The Guardian | "I had a better life than anyone in São Paulo. If I wanted to work my land, I did. If I didn't, the land would be there the next day. If I wanted to fish, I did, but if I'd rather pick açaí, I did. I had a river, I had woods, I had tranquility. On the island, I didn't have any doors. I had a place ... And on the island, we didn't get sick."
Folha de S.Paulo | Tired of waiting for the government to take action against the major illegal mining sites located in the Munduruku Indigenous Territory and in the Crepor National Forest, Munduruku warriors and leaders organized an expedition to drive non-indigenous prospectors out of the area.
"While the referendum questions on oil drilling in Yasuní and mining extraction are a step in the right direction, they do not go far enough in protecting the Amazon or its peoples from the ravages of extractive industries."
Directors & Boards | Amazon Watch's Executive Director Leila Salazar-López said, "Statements about climate risk and social purpose are no substitute for this concrete action. Divesting from Amazon crude, with its egregious environmental and human rights implications, is one good place to start."
Andrew Miller of the NGO Amazon Watch said the pope's words "deepened prior comments in favor of indigenous rights and protecting the Amazon. Now the question is: will Pope Francis make similar comments before larger crowds in Lima and in dialogues with Peruvian decision makers?"
With much joy and hope indigenous peoples will receive Pope Francis in Puerto Maldonado. They hope that he will translate their concerns and solutions into concrete words as he addresses the public and Peruvian decision-makers.
"Indigenous peoples have been organizing for their collective rights in the Peruvian Amazon for decades; we encourage the Pope to leverage his influential voice to hold up indigenous demands that are too often overrun by entrenched political and economic interests."
"While there is forest, people will not stop cutting it down. [Conservation] policy today is like trying to use a towel to dry a piece of ice. We are only retarding the process. It will keep melting until there is nothing left."
Last Thursday, Amazon Watch and CREDO Action delivered over 120,000 petition signatures to BlackRock's San Francisco headquarters, calling on the asset manager to divest from companies drilling for oil in the Amazon rainforest. The next day, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink sent a letter to large public companies calling on them to "serve a social...
"Criminalization is really about using the justice system to stop indigenous peoples from pursing their own activities and their own actions against projects that are destructive to them."
"A healthy future for the planet lies not in short-term profits but in the protection of rights, the environment, and the climate, and in bold investments in renewable energy. It is high time that BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, and other financial institutions put their money where their mouths are and stop bankrolling the road to climate chaos."
"Drilling in Yasuni directly contradicts Moreno's UN pledge and the expanded protections proposed in the referendum," said Carlos Mazabanda, Ecuador Field Coordinator with Amazon Watch.
"Yasuní is one of the worst places on the plane to be drilling for oil. Particularly in a post-Paris world, in which 2/3 of fossil fuels must be kept in the ground to avoid catastrophic impacts of climate change, countries should be planning for a manage decline of their reserves, not continue expanding production into some of the most pristine...
Last week's announcement should be celebrated as a tentative victory, albeit a fragile one that demands vigilance as Brazil continues to weather political and financial instability. This victory will only become a reality when we insist it be upheld. We owe this to our on-the-ground partners for all they do on our behalf to defend this life-giving...
Gualinga, and the Amazon women leaders, are calling on the Ecuadorian government to investigate the attack, and provide guarantees to protect her and all women indigenous leaders. They also promise not to back down in the face of attempts to intimidate them.
"This policy change reflects not just Brazil's tough economic realities, but also the growing impact of indigenous peoples, social movements and their allies, who have mobilized in an unprecedented way to protect their rights and their rivers, lives and livelihoods, and will continue to do so as long as threats to their homes and the Amazon...
The government's hydroelectric dams policy change announced this week will surely be greeted as a hopeful sign by environmentalists and indigenous groups. But experts warn that a much bigger strategic policy shift is needed regarding infrastructure planning and agribusiness before the Amazon can be deemed safe from major deforestation.
Farmers often don’t focus on the long-term damage caused by their crops, which erode the soil, polluting and diverting rivers. This alters the rhythms of the wet and dry seasons in the Pantanal, permanently flooding large areas. “They don’t think about tomorrow. As long as they’re fine now, they don’t care about what happens next.”
