Following years of multiple crises in the Amazon amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we began to see hope on the horizon in 2021-2022. It was a monumental year defending the Amazon and human rights!
COVID-19
2020-2021 Annual Report
It has been a groundbreaking and historic year in our work to protect and defend the Amazon. 2019 saw the devastation of the deforestation fires, which in turn brought a groundswell of support in defense of the Amazon. On the heels of this historic tragedy, and overwhelming support, we increased capacity and responded with renewed vigor in the...
Women Wisdom Keepers and Healers: Ancestral Authorities of Life
Our Amazon Defenders Fund will continue mobilizing direct solidarity funds into the hands of Amazonian women wisdom keepers, healers, and ancestral authorities, who are resisting by practicing reciprocal and holistic interactions with the forest and Earth.
“The Struggle of Indigenous Peoples Is a Struggle for the Future of Humanity”
Last week, six thousand Indigenous people of 176 distinct ethnicities from all regions of Brazil set up camp in the heart of Brazil's capital to insist that their existence and voices be recognized and respected by the government. They traveled for days on packed buses, some under the threat of ambushes, to be united for the "Struggle for Life"...
The Struggle for Life Camp Is a Movement for Our Future
This week, Indigenous peoples from across Brazil are assembling in Brasília for a national demonstration they have named the Struggle for Life Camp. This is the second national Indigenous gathering taking place in the capital of Brazil this year. As they did this past June, Indigenous groups from the five regions of the country will set up camp in...
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Challenges Ahead for Indigenous Earth Defenders in Peru
With a vaccination rate that is already surpassing 120,000 patients per day, Peru is finally showing glimmers of hope that it will overcome the worst of the pandemic. However, a glance towards the Peruvian Amazon shows a different reality. Recovery from COVID-19 in this biodiverse region will be difficult and Indigenous communities will need...
“Narcos Are Looking for Me”: Deadly Threats to Peru’s Indigenous Leaders
Communities call for protection after string of killings linked to rush for land to grow coca, under cover of the pandemic
The Guardian | Indigenous communities in Peru’s central Amazon are experiencing an increase in violence, threats and harassment as drug gangs target their land to grow coca, the plant used to make cocaine. COVID-19 restrictions have made the remote region even more vulnerable by slowing state efforts to protect land and eradicate illegal coca cultivation.
Deal with Bolsonaro Would Condone Brazil’s Tragedy, NGOs Tell Biden
Nearly 200 Brazilian organizations warn U.S. president about risks of a closed-door negotiation with the Brazilian president
Brasilia, Brazil – A group of 199 Brazilian civil society organizations released today a letter to the U.S. government warning that a forthcoming cooperation deal between the United States and the Bolsonaro administration could bring risks for the environment, human rights, and democracy.
U.S. Representatives to Biden Administration: Speak Up for Indigenous Rights in the Brazilian Amazon
U.S. congresspeople express their deep concern for the dangerous situation facing Brazill’s Munduruku Indigenous people and encourage the Biden Administration to add its voice
Washington, DC - The Biden Administration should express concern to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro about the explosive situation facing the Munduruku Indigenous people in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, 12 members of the U.S. House of Representatives said today in a letter to U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Todd Chapman, led by Rep Raúl Grijalva...
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...
Statement on Monitoring Illegal Mining Activities in Our Baunilha Stream
We urgently demand that government agencies comply with their constitutional duties. If something happens to our people, we blame the Brazilian government. Even after receiving numerous reports of invasions and destruction of our territory in the middle of a pandemic, it fails to act and allows our people to be killed at the hands of a heavily...
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...
Statement on Monitoring Illegal Mining Activities Along Our Baunilha Stream: “We Are Not Standing Idly by!”
We are fighting as our ancestors fought for the demarcation of our land – they walked without tiring, and so we will fight tirelessly. This stream belongs to us. This territory belongs to us. The pariwat say that the Munduruku have no spirits any longer – they only have traders. Only we do have the spirits of our ancestors with us, and we are...
COVID-19 Threatens the Future of the Amazon and Its Peoples
Due to the inaction and discrimination by Amazonian governments, Indigenous peoples have called upon international allies to show solidarity at this critical moment to protect Indigenous rights and lives. They have called on allies – including Amazon Watch – to unite and work together to raise awareness and solidarity funding to ensure medicine...
COVID-19: Indigenous Amazonian Leaders Denounce Inequitable Access to the Vaccine and Government Inaction
While governments and multinational corporations prepare for a virtual Davos Forum, Indigenous Amazonian peoples are abandoned to their fate and demand humanitarian aid in the face of the new Brazilian strain of COVID-19
Quito, Ecuador – Leaders of the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) denounced discriminatory policies regarding the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and accused governments in the region of not responding to the needs of Indigenous peoples in the face of the spreading Brazilian strain of the virus. COICA has...
In “Dire” Plea, Brazil’s Amazonas State Appeals for Global COVID Assistance
Mongabay | "[W]e ask for your support in the midst of this emergency fight against COVID-19 in our state. The situation is dire, and our fear is that the same situation we are seeing in the capital Manaus will reach the inland of Amazonas, the traditional and indigenous populations that are in situation of greater vulnerability because of the distance and...
Together We Stepped Up for the Amazon in 2020!
