Brasilia, Brazil – A delegation of Brazilian celebrities and activists delivered a petition today at the country's presidential palace signed by 1.3 million citizens calling on President Dilma Rousseff to immediately suspend construction of the controversial Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the Amazon and to open a national debate on...
Brazil
Brazil's Forest Policy Could Undermine Its Climate Goals
The Washington Post | "It sends a mixed message because Brazil has positioned itself as a country that's committed itself to saving the forest cover to the benefit of the world," said Christian Poirier, Brazil program director for Amazon Watch. "The new forest code flouts all that."
Lesson from Durban
We are the climate changers we've been waiting for
Another global climate conference has come and gone, another heartbreaking missed opportunity for humanity to actually do something about impending climate chaos.
A Drop of Water: Beginning of an Energy Revolution in Brazil?
Beginning of an Energy Revolution in Brazil?
The struggle to protect the Xingu River and its people has gained critical support and momentum thanks to the Drop of Water Movement.
A River People Awaits an Amazon Dam
National Geographic | Photographer Cristina Mittermeier has been traveling to the Amazon since the 1990s, often making two trips a year by small plane to document Kayapo culture and its link to the Xingu.
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
New Forest Code Will Condemn the Amazon Rainforest
Greenpeace Brazil | Last week senators in Brazil approved a text that condemns the Brazilian forests, a deal between government and agribusiness made in back rooms and secret meetings, and they rejected an amendment that calls for a ten-year moratorium on deforestation in the Amazon. This rejection revealed the true intentions behind the new Forest Code text and the...
Chevron Challenged for Environmental Crimes at Golf Tournament
Groups Demand Company Follow Court Orders and Clean up Toxic Mess in Ecuador
Thousand Oaks, CA – An airplane with a banner will circle overhead for three hours on both days of the Chevron World Challenge golf tournament, calling on it to remediate the environmental disaster in Ecuador after three decades of contaminating the country's rainforest in reckless pursuit of profit.
The Last Song of Mario Guifarro
Earth Island Journal | "In some parts of the Amazon the deforestation rate has gone up by 50 percent within the last year," says Leila Salazar-Lopez, the program director of Amazon Watch. "That means increased levels of conflict as activists working with rural communities run up against big corporations and black market forces."
Fiddling While the Amazon Burns
Keeping the world's biggest forest standing depends on greens, Amerindians and enlightened farmers working together – if lawmakers let them
The Economist | Jaci-Paraná, Brazil – Drive out of Porto Velho, and you see the trouble the world's largest forest is in. Lorry after lorry trundles by laden with logs; charred tree-stumps show where ranchers burned what the loggers left behind; a few cattle roam sparsely through the scrubby fields. In places the acid subsoil shows through, sandy and bone...
Documentary Takes Aim at Belo Monte Dam
TreeHugger | There's a war of sorts underway in the Brazilian Amazon, and the stakes are high. Filmaker André D’Elia is hoping his documentary Belo Monte - Announcement of a War will help his side.
Chevron's Latin America Image Tarnished
UPI | San Francisco, CA – Given Chevron's legacy in Ecuador, there's no reason to suspect the U.S. supermajor will act responsibility with Brazil's oil spill, opponents say.
Chevron Named "Most Toxic" Energy Company of 2011
"Amazon Chernobyl" Disaster in Ecuador, Brazil Spill Lead to Embarrassing Award for CEO John Watson
New York, NY – The American oil giant Chevron has been named the "most toxic" energy company of 2011 by AlterNet, a prestigious U.S.-based online magazine that closely tracks environmental issues.
Many Thanks from All of Us at Amazon Watch!
In the spirit of giving thanks, we made this short video to thank you for your love and support of Amazon Watch's work to defend the Amazon and advance the rights of indigenous peoples.
Brazilian Construction Company Cancels Plans for Mega-Dam in Peru
International Rivers | Odebrecht is withdrawing from a commitment to develop a dam on the Tambo River in the Peruvian Amazon. It is a good day for Ashaninka communities in the Amazon.
