Amazon Watch needed to show up at PDAC because another narrative is needed - one that doesn’t accept the destruction of the world’s largest forest as a necessary byproduct of advancing modern society.
Belo Sun
Over 100 International Organizations Denounce Belo Sun’s Efforts to Criminalize Brazilian Land Defenders
Canadian mining company Belo Sun is attempting to build the largest open-pit gold mine in Brazil, and now it has filed a criminal lawsuit against local community members and activists who are speaking out about the environmental and human rights impacts of the project
“We must halt all mining ventures in the Amazon, as they pose grave and irreversible threats to global climate stability and the future of humanity.”
Guardians Unite: Defending the Xingu Against Belo Sun’s Threat
The Gathering was a key moment to reaffirm our collective resistance and understand the realities of communities grappling not only with the disastrous Belo Monte hydroelectric dam but also the looming threat of Belo Sun’s proposed mine.
Belo Sun Mining Seeks to Criminalize Amazon Defenders
The Canadian gold mining company’s criminal lawsuit attempts to silence and intimidate defenders of the Volta Grande do Xingú, including community leaders, Amazon Watch, and other environmental and human rights activists
In a blatant effort to intimidate and silence its critics, Belo Sun Mining has filed a criminal lawsuit targeting more than 30 people – most of them small-scale farmers – as well as community leaders, environmental defenders, researchers, and representatives of Brazilian and international organizations.
Belo Sun Mining Company Legally Harasses Volta Grande do Xingu Community Leaders, Environmental and Human Rights Defenders
"Belo Sun is expelling us from our ancestral territory. It robs us of our souls by distancing us from our traditional practices and culture. And now it's trying to criminalize us as invaders of our own land."
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Mining Company Belo Sun Sues Environmental Defenders in Intimidation Tactic, NGOs Say
Mongabay | “This is an attempt to silence families and leaders who are on the frontline of the struggle for agrarian reform, and to intimidate national and international networks that monitor and denounce the destruction caused by large enterprises and companies in Volta Grande do Xingu.”
Unmasking Canada’s Extractive Industry Violations at the UN Human Rights Council
Pressure mounts in Geneva against Canada as civil society demands Indigenous and socio-environmental rights commitments
Civil society organizations also urge Canada to enact regulations ensuring gold's origin traceability, especially when mining occurs in Amazonian countries. They call for a comprehensive energy transition plan that respects human rights and promotes the gradual abandonment of extractive industries that jeopardize the Amazon's ecological balance.
Victory: Belo Sun Is One Step Closer to Having Its License Permanently Denied
Environmental licensing shifted to federal jurisdiction under Brazil's environmental agency after Belo Sun's arguments were debunked
In a significant victory for the Amazon and Indigenous rights, the environmental licensing process for the Belo Sun mining project in the Volta Grande region of the Xingu River has been successfully shifted from state to federal jurisdiction.
Brazil Gold Mine Puts Indigenous Territory “At Risk,” Advocates Say
Al Jazeera | “The guaranteed right to our territory is at risk,” Lorena Curuaia, a leader of the Curuaia Indigenous people, told Al Jazeera. “We could lose territories that we have lived in for thousands of years.”
Canada’s Belo Sun Mining Is Still Threatening the Brazilian Amazon
The Canadian mining company Belo Sun continues to threaten life in the Volta Grande do Xingu, and our campaign to halt the proposed largest open-pit gold mine in Brazil at the heart of the Amazon rainforest is in full swing.
Women Defenders for Territories Free of Mining!
Celebrate International Women's Day by meeting defenders on the front lines of the Mining Out of the Amazon movement
Across the Amazon Basin, women are organizing in defense of life, rights, and territories, and are a critical part of the front lines movement resisting increasing threats such as mining.
Movement Against Belo Sun Gains Momentum in Canada
With allies in power, including Environmental Minister Marina Silva and Indigenous Peoples' Minister Sonia Guajajara, what opportunities are now available to halt mining in the Amazon?
We count on the positive energy and mobilization of our supporters so that, together with our partners on the ground in Canada and our allies in the new Brazilian government, we can evaluate and expose the climatic risks of destroying an ecosystem as critical as that of the Volta Grande do Xingu, still threatened by Canadian mining company Belo...
Amazon Watch at COP15 in Defense of Biodiversity and Indigenous Rights!
Canadian mining company Belo Sun’s stock took a major hit as our new report exposed major risks to investors during COP
Indigenous communities are uniquely qualified to speak on the intersections between mining and biodiversity: Indigenous lands make up around 20% of the Earth’s territory, containing 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity, requiring Indigenous peoples to be at the forefront of all decision-making regarding any global climate commitments.
COP15: Canadian Mining Corp. Belo Sun Stock Takes Major Hit Before Finance Day at U.N. Biodiversity Summit
“Belo Sun’s suspended environmental license, repeated violations of Indigenous rights, and severe threats to biodiversity and ecosystem health in the Amazon paint a clear picture: the market clearly shows that any company or financial institution foolish enough to invest in or acquire Belo Sun would risk its entire investment.”
Canadian Gold Miner Belo Sun Accused of Misleading Investors
Environmental advocate: "No investor should even think of touching this company"
Financial Post | “We are putting any institution or company looking to invest in or acquire Belo Sun on notice: this is a bad actor selling a dangerous project. Anyone looking to get involved with it will be shouldering serious risk and will be complicit in the continued threats to the Amazon rainforest, Indigenous and traditional peoples, and the global climate.”
