people, for allies of the world, is that we need to fight together, unite forces, because the states that are here speaking in our name are at a negotiating table where supposedly they are looking for solutions, but these solutions are for them, not for Indigenous peoples."

Indigenous People of the Amazon March to Quito for a "Dialogue with Results"

"It's good that President Moreno pronounces himself in favor of protecting the Amazon. But how will he do it, if at the same time he wants to concession more oil blocks? For this reason, we demand no more oil and mining projects in indigenous territories. Our right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent must be respected."

Indigenous Groups Win Greater Climate Recognition at Bonn Summit

Indigenous groups claimed a victory at the UN climate talks in Bonn on Wednesday as governments acknowledged for the first time that they can play a leadership role in protecting forests and keeping global temperatures at a safe level.

JPMorgan, BlackRock Tout Climate Bona Fides While Funding Amazon Oil Drilling

"Like so many big businesses, JPMorgan Chase and BlackRock greenwash their activities rather than apply their resources to real solutions," Leila Salazar-López, executive director of Amazon Watch, told HuffPost in a statement. "Our report exposes their complicity in Amazon destruction, and we know savvy investors will respond...

From Carbon Sink to Source: Brazil Puts Amazon, Paris Goals at Risk

"The very agents of wanton destruction of the Amazon are now controlling the legislative and executive branches of the federal government and working day and night to increase deforestation and degradation via bills and acts that are being tolerated by the judiciary."

JPMorgan and BlackRock Invest in Amazon Destruction

Oakland, CA – Global financial institutions like JPMorgan Chase and BlackRock put the climate, indigenous peoples, and their customers at risk with their continued financing of companies that drill for oil in the Amazon rainforest, demonstrates a report, Investing in Amazon Destruction, released today by Amazon Watch.

Investing in Amazon Destruction

Despite the urgent imperative to keep at least two thirds of all fossil fuels in the ground in order to avoid catastrophic climate change, governments and companies continue to recklessly expand fossil fuel exploration and drilling across the globe.

"Our Grandchildren Will Thank Us for the Territory We Are Defending"

The Achuar have a concrete plan for defending their ancestral homeland: they're demanding that the Peruvian government provide legal recognition of their collective territory and they're actively campaigning to keep out extractive industries, including oil, mining, and logging.

Amazonian Indigenous Peoples Reject Ecuador’s Plans for New Oil Tender

Quito, Ecuador – Representatives of six indigenous nationalities traveled from their Amazonian communities to Quito this morning to reject plans by the new government of Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno to auction off oil blocks that overlap their titled rainforest territories.

My First Decade at Amazon Watch

Over ten years, I have been privileged to play a role in most of the organization's major campaign initiatives. While the moments of exhilaration, frustration, learning, anger, and beauty could fill a book, I want to share ten snapshots of key experiences that represent what serving with Amazon Watch has meant to me.

Record Amazon Fires Stun Scientists; Sign of Sick, Degraded Forests

"The very agents of wanton destruction of the Amazon are now controlling the legislative and executive branches of the federal government and working day and night to increase deforestation and degradation via bills and acts that are being tolerated by the judiciary."

Us and Them: Affected Peoples vs. Chevron in Canada

"It's a fundamental question of whether corporations like Chevron should be allowed to use their financial muscle to destroy people with an absolutely vital claim to reparations for damages that were caused to them over many years."