Amazon Watch
    Amazon Watch

    End Amazon Crude

    The Amazon is a no-go zone for oil drilling

    The western Amazon is one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth. This vital rainforest is under threat from previous and ongoing oil extraction – which pollutes rivers, harms wildlife and human health, and opens the forest to roads, deforestation, and further exploitation.

    Amazon Watch works in close partnership with Indigenous peoples to stop oil extraction at the source and reduce global demand for Amazon oil. Together, we are building pressure on governments, corporations, and consumers to phase out Amazon crude and protect the rainforest – before it’s too late.

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    Indigenous Opposition Forces Andes Petroleum Out of Controversial Rainforest Oil Block

    Oil company's departure latest in wave of indigenous resistance that has shelved new Ecuador drilling plans

    "The declaration by the government of force majeure in Block 79 is a result of our fight, and it was forced to recognize that these territories are ours, we live there. We are asking the government to remove all oil concessions from our territories. We will remain vigilant," said Yanda Montahuano, a Sapara leader.

    November 6, 2019
    5,672 views
    4 min read

    BlackRock's Ghoulish Lack of Action for the Amazon

    BlackRock is a major investor in the industries driving deforestation and indigenous rights violations in the Amazon. That's why, as the Amazon fires crisis