The Amazon and its Indigenous communities face a collective threat of land invasions, extractive industries, and mega infrastructure projects that often translate into death threats and violent attacks against those who resist. In order to protect the rights, territories, and environment of Amazonian Earth Defenders, we must fight for legal recognition and enforcement of ancestral territorial rights, implementation of free, prior, and informed consent for megaprojects imposed on Indigenous lands, addressing illegal economies and corruption, among others.
Mongabay | Thirty-eight national and international NGOs issued a strongly worded statement demanding the Brazilian government uphold environmental laws, act on indigenous rights violations, and end escalating intimidation by the builders of hydroelectric dams on the Teles Pires River. Also condemned was the Temer administration's failure to prosecute illegal...
The Investor Eye on the Amazon provides an update on our campaigns targeting corporations with ties to dirty industry in the Amazon, and it aims to serve as a resource for socially-responsible investors, industry analysts, and researchers looking to better understand the risks associated with investment in extractive industries - and their own...
Thomson Reuters | "We will return to our communities and wait for a response from the government," said Zoila Castillo, vice-president of the parliament of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon. "If we do not receive a response in two weeks, we will be back."
The Guardian | "Your government cannot permit that our rights continue to be violated," Patricia Gualinga, an indigenous Kichwa from Sarayaku, told the president during the meeting. "Ecuador has to change its energy policy. It could be an example for the world," she said. Gualinga, who received death threats in January, said environmental defenders, particularly...
Quito, Ecuador – After presenting to Ecuador's President Moreno their demands to end natural resource extraction in their Amazon rainforest territories in a meeting in the presidential palace late Thursday, a delegation of Amazonian indigenous women announced they will give him fifteen days to provide concrete responses. The women also...
The Guardian | Alessandria Munduruku described how women have moved to the forefront of the community's campaign to protect territory. "The government doesn't care for us, only for agribusiness so our struggle is very difficult. We are up against illegal mines, loggers, ports, roads, agribusiness and investors from China and Canada," she said. "The men are weak...
"We are marching for our lives! Our sisters are being threatened, our rights are being trampled, and our territories are being destroyed. We are here as women to defend the Amazon against extraction. Enough is Enough!"
Mongabay | "They go on television saying that everything in Colombia is fine, that the war is over. The truth is that public order is only fine for those who have money, but for campesinos like us, it's worse than it was before."
Mongabay | About 350 Indigenous women from across the Ecuadorian Amazon gathered here yesterday to celebrate International Women's Day, and, they say, to fight back against a system that violates their rights. Many women spoke out specifically against the extractive industries operating in their territories.
Cultural Survival | On March 21st, 2016, International Women's Day, an Amazonian women's alliance was born when indigenous women from seven nationalities – Kichwa, Sápara, Shiwiar, Shuar, Achuar, Andoa, and Waorani – joined forces for the first time, marching together in defense of their rights, rainforests, and future generations.
Quito, Ecuador – Ecuador's Minister of Hydrocarbons announced this week that the government will auction sixteen oil concessions in the country's remote southern rainforests, despite adamant indigenous opposition and a recent, explicit government promise to the contrary.
Moreno has his work cut out for him to get the country out from under the long shadow of Correa, and it remains to be seen how long Ecuadorians will give him to accomplish this challenging task. He should embrace the indigenous movement's call for no new expansion of extractive industries and permanent protection for their territories and join the...
"If the intent to attack and threaten me was to instill fear to paralyze me, it failed. Following this incident, I am more motivated than ever to stand strong and work to defend the rights and territories of Sarayaku and all of the Amazon threatened by extraction," said Patricia Gualinga in reference to the recent attack.
Andrew Miller of the NGO Amazon Watch said the pope's words "deepened prior comments in favor of indigenous rights and protecting the Amazon. Now the question is: will Pope Francis make similar comments before larger crowds in Lima and in dialogues with Peruvian decision makers?"
With much joy and hope indigenous peoples will receive Pope Francis in Puerto Maldonado. They hope that he will translate their concerns and solutions into concrete words as he addresses the public and Peruvian decision-makers.
"Indigenous peoples have been organizing for their collective rights in the Peruvian Amazon for decades; we encourage the Pope to leverage his influential voice to hold up indigenous demands that are too often overrun by entrenched political and economic interests."
"While there is forest, people will not stop cutting it down. [Conservation] policy today is like trying to use a towel to dry a piece of ice. We are only retarding the process. It will keep melting until there is nothing left."
"Criminalization is really about using the justice system to stop indigenous peoples from pursing their own activities and their own actions against projects that are destructive to them."
"A healthy future for the planet lies not in short-term profits but in the protection of rights, the environment, and the climate, and in bold investments in renewable energy. It is high time that BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, and other financial institutions put their money where their mouths are and stop bankrolling the road to climate chaos."
"Yasuní is one of the worst places on the plane to be drilling for oil. Particularly in a post-Paris world, in which 2/3 of fossil fuels must be kept in the ground to avoid catastrophic impacts of climate change, countries should be planning for a manage decline of their reserves, not continue expanding production into some of the most pristine...
This is a major victory for Ecuador's indigenous movement and for the global effort to keep fossil fuels in the ground! It also sends a compelling signal to international commodities markets that new resource extraction without the consent of indigenous peoples is a clear rights violation and companies who invest in these resources will end up...
New mining concessions are now stalled until the companies can prove they've complied with all regulations under the constitution. This includes Article 57, which states that indigenous groups have the right to free and prior consultation before extractive projects take place near their land.
Today's meeting and surprise announcement jump-starts a renewed dialogue between the indigenous movement and the government. Many other issues remain, such as amnesty and pardons for rights defenders, as well as an end to new oil concessions on indigenous lands.
"It's good that President Moreno pronounces himself in favor of protecting the Amazon. But how will he do it, if at the same time he wants to concession more oil blocks? For this reason, we demand no more oil and mining projects in indigenous territories. Our right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent must be respected."
Colombia's next president will face many pressing challenges, not the least of which is implementation of the FARC peace accord, but he or she must also take decisive action on Colombia's role in combatting climate change.
Despite the urgent imperative to keep at least two thirds of all fossil fuels in the ground in order to avoid catastrophic climate change, governments and companies continue to recklessly expand fossil fuel exploration and drilling across the globe.
We are extremely proud to have accompanied Colombia's U'wa people for twenty years.
Over ten years, I have been privileged to play a role in most of the organization's major campaign initiatives. While the moments of exhilaration, frustration, learning, anger, and beauty could fill a book, I want to share ten snapshots of key experiences that represent what serving with Amazon Watch has meant to me.
"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!"
We look forward to celebrating 30 years of achievements with Indigenous leaders, supporters, and allies. Amplify! will feature a cocktail reception, delicious vegetable-forward dinner, inspiring program with special guests from the Amazon, live entertainment, and after party.
