Eye on the Amazon

The crisis is not over, but we also need to prevent the next emergency now

September 17, 2019 – The current crisis is not the beginning of the assault on the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous guardians, and unfortunately, it will not be the last. Long before Brazil's current far-right government took power, local and global industrial interests set the stage for these fires, and they will not change their behavior unless they are pressured to do so.

September 6, 2019 – Yesterday, demonstrators filled the streets for the Global Day of Action for the Amazon outside of Brazilian embassies and the offices of corporations profiting from Amazon destruction. In more than twenty countries across six continents, thousands of people marched, blocked traffic, displayed art, and held vigils, sit-ins, and other events to stand in solidarity with indigenous earth defenders fighting to protect their homes from destruction.

September 4, 2019 – Bolsonaro’s hate-filled rhetoric aims to set the stage for a coordinated assault on indigenous land rights, as political representatives of Brazil’s powerful agribusiness sector work to open native lands to industrial activities. In this dire context, it is essential that Brazil’s vibrant resistance movement continue to gain strength and momentum.

August 23, 2019 – Today we may be witnessing the tragedy of our lifetime: the Brazilian Amazon is in flames and in peril. Indeed, it's not only the Amazon, but our entire planet that is in crisis as the devastation of this life-giving biome poses a real, existential threat for all of humanity.

August 14, 2019 – Yesterday, nearly 3,000 indigenous women leaders from across Brazil staged a mobilization in the nation’s capital as part of the country’s first Indigenous Women's March. Entitled "Territory: our body, our spirit,” this historic gathering was in response to escalating violations of indigenous rights under the Bolsonaro government, as native peoples and their lands fall increasingly under assault.

August 1, 2019 – Last month Amazon Watch visited the Munduruku people in the Amazonian state of Pará, whose nation stretches the vast Tapajós River basin. Our stay in the contested Sawré Muybu territory was illustrative of the spiraling threats faced by indigenous peoples in Bolsonaro’s Brazil.