Belo Sun’s Gold Project in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest Poses Significant Risks to Investors, Forest Guardians, and Biodiversity, Report Says
Investments in the Canadian mining company can create enormous political, legal, reputational, climate, and social risks for financial firms
Montreal, Canada - Investors may be exposed to severe risks by maintaining their investments in the Canadian mining company Belo Sun, a new report published today by Amazon Watch shows.
The Risks of Investing in Belo Sun
Belo Sun's executives have repeatedly and publicly downplayed the social, environmental, and legal risks of the Volta Grande Project, thereby heightening risks for current and potential investors.
Royal Bank of Canada Denounced for Financing Gold Miner Belo Sun During Biodiversity Summit
“Today’s action outside of the Royal Bank of Canada is meant to shine a spotlight on how the Canadian mining company Belo Sun poses grave, unacceptable, and irreversible risks to Amazonian biodiversity."
Massive Belo Sun Gold Mine Project Blocked in Brazil
Indigenous and traditional communities celebrate as courts hand big loss to the Canadian mining company
The ruling is the result of sustained efforts by civil society and institutional allies to prevent the installation of Belo Sun's massive gold mine and to seek redress for the illegal acts committed in the course of the project's environmental licensing process.
Annual Indigenous Free Land Camp Occupies Brasília
“The demarcation of lands of all Indigenous peoples in Brazil continues to be our main goal. But to guarantee the demarcation, the protection of our lands, we must also 'Indigenize politics' with the presence of diversity, of women occupying the positions of power and decision-making positions.”
Canadian Banks Injected $5.8 Billion into Mining Companies Tied to Forest Destruction and Human Rights Violations
Forests & Finance Coalition, Walhi, and MAM launched a preliminary dataset revealing the financial flows to several forest-risk mining companies that operate in the world’s three largest tropical forest basins. Banks from Canada, the United States, and Japan are among the largest financiers of mining companies in the tropics
Brazil’s President Bolsonaro is using a possible fertilizer shortage caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine to justify his attempt to ram contentious legislation through Congress.
Portraits of Women Defenders Uniting Across the Amazon
Indigenous women across the Amazon are coming together like never before to protect and defend our lives, rights, bodies, and territories in the face of ever-increasing threats.
Belo Sun Brings More Destruction to the Volta Grande do Xingu
Despite the Belo Monte dam's devastating legacy, communities are now forced to resist against industrial gold mining in their territory
The Volta Grande do Xingu is under imminent threat. Local communities and organized civil society have been responding to these aggressive attempts to hand over agrarian reform land to international mining company Belo Sun.
Brazilian Government To Hand Over Public Lands to Canadian Company In Back Door Deal
Land reform agency has negotiated with Belo Sun Mining corp. to reduce a public land settlement to favor a gold mining project in the Amazon. Families in the area have not been consulted. Negotiations are “null and void,” says Public Defender.
Oakland, CA – The federal agency tasked with land reform policy in Brazil, INCRA, has reduced the area of a settlement created 22 years ago to make room for gold mining. The negotiation, settled with a contract signed recently with the Canadian company Belo Sun Mining Corp., was revealed last week.
Indigenous Peoples in Brazil Win Key Victory Against Belo Sun
The Canadian mining company, Belo Sun, experienced a setback in its plans to open a massive gold mine in the Xingu river: it lost authorization to meet with Indigenous communities during the pandemic due to a pressure campaign by Indigenous leaders and human rights organizations. Belo Sun is hardly the first extractive company to put its profit...
Brazilian Government Authorizes In-person Meeting Between Mining Company and Indigenous Peoples
Brazil's National Indigenous Foundation approved the in-person meeting due to alleged lack of internet connection and by claiming complete vaccination of Indigenous people, however only 77% have received the first vaccine in the region, and only 34% the second dose
Pará, Brazil – In a white paper published on February 10, 2021, the Brazilian National Indigenous Foundation provided details on "health protocols" so that Canadian mining company, Belo Sun, can hold meetings to present and validate its Environmental Impact Study to Indigenous residents from the Indigenous Lands located in Pará state – Arara da...
Mining on Indigenous Territories Brings Ecological Devastation, Land Invasions, and 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...
Murder of Two Yanomami by Illegal Miners Heightens Fears of Renewed Cycle of Violence
The Indigenous Hutukara Yanomami Association demands a rigorous investigation of the murders and reinforces the need for the Brazilian government to immediately expel more than 20,000 miners illegally operating on Yanomami land
"The murder of two more Yanomami by miners must be rigorously investigated and reinforces the need for the Brazilian State to act urgently and immediately remove all the miners who are illegally exploiting the Yanomami Territory and harassing and assaulting the Indigenous communities who live there."
Unless Forced to Act, the Government Would Simply Leave Us to Die
Beset by the Bolsonaro administration's negligence on public healthcare, Indigenous peoples take resistance to the Supreme Court
Folha de São Paulo | The first Indigenous person to die from COVID-19 was Alvanei Xirixana, a 15-year-old Yanomami boy, who was not even a member of a high-risk group. More than 20,000 wildcat miners have invaded Yanomami lands. It's not an exaggeration to say that the Yanomami and the peoples living in voluntary isolation there are in grave danger of disappearing...
