More About Belo Monte Dam

Mining on Indigenous Territories Brings Ecological Devastation, Land Invasions, and Renewed Cycles of Violence

Two new reports detail potential scale of harm caused by mining projects in Indigenous communities, including water pollution and increasing the spread of COVID-19

"We, the Yanomami people, have long been forced to live with the invasion of illegal mining. Miners are contaminating our rivers with mercury, carving out our lands, and killing our animals and our environment. Our health is poor as a result of drinking water contaminated by mining. Right now, they could potentially infect almost half of our people, who live in villages invaded by mining," said Dario Kopenawa Yanomami.

Damn Those Who Celebrate Belo Monte!

A Statement of Protest from Movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre (Xingu Alive Forever Movement)

At a time when the people of the Xingu agonize over their lack of water, Bolsonaro hails the final turbine of Belo Monte. At a time when the fish of the Xingu River are reduced to skin and spine because there are no more nutrients in the river, Bolsonaro celebrates Belo Monte. When the forest tumbles like it never has before in the areas of Belo Monte, when supporters honor him by setting fires to the forest, Bolsonaro comes to Altamira to enjoy what is an utter disgrace to the actual people of Xingu.

Complicity in Destruction II

How northern consumers and financiers enable Bolsonaro's assault on the Brazilian Amazon

As the world's largest rainforest, the Amazon takes in and stores about 25% of the worlds carbon dioxide, produces oxygen, houses 10% of the planet's biodiversity, and helps stabilize the global climate. The world needs it to survive. None understand this better than the Indigenous peoples and traditional communities who call it home, and are proven to be its best stewards. Despite their importance, the Brazilian Amazon and its peoples are suffering the worst assault in a generation.

Jair Bolsonaro Launches Assault on Amazon Rainforest Protections

Executive order transfers regulation and creation of Indigenous reserves to agriculture ministry controlled by agribusiness lobby

"There will be an increase in deforestation and violence against Indigenous people," said Dinaman Tuxá, the executive coordinator of the Articulation of Indigenous People of Brazil. "Indigenous people are defenders and protectors of the environment."

US Funds with Big Amazon Farming Stakes Face Bolsonaro Choice

Finance to be "very important" tool if Brazil’s government strips Amazon protections, say researchers

Amazon Watch is running a campaign against BlackRock for its investments in companies that cause deforestation in the Amazon. In the past, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has called on companies to invest with social and climate impact in mind.

Jair Bolsonaro: Looming Threat to the Amazon and Global Climate?

With little more than a week to go until a runoff election, far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro – who has affirmed his intention to withdraw Brazil from the Paris Climate Agreement – continues to be the rising political star in the world's eighth biggest economy, and the nation that stands as guardian to a major portion of the Amazon, the globe's largest remaining rainforest.

The Amazon on the Brink

Once a leader in protecting the region's vast forests, Brazil is now moving in the opposite direction

If the government's retrenchment on environmental protection continues, there may soon be nothing to stop the chain saws on the Amazonian frontier, where the rule of law can be weak and land is frequently seized and cleared illegally. This has implications beyond Brazil. The Amazon's lush forests make up the largest reserve of carbon dioxide on the surface of the earth. This potent greenhouse gas is released when forests are burned or bulldozed and left to decay.