Oakland, CA – A hard-hitting report published today unmasks key Brazilian political actors behind an ongoing assault on the Amazon rainforest and exposes the global corporate and financial entities that support them. The report from Amazon Watch reveals how the supply chains of leading brand names like Coca-Cola, and the portfolios of asset...
Belo Sun
Complicity in Destruction
How northern consumers and financiers sustain the assault on the Brazilian Amazon and its peoples
Despite their importance, the Brazilian Amazon and its peoples are suffering the worst assault in a generation. Deforestation is mounting steadily while hard-fought environmental and human rights protections, critical to the future of the rainforest, are under serious attack. Indigenous and traditional communities themselves suffer...
Government Crackdown on Illegal Amazon Gold Mining Could Backfire for Brazil’s Munduruku
The rights and safety of Indigenous communities must be protected from these threats as well as their territory
"Once again, the [police] operation did not do its work." Given the grave socio-environmental impacts of organized crime in the Amazon, the Brazilian government must reign in local mafias, be they miners, loggers, or land grabbers. However, it cannot do this with isolated actions, nor by allowing its informants – in this case imperiled indigenous...
Growing Movement Builds Unity to Defend Indigenous Brazil
Last week's mobilization was a shining example that spirited resistance is alive and well even in the dark days of the presidency of Michel Temer. This resistance provides a critical counterweight to growing repression and environmental devastation and deserves ample support, from local to global levels, to send a firm message to the Brazilian...
Institution Protecting Indigenous Rights in Brazil Under Attack
FUNAI's duty is to protect and promote the rights of Brazil's native peoples. Among its chief responsibilities is to identify, title, and supervise the country's vast array of indigenous territories. Yet the right to ancestral lands free from industrial activity - 98.5% of which fall within the Amazon's diverse ecosystems - presents an obstacle to...
Amazon Watch is building on more than 28 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
A Gold Mine Swallowed Their Village. This Amazon Tribe Is Here to Take It Back
Climate Home News | "Game used to be very easy here – pig, deer, tapir. But it is all gone due to the machines and pollution. Now, only one stream still has fish, but they are all sick from mercury. This damage will remain forever."
Native Brazilians Try to Close Major Illegal Mining Site Polluting River in Pará
Folha de S.Paulo | Tired of waiting for the government to take action against the major illegal mining sites located in the Munduruku Indigenous Territory and in the Crepor National Forest, Munduruku warriors and leaders organized an expedition to drive non-indigenous prospectors out of the area.
The Era of Mega Hydropower in Brazilian Amazon Appears Over
"This policy change reflects not just Brazil's tough economic realities, but also the growing impact of indigenous peoples, social movements and their allies, who have mobilized in an unprecedented way to protect their rights and their rivers, lives and livelihoods, and will continue to do so as long as threats to their homes and the Amazon...
Victory for Indigenous Rights in Brazil as Court Revokes License for the Belo Sun Mine
In a powerful victory for indigenous rights in Brazil last week, the Toronto-based company Belo Sun Mining had its license to drill revoked by a federal court, dealing a significant setback to its efforts to gouge a mega-mine into the banks of the Amazon's Xingu River.
License Revoked for Belo Sun Gold Mine in Victory for Indigenous Rights in Brazil
"This ruling is a rare instance of justice for the indigenous peoples of the Lower Xingu, who have already suffered immensely after the construction of the Belo Monte mega-dam directly adjacent to their territories. Given the dam's impacts on local peoples and their ecosystem, it is essential that Belo Sun continue to be held to the highest...
Xingu River Defender Antônia Melo Honored for Her Lifelong Struggle
"I am but drop of water in the ocean, but together with many others we can shape the force of its waters and make change. This is what motivates my commitment to continue fighting, so that human rights, social-environmental justice, and that life be affirmed for present and future generations!"
Brazil Suspends Belo Sun’s Gold Mine Licence, Stock Collapses
In February, a group of locals who opposed the project asked Pará authorities to suspend the recently issued construction licence for Volta Grande. They oppose the company’s planned use of cyanide during extraction of the precious metal, arguing that waste will be deposited in a dam located just 1.5 km from the Xingu River, a tributary of the...
