Amazon Watch
    Amazon Watch

    Amazon Crime

    Strengthening Indigenous defense against illegal economies

    Across the Amazon basin, organized crime is now one of the greatest threats to Indigenous territories and a major driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss. Illegal gold mining, coca production, and land grabbing have surged in recent years, fueling violence, deforestation, and territorial invasion on an alarming scale.

    Amazon Watch is advocating for effective state operations against criminal economies as well as international action to support Indigenous rights and territorial governance in alignment with their strategies and visions. In partnership with investigative journalists, we are launching groundbreaking research documenting the scope and impact of organized crime to inform media and decision makers while helping build an ecosystem of support and protection for Earth Defenders at risk.

    LEARN MORE »

    Amazon Watch and Allied Organizations Release Landmark Report on Amazon Crime

    In the context of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Amazon Watch, together with allied organizations, presents the first report to analyze how illicit economies and repressive government responses threaten the rights, territories, and physical and cultural survival of Indigenous peoples.

    April 20, 2026
    7,418 views
    3 min read

    Indigenous Leaders Bring Amazon Crime Crisis to the UN

    As militarized responses fail, Indigenous territorial governance proves vital

    An urgent message is traveling from the Amazon to the United Nations. This week, Amazon Watch will accompany a delegation of Indigenous leaders from Peru and Ecuador to New York for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII).

    April 20, 2026
    9,217 views
    4 min read

    Territorios Indígenas Bajo Amenaza

    La doble presión del crimen organizado y la militarización en la Amazonía

    Este informe llama a una estrategia regional centrada en la protección ambiental, el fortalecimiento institucional del Estado y la gobernanza comunitaria.

    Abril 2026
    8,881 views
    2 min read

    Amazon Under Siege

    How Crime and Militarization Threaten Indigenous Peoples

    This report calls for a regional strategy centered on environmental protection, state-building, and community governance.

    April 2026
    8,923 views
    1 min read

    Amazon Watch is building on more than 28 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.

    DONATE NOW

    2026: A Year of Decision for the Amazon

    The Amazon has reached an ecological tipping point. What happens in 2026 will help determine whether climate justice remains possible or becomes an empty slogan.

    January 27, 2026
    9,434 views
    6 min read

    Indigenous Leadership and Collective Power in 2025

    As climate denial gained renewed political traction and governments moved to restrict civic space, Indigenous peoples and grassroots movements across the Amazon advanced bold, collective visions for the future.

    December 26, 2025
    7,406 views
    4 min read

    The Amazon Does Not Need New Wars

    U.S. security strategy revives a past the region is trying to overcome

    El País | If history offers any lesson, it is this: every time the Amazon has been militarized in the name of order, the forest lost, its peoples lost, and democracy lost. Repeating that path is not a solution.

    December 17, 2025
    5,689 views
    4 min read

    Ecuador Rejects Militarization and Backs Call for Accountability

    President Noboa's defeat in the national referendum comes after weeks of mobilization and repression

    By rejecting Noboa’s militarized reforms, Ecuadorians chose solutions that protect life and dignity instead of policies based on repression.

    December 9, 2025
    8,847 views
    3 min read

    “It’s Not Safe to Live Here.”

    Colombia is deadliest country for environmental defenders

    Associated Press | “We have to continue defending the future, and we need more and more people to join this cause.”

    December 8, 2025
    7,411 views
    5 min read

    The Fight Against Climate Change Is Also a Fight Against Organized Crime

    Belém COP cannot succeed without taking decisive action

    Open Global Rights | Belém can be remembered as a turning point – when the world stopped treating the Amazon as a victim and began dismantling the criminal economies driving its collapse.

    November 6, 2025
    5,203 views
    4 min read

    Standing With the Kakataibo

    Resilience amid Peru’s crisis of corruption and organized crime

    The Kakataibo have made it clear to us: they will not give up. Their fight to reclaim and defend their ancestral lands has lasted more than two decades, and this is simply another chapter in a long struggle for survival and justice.

    October 22, 2025
    7,284 views
    4 min read

    Defending the Amazon Against Illegal Economies

    The Wampís Nation’s fight to defend their territory against an invasion of illegal mining

    The Wampís’ fight is not just local, it’s global. Defending the Amazon means defending the planet.

    October 22, 2025
    5,554 views
    1 min read

    When Criminals Rule the Amazon Jungle and Time Runs Out

    The crisis of public security, environmental crime, and human rights must be on the agenda of the Summit of Amazonian Countries

    El País | Without coordinated action and meaningful inclusion of local voices, the region faces escalating violence and irreversible damage to one of the world’s most critical ecosystems.

    August 19, 2025
    5,771 views
    4 min read

    New Report Released: In the Shadows of the State

    Illicit Economies and Armed Control in the Triple Border Region of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru

    "Peace and security in the Amazon are impossible without Indigenous peoples at the heart of the solution."

    August 19, 2025
    7,567 views
    4 min read

    In the Shadows of the State

    Illicit Economies and Armed Control in the Triple Border Region of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru

    This report calls for a regional strategy centered on environmental protection, state-building, and community governance.

    August 2025
    8,872 views
    1 min read

    Wampís Territorial Guards Attacked While Defending Their Lands

    Peruvian government fails to deliver on anti-mining commitments

    "The Wampis have to confront illegal gold miners alone, despite the Peruvian government's supposed offensive against organized crime promoting gold exploitation."

    July 15, 2025
    6,809 views
    2 min read

    2024-2025 Annual Report

    In a world increasingly in denial about the consequences of climate change and fossil fuel extraction, Amazon Watch is doubling down on our grassroots partnerships.

    July 2025
    7,054 views
    2 min read

    Amazon Crime Crisis: U.N. Backs Indigenous Demands

    U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: governments and UNODC must include Indigenous Peoples in anti-crime and environmental policies

    Amazonian Indigenous leaders delivered a clear and urgent message: organized crime and illegal economies are devastating the Amazon and threatening the survival of Indigenous Peoples.

    July 1, 2025
    7,216 views
    5 min read

    Drug Trafficking in Indigenous Territories of the Peruvian Amazon

    Routes, Impacts, and Failed Policies

    In Peru, drug trafficking is one of the main threats to the Amazon and Indigenous peoples. This report presents concrete proposals to reposition Indigenous peoples not only as victims, but as political actors who can help shape solutions.

    May 2025
    6,796 views
    1 min read

    The Wisdom That Panduro Took With Him

    Three years after the army perpetrated the Alto Remanso massacre, in which several civilians were killed, a community that almost disappeared is trying to recover from the absence of the leader who healed them and taught them their language

    Voragine | Pablo Panduro was killed on March 28, 2022 during an army operation in which 11 people were killed, and which was carried out against the Border Command, a FARC dissident group that controls most of Putumayo.

    April 8, 2025
    2,584 views
    15 min read