The end of war doesn't necessarily bring peace to the environment. An increase in illegal logging could be one of the unexpected consequences of peace in Colombia.
A true climate leader would invest in the preservation of areas of global ecological importance rather than destroy them.
At dawn on Sunday, July 16th, 200 representatives of the indigenous Munduruku nation occupied the main work camp of the São Manoel hydroelectric dam on the Teles Pires River in the Brazilian Amazon, paralyzing the project.
The absence of government representatives at the hearing doesn’t bode well for such a visit, nor for an improvement in respect for human rights in the country. Hopefully, the new government will soon remember that, as a member of the Organization of American States, it’s not an option but an obligation to participate in the IACHR.
"The Farc would limit logging to two hectares a year in the municipality," said Jaime Pacheco, mayor of the town of Uribe, in eastern Meta province. "In one week [last year], 100 hectares were cleared and there is little we can do about it."
The Brazilian agency charged with protecting nearly a million indigenous people and their extensive reserves is barely functioning after a debilitating assault from a powerful group of conservative politicians and a cost-cutting government.
Over 60 uncontacted tribal peoples remain in the Brazilian Amazon. Protecting their independence would also preserve millions of hectares of tropical rainforest.
As steward of globally critical ecosystems like the Amazon rainforest, Brazil should immediately cease its attacks on environmental and indigenous rights protections.
In the depths of the Ecuadorian Amazon, on its border with Peru, indigenous communities have been denouncing what they say is an uncontrolled onslaught of illegal logging and hunting.
"It’s important that there is a clear road map, so the benefits of land and forest tenure reforms reach the communities they were meant to benefit."
Chiefs such as Tuire at the forefront of protests against illegal logging and mining, and have proved themselves to be valuable leaders and passionate, brave spokespeople.
"Since the government has slowed down the recognition of indigenous lands, communities have found themselves in direct conflict... with modernised agribusiness who are intent on using the land for soy or other monocultures."
In a letter denouncing the president for using the vetoes to obscure his intention to reduce forest protections through other means, a group of Brazilian and international NGOs warned that ruralista lawmakers would likely amend the new legislation to slash the protections on an even greater area of forest.
President Michel Temer must choose whether or not to sign a bill freeing up a large section of the Amazon to agriculture, as Brazilian activists warn that the country's environmental commitments could be sacrificed to demands fuelled by its political crisis.
As politicians plan a radical shift in how land for Brazil's 900,000 aboriginal people is demarcated, environmentalists say places like Reserve 124, where territory is formally owned by indigenous communities, represent the best chance to save endangered forests.
The expansion of oil palm plantations is an emerging threat to the Amazon in Peru and beyond. The rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia have been devastated by oil palm, a legacy that does not bode well for the Western Hemisphere.
Brazil's archaeologists have lined up alongside conservationists and indigenous rights campaigners to protest against government proposals that they see as a threat to pre-colonial cultural heritage as well as forests, native communities and biodiversity.
Over the last several weeks, we were honored to support the activities of Shipibo indigenous activist Ronald Suárez at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York City and during the Peoples Climate March in Washington, DC.
According to Christian Poirier, Amazon Watch Program Director, "The dismissal of Thelma Krug reflects a growing wariness that the Brazilian government's tools for monitoring deforestation are not keeping pace with the diverse and sophisticated methods used by loggers to avoid detection."
The rise in deforestation over the last five years should not be a surprise, given that the underlying factors behind forest clearing continue to grow year by year.
Brazil accounts for nearly two-thirds of the Amazon rainforest, the world's largest tropical forest. After several years of decline, deforestation – driven by beef, soy and timber industries – appears to be increasing again.
From the snow-covered plains of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe of North Dakota to Shuar rainforest territories in the Ecuadorian Amazon, there is a resurgence of resistance to extractive industry projects around the world. These conflicts have major implications for China, Latin America's largest trading partner, whose state run companies are...
In Brazil, hydroelectric dams are a reflection of the system's problems: corruption, injustice and inequality.
“Not only is securing land tenure the right thing to do, it’s one of the world’s most cost-effective climate mitigation strategies”
Araújo is the latest in a long list of environmentalists assassinated in Brazil. According to the NGO Global Witness, 448 environmentalists were killed in Brazil from 2002-2013. This was half of the total killed worldwide.
Crude oil imported to the U.S. from the Amazon, most of which gets refined in California, is driving expansion of oil operations into the rainforest, according to a new report.
The analysis, done by Amazon Watch, a nonprofit working to protect the rainforest, is the first to document the extent to which Amazon rainforest crude oil is present in the United States. Not only does this oil contribute to local air pollution and global climate change, but the expansion of fossil fuel extraction in the Amazon Basin threatens...
U.S. imports of crude oil from the Amazon are driving the destruction of some of the rainforest ecosystem's most pristine areas and releasing copious amounts of greenhouse gases, according to a new report conducted by environmental group Amazon Watch.
The Amazon rainforest holds the biological keys to kick-start a "fourth industrial revolution" if its biodiversity is protected, said a study published on Friday.
This month, CREDO Mobile has chosen Amazon Watch as one of their June nonprofits! Direct more of their generous $30,000 donation to support our work defending the Amazon and our climate in solidarity with Indigenous peoples.
