More About Kichwa

Ecuador’s Yasuní Bait and Switch

While Ecuadorian government officials were busy touting the country's advances to reduce emissions at COP 24 in Poland, activists gathered outside the country's Environment Ministry to protest government plans to greatly expand oil drilling in its remote Amazon rainforest and indigenous lands. These are fossil fuels the planet can ill afford to burn.

A Victory in the Struggle for REAL Climate Solutions!

Not only do offset programs allow continued pollution, but these particular forest protection schemes have a poor track record of actually protecting forests and often lead to the displacement of indigenous peoples who have stewarded their lands for millennia. Plus, offset schemes hurt the communities – predominantly people of color and indigenous peoples – who live on the fence lines of industrial polluters around the world because they allow those polluters to continue spewing toxins into the air.

The Voices of Amazon Women and a Visionary Declaration to Protect Indigenous Lands

"The Amazon Rainforest ecosystems are vital lungs of the Earth. Thus, the justice and well-being for the people of Sarayaku is inseparably tied to the fate of all people worldwide."

Ecuador's Indigenous March Over 600km to Demand an End to Mining

Indigenous groups call on government to halt development projects in Amazon, saying they threaten food, land and water

"They're still in the construction phase and the environmental impacts are very severe," said Carlos Mazabanda, Amazon Watch's Ecuador Field Coordinator." More than 1,200 hectares of primary forest were clear-cut for the mine, which has affected rivers, aquatic life and indigenous communities' access to water."

Today We Celebrate Life and Resistance on the Front Lines of Extraction

Día de los Muertos is traditionally a day for remembering and honoring those who have come before us. For those of us committed to environmental justice, that often includes remembering those who have lost their lives resisting the impacts of pollution, deforestation, and land grabbing. In this celebration of resistance, of course we also took action: we delivered over one million petitions calling on California Governor Jerry Brown to phase out fossil fuel drilling and production in California.

New Climate Report Calls for Action Not Desperation

We find hope in indigenous solutions

Scientists have finally caught up with the lived experience and traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples. As the Florida Panhandle picks up the pieces and North Carolina recovers from its second hurricane in less than a month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued its most dire warning yet.

Amazon in Focus 2018

While the threats to the Amazon and indigenous peoples seem daunting at times, we cannot lose sight of hope and victories on the horizon. And while the day-to-day isn't always good, there are still many reasons to be hopeful for the future of the Amazon. Indigenous peoples across the Amazon are resisting extraction and further destruction of their lands and promoting visionary solutions to protect their rights and territories.

Great News for Earth Defenders!

Finally, we have some good news to report: Latin American and Caribbean countries are lining up to ratify a new treaty requiring stricter protections for the environment and for Earth Defenders! In recent months Amazon Watch worked to publicize the Agreement's importance and organized our supporters to push for its ratification – a big THANK YOU to those of you who took action with us!

Indigenous Communities Reject Oil Drilling in Block 10

The recent approval of a new oil concession in Ecuador fails to fulfill Indigenous rights enshrined in the country’s 2008 Constitution

"I come from the Amazon, and my people have long defended the rainforest from threats like oil drilling, which would destroy our forest home. We know that a majority of oil exported from the Amazon comes to California to be processed, also harming the communities near refineries and contributing to global climate change," said Mirian Cisneros, current president of the Sarayaku.