Thousands of Indigenous people and their allies came together to form the 20th Free Land Camp, a major annual mobilization that strives to amplify the voices and resistance of Indigenous peoples.
Corporate Accountability
Investors Slam JPMorgan Chase for Canceling Meeting with Amazon Indigenous Leaders
The filers of a shareholder resolution at JPMorgan Chase on Indigenous rights have criticized the bank for canceling a scheduled meeting with Indigenous leaders from Peru’s Amazon region.
Ecuadorians Vote to Strengthen Security and Reject Neoliberal Economic Reforms
Ballot measures proposing a return to international arbitration mechanisms and that weaken labor laws lose by wide margin
Ecuadorian voters sent a clear message to President Daniel Noboa on Sunday, in the country’s second referendum vote in under a year: they want security, but they saw through his attempt to sneak through right-wing economic reforms.
New Report Exposes Risks of Investing in Petroperú Amid Controversial Oil Expansion in Amazon Basin
Amazonian Indigenous and coastal leaders travel to New York to call on leading U.S. commercial banks to halt new financing for Petroperú
Today, Amazon Watch released a new report exposing the elevated risks of financially supporting state-run oil company Petroperú) amid its controversial plans to expedite new oil drilling in the Amazon.
Assessing Petroperú’s Financial, Legal, Environmental, and Social Risks
Petroperú has plunged into massive indebtedness to complete its Talara Refinery Modernization Project and is now financially obligated to maximize its oil production to sustain itself, despite growing Indigenous and community opposition.
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Mounting Resistance to the Ferrogrão Railway in the Brazilian Amazon
An unprecedented popular alliance is fighting to prevent the progress of a disastrous Amazonian mega-project
As the world turns its eyes to Brazil for next year’s critical COP30 climate summit, the future of the Amazon and its peoples stand at a dangerous crossroads as Brazilian agribusiness and global commodity traders attempt to drive a mega-railway through it.
Indigenous Women Embody Leadership, Resistance, and Resilience
We are honored to partner with inspiring Indigenous women leaders and draw attention to their visionary work.
Indigenous and Community Coalition Challenges Petroperú’s Financial Backing
Citi and JPMorgan Chase urged to protect Indigenous rights and Amazonian ecosystems
A burgeoning coalition of Peruvian Amazonian Indigenous peoples and fishing organizations are demanding to meet JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup to warn against any new financing for state-operated oil company Petroperú because of its history of oil contamination and flagrant disregard of Indigenous and human rights.
Activists Crash Canadian Mining Conference to Denounce Amazon Destruction
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.
Amazonian Indigenous People Stage Major Mobilization Aimed at Stopping the Ferrogrão Railway
Indigenous-led “People's Tribunal” issues searing verdict on the megaproject and works to influence a key legal ruling that could determine its future
“The Popular Tribunal against Ferrogrão revealed the strength and determination of Indigenous peoples, traditional communities and social movements in defending their rights and the future of the planet.”
Following the Money Behind Amazon Oil Development
Santander and HSBC worked on Petroperú bond issuance despite its record of Amazon oil spills
Financial Times | Local opposition has hampered Petroperú’s plans to start producing crude from two large blocks in the Amazon. For many banks, support for Amazon oil development must look like much more trouble than it is worth.
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.”
Chevron’s Environmental Crimes: 13 Years of Evasion and Escalation
On the 13th anniversary of the historic $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron, Ecuador's current government could betray its own people in favor of big oil interests
Thirteen years ago today, Indigenous peoples and other Amazonian inhabitants made climate justice history in Ecuador when, after 18 years of legal battles, they won a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron Corporation.
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.
Despite Victory in a Historic Referendum, Yasuní National Park Is Again at Risk
Ecuador's president announces plans to ignore the popular vote and continue drilling for oil in one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, home to Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation
The government seeks to upend the will of voters and continue drilling in Yasuní under the pretense of funding the country’s escalating conflict with organized crime.
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."
Amazonian Indigenous Peoples Mobilize Against Railway Mega-project That Threatens Rights and the Rainforest
Munduruku, Kayapó, and Apiaká protest disrupted a hearing promoting the proposed Ferrogrão project, favored by Brazilian and international agribusiness
“This event attempts to legitimize a project that places the Amazon’s peoples and the forest itself at risk,” said Goldman Prize winner Alessandra Korap Munduruku.
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.
Abandoned Oil Mess Still Plagues Communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Mongabay | “For us, oil has been a curse because we haven’t seen any [benefits from] oil. The plans are always made in Quito and Guayaquil, in the big cities, but they seem to be unaware of the real damage; by producing a barrel of oil, they’re killing people or animals that should be able to subsist in the Amazon.”
Brazil’s President Lula Protects Indigenous Rights and the Environment With a Partial Veto of Bill 2903
“It is important to say that Article 4, which refers to the Marco Temporal thesis, was completely vetoed. The president’s vetoes guarantee the protection of Indigenous land rights.”
Taking on Cargill Alongside the Munduruku People
"We defend our lands not just for our people but for all of humanity. Your company is harming our collective future. We have lived here in the heart of the Amazon for over 4,000 years. But now our world hangs by a thread."
Cargill-MacMillan Family Refuses to Meet With Visiting Indigenous Leader
“It is appalling that an emissary who traveled 4,000 miles to deliver an urgent message from her people would be treated with such dismissal and disrespect.”
Cargill, Cease Your Destruction!
In every region where Cargill operates, you are destroying the environment and driving out or threatening the communities who live there.
We defend our lands not just for our people but for all of humanity. Your company is harming our collective future.
Uniting for Climate Justice: Amazon Watch at New York Climate Week
The urgency of this year's Climate Week cannot be overstated. The Amazon is at a tipping point, and the effects of climate change are not some distant future threat – they are here, and they are now.
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.
The Shuar Arutam People Continue Their Resistance Against Mining
The movement against mining in Ecuador is gaining momentum
This is an important moment for celebration. It is monumental that the PSHA ratified its resistance to mining activity in its territory because the community has faced divide-and-conquer strategies from the mining industry and the Ecuadorian government.
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.”
