More About Shipibo

Respect Rights and Traditional Knowledge to Protect Mother Earth

Once a year, the United Nations Headquarters in New York welcomes hundreds of indigenous leaders and representatives from around the world for the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Amazon Watch spent the week accompanying and amplifying the voices and solutions of Amazonian leaders from Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil.

In the Declaration of Yarinacocha, Shipibo Healers Organize to Resist Spiritual Extractivism

Last April, a Canadian ayahuasca tourist rode a motorbike into the Amazonian township of Victoria Gracia, sought out the venerated 81-year-old Shipibo healer Maestra Olivia Arévalo Lomas, pulled out a gun and shot her dead. The fallout from the murder is emblematic of a common problem, what we are framing as spiritual extractivism.

Statement in Support of the Shipibo Conibo People and the March Against Racism and for Indigenous Dignity in the Peruvian Amazon

The tragic murder of Olivia Arévalo and the Canadian man who killed her in the Peruvian Amazon have unleashed great sadness and a series of xenophobic defamations against the Shipibo Conibo people in mainstream media and on social networks, including from a sitting member of Congress, that have deepened the discrimination and hostility against the Shipibo people, particularly Shipibo women.

Defending Indigenous Lands, Territories, and Resources at the UN

More than 1,000 representatives of indigenous peoples traveled to New York in late April to participate in the 17th Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Amazon Watch supported and accompanied Amazonian leaders to call for respect and protection of their lives, cultures, and ancestral territories and an end to the harassment and death threats that they routinely face for their relentless opposition to the companies and governments driving the expansion of the fossil fuel frontier in the Amazon.

Six Farmers Shot Dead over Land Rights Battle in Peru

The victims were targeted by a criminal gang who wanted to use their lands to grow lucrative palm oil, according to local indigenous leaders

Six farmers have been shot dead by a criminal gang who wanted to seize their farms to muscle in on the lucrative palm oil trade, according to indigenous Amazon leaders in Peru.

Resistance and Risk in the Peruvian Amazon

Oil Palm Plantations Threaten Rights and Rainforests

The expansion of oil palm plantations is an emerging threat to the Amazon in Peru and beyond. The rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia have been devastated by oil palm, a legacy that does not bode well for the Western Hemisphere.

Shipibo Leader Demands #LandRightsNow in Amazon and End To Repression of Indigenous Activists

Over the last several weeks, we were honored to support the activities of Shipibo indigenous activist Ronald Suárez at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York City and during the Peoples Climate March in Washington, DC.

Mobilizing for Indigenous Rights and Climate Justice from the Arctic to the Amazon

"Our participation in the Peoples Climate March was very important because we were able to bring the voice of our Amazon all the way here, showing the world that we are resisting her plunder."