Gold Mine Aggravates Tensions in Brazil’s Amazon Region
"Either Belo Sun throws us out of here or we throw them out."
An Amazon Community Braces for "Monster" Gold Mine
According to Christian Poirier of Amazon Watch, "there is no plan for the removal of the mine waste – it's a ticking time bomb."
Toxic Mega-Mine Looms Over Belo Monte’s Affected Communities
On the banks of Brazil's lower Xingu River, a toxic controversy looms large, threatening to heap insult upon the grievous injuries of the nearby Belo Monte hydroelectric dam. Belo Sun would become Brazil's largest open-pit gold mine, straddling the territories of three indigenous peoples and other traditional communities that are already reeling...
"It Opens the Floodgate"
"You cannot deny land to indigenous people that are ancestrally attached to it and expect them to continue to exist as a culture," said Christian Poirier, program director at Amazon Watch.
Samba Parade Spotlights Threats To Rivers, Forests and Indigenous Rights at Rio’s Carnival
In a colorful and highly energized samba parade at Rio de Janeiro's world-famous Carnival on Monday morning, Imperatriz Leopoldinense, one of Brazil's most traditional and respected samba schools, paid a special tribute to indigenous peoples of the Amazon's Xingu River, highlighting threats to their territories, livelihoods and rights.
Yudja Indigenous People Request Consultation Regarding Belo Sun
Federal Public Prosecutor, Para, Brazil | The company proposes to undertake mining operations in an area that will be most impacted by the Belo Monte hydroelectric project. The Federal Public Prosecutor, National Indian Foundation and Federal University of Para met with the indigenous Yudja to discuss their right to be consulted.
Brazil Suspends Belo Sun's Gold Mine Licence
The Globe and Mail | "Belo Sun has already shown they want to do the absolute minimum to receive their license to drill and it's encouraging that the federal courts have shown they are not going to let this slide," said Christian Poirier, an activist with the organization Amazon Watch. "Clarifying that you're going to use this much arsenic or dump that much slag by...
Brazil Court Revokes License for Canadian Gold Mine in Amazon
Reuters | Judge Claudio Henrique de Pina said it was "unquestionable" that the mine would have a "negative and irreversible" impact on the quality of life and cultural heritage of the Paquiçamba, Arara da Volta Grande and Ituna/Itatá indigenous communities that straddle the Xingu river.
Brazil Revokes Canadian Belo Sun’s License to Gold Mine in Amazon
Mining.com | A Brazilian federal court has revoked Canadian miner Belo Sun Mining's license for the Volta Grande project, which would have become the country's largest gold mine, in the Amazonic state of Para. The ruling, which established the miner failed to assess the impact on local indigenous communities, is a major blow to Belo Sun's ambitions, said...
Belo Sun Mining Project Suspended in Brazilian Amazon
Suspension of environmental licensing for controversial project reflects omission of impacts on indigenous peoples from faulty Environmental Impact Assessment
Altamira, Brazil – In response to a civil lawsuit filed by the Federal Public Prosecutor's office in the state of Pará, a federal judge has ordered the immediate suspension of environmental licensing for a massive gold mining project proposed by Canadian-based Belo Sun Mining along the Big Bend of the Xingu River.
Belo Sun No!
Stop further tragedy on the Xingu River
Together with our partners in Brazil, Canada, the United States, and Europe, we are standing against Canadian mining company Belo Sun's outrageous scheme to reap massive profits from the social and environmental havoc being caused by Belo Monte.
Authorities Reject Belo Sun Mining Project in Brazilian Amazon
Public Ministry warns against licensing for Canadian mining company gold operations
Altamira, Brazil – Brazil's Federal Public Ministry stunned Canadian Belo Sun Mining Corporation last week when it issued recommendations warning against the issuing of environmental licenses for a gold mine in the Brazilian Amazon.