Beware of Chevron, Ecuadorians Tell Brazil
Chevron Contaminated Ecuador's Rainforest, Faked a Cleanup & Now Refuses To Pay $18 Billion Judgment
Quito, Ecuador – Brazil should treat Chevron's claims about the oil spill off its coast with great skepticism given its track record of fraud related to their oil disaster in neighboring Ecuador, say Ecuadorian rainforest leaders.
Drop of Water
Brazilian celebrities call on civil society to stand up against the Belo Monte Dam and debate Brazil's energy development plan.
An Assault on the Amazon
The New York Times | Like the attacks on abolitionists more than a century ago, the criticism of outside interference in Brazil’s affairs is today being cynically used to protect an immoral law.
ARTiculate Belo Monte
MYOO has set out on a new expedition combining art, ecology and adventure to give nature a voice and help stop the Belo Monte Dam.
Brazilian Judge Approves the Belo Monte Dam
TheFreshOutlook | Brazil's indigenous people need not be consulted on the Belo Monte dam complex, says judge, leaving campaigners saddened and "surprised".
Brazil Court Approves Building of Amazon Dam
Contentious Belo Monte dam project in the north to proceed without additional consulation with indigenous communities
Al Jazeera | A Brazilian court has said that construction of one the world's largest hydroelectric dams can proceed without additional
consultation with indigenous communities in the region, despite a mass movement opposed to the project.
Court Rules Against Indigenous Rights in Belo Monte Hearing
Decision violates Brazil's Constitution and international human rights convention; appeal to Supreme Court expected
Brasilia, Brazil – A district federal court in Brazil ruled today that indigenous communities threatened by the controversial Belo Monte Dam complex do not have the right to free, prior and informed consultations regarding the project despite guarantees in the Brazilian Constitution and international human rights agreements to which Brazil...
Brazil’s Long Shadow Vexes Some Neighbors
New York Times | As American dominance in the region recedes and Brazil increasingly flexes its newfound political and economic might, it has begun to experience the pitfalls of the role as well: a pushback against the hemisphere's rising power.
ARTiculate™ 3°S/52°W: Belo Monte Expedition
London, UK – MYOO™, the team that brought you the Plastiki, are setting out on a new expedition, this time with a unique adventure from the ARTiculate ™ series, which combines art, ecology and adventure to give nature a voice.
Belo Monte Dam Does Not Meet Banks' Sustainability Criteria
The controversial Belo Monte Dam, slated for construction in Brazil's Amazon region, does not meet the standards of an international framework used by the world's largest private banks to evaluate sustainability, say human rights groups in Brazil.
Occupy Belo Monte!
In a direct action of unprecedented scale and impact, occupiers shut down construction of the Belo Monte Dam, sending a strong signal of resistance to a belligerent federal government.
Brazilian Anti-Dam Campaigner Sacked
Megaron Txucarramãe loses job as co-ordinator for indigenous protection service
The Guardian | Activists in Brazil are in uproar after one of the country's best-known indigenous leaders was sacked from his job with the indigenous protection service, allegedly because of his outspoken stance against the construction of a massive hydro-electric plant in the Brazilian Amazon.
Indigenous Groups Oppose Belo Monte Dam Construction
Indigenous groups were among hundreds of campaigners who occupied the construction site of the Belo Monte dam in the Brazilian Amazon to demonstrate against the project
The Telegraph | "Our ancestors fought so we could be here now" said Juma Xipaia, a local indigenous leader. "Many documents and meetings have already transpired and nothing has changed. The machinery continues to arrive to destroy our region."
Update: Statement from Belo Monte Dam Protest
Statement from partners on #OCCUPYBELOMONTEDAM
Altamira, Brazil – Hundreds of indigenous leaders, fishermen and riverine people from the Xingu River basin have gathered to occupy the Belo Monte Dam construction site in a peaceful protest to stop its construction in Altamira, located in the state of Pará in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon.
Belo Monte Dam Site Occupation Ends In Brazil
Huffington Post | Hundreds of protesters have ended their occupation of the construction site of one the world's largest hydroelectric dams, Indian rights activists said Friday.