2020 was defined by fundamental challenges and transformations. We've all had to adapt and create a new way of living and connecting. Most of us could have never imagined that caring for one another would involve so much isolation. It has become commonplace to call these times unprecedented, but Indigenous peoples had already warned us that...
Peruvian Indigenous Leaders Receive Death Threats
"We don't want to be the next victims"
El Comercio | Eight Indigenous leaders from Ucayali and Huánuco have received threats for months from narco-trafficking mafias, land invaders, and illegal loggers. Several days ago, they were in Lima demanding protection from the Peruvian government. They fear for their lives.
Resisting Another Record-Breaking Year of Deforestation and Destruction
While Brazilian authorities deny the impact of the criminal arson, Amazon Watch and our allies exposed and challenged the growing fires and deforestation in the Amazon
Over the past year, Bolsonaro's government failed once again to present a plan to curb deforestation and instead further emboldened land grabbers to destroy the rainforest. Evidence points to the greatest loss of trees in the Brazilian Amazon since 2008. The destruction of the Amazon is linked to Indigenous rights violations and conflicts on...
The Shuar Arutam Will Not Be Deterred and Have Already Decided: No Mining!
After voting repeatedly for over 18 years against mining on their territory, the Shuar bring their challenge before the ILO over rights violations
"The mining companies are dividing our organization. They are harassing the leaders of the PSHA who oppose mining projects. For this reason, we are exercising our right to self-determination. We have decided not to allow large-scale mining projects in our territory. We demand that the concessions that have been granted in our territory without our...
Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon Spikes to 12-Year High
A 9.5 percent jump in Amazon deforestation since 2019 is closely linked to President Bolsonaro's anti-environmental agenda, threatening the future of the world's largest rainforest
"The unchecked destruction of the Brazilian Amazon under the Bolsonaro regime threatens not only the future of the forest, but our collective future as well. In today's vast levels of deforestation, we see the fruition of Bolsonaro's disastrous agenda. Environmental crime runs rampant as state environmental agencies are laid to waste. Every square...
Our Voice Is Our Power
Indigenous women in the Amazon have been at the forefront of the fight against climate change and the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, and today we are stepping up into new leadership roles, successfully forcing out extractive industries and companies from our sacred territories.
Amazon Watch Testifies to U.S. Congress on Indigenous Rights in the Amazon
Amazon Watch's Executive Director, Leila Salazar-López, joined allied human rights organizations to testify today to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on the status of the human rights of Indigenous peoples in the Americas. She spoke specifically to the situation of Indigenous rights in the Amazon Basin.
Will President-elect Biden Protect the Amazon and Stop the Money Pipeline?
A Biden-Harris administration could play a key role in holding financiers accountable for climate destruction
President-elect Joe Biden managed to turn out a significant progressive base to secure the 2020 presidential election. For many voters, his commitments to address environmental and racial justice after several years of actions, protests and calls from activists led to grassroots mobilizations that delivered the presidency and a few flipped states...
Protecting the Amazon Rainforest Crucial to Climate Success for President-elect Biden
Environmental and human rights organization Amazon Watch recommends steps President-elect Biden can take to protect the Amazon rainforest and our climate
"The political and economic interests behind the destruction of the Amazon rainforest – including Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro – are losing a powerful ally with Trump’s election defeat. This is unequivocally good news for the rainforest and her peoples, which are under a sustained assault," said Leila Salazar-López, Amazon Watch Executive...
U.S. Firms Continue to Fund Network of Destruction in the Amazon
Financial giants BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, Vanguard, among those that invested more than US $18 billion in nine companies tied to conflicts on Indigenous lands
Bolsonaro and his henchmen would have us believe that "the Amazon doesn't catch fire," "the Amazon isn't burning," or even that "Africa is burning much more than Brazil." Yet these flimsy arguments cannot withstand the accurate documentation of how this year's heartbreaking burning season has laid waste to Brazilian ecosystems while incinerating...
American Financiers Invested More Than US$18 Billion in Companies Linked to Indigenous Rights Violations in the Brazilian Amazon
A new report exposes international financiers – including BlackRock, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Vanguard, Bank of America, and Dimensional Fund Advisors – invested in companies complicit in land conflicts with Indigenous peoples
Brasília, Brazil and Oakland, USA – U.S.-based financial institutions play a key role in enabling the destructive actions of companies linked to violations of Indigenous rights and conflicts in Indigenous territories in the Brazilian Amazon, according to a new report published today by the Association of Brazil's Indigenous Peoples (APIB) and...
Complicity in Destruction III
How Global Corporations Enable Violations of Indigenous Peoples' Rights in The Brazilian Amazon
This new report, published by the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples in partnership with Amazon Watch, reveals how a network of leading international financial institutions is linked to conflicts on Indigenous lands, illegal deforestation, land grabbing, the weakening of environmental protections, and the production and export of conflict...
Amazon Fires Mapping: Exposing the Destruction with Data
Bolsonaro and his henchmen would have us believe that "the Amazon doesn't catch fire," "the Amazon isn't burning," or even that "Africa is burning much more than Brazil." Yet these flimsy arguments cannot withstand the accurate documentation of how this year's heartbreaking burning season has laid waste to Brazilian ecosystems while incinerating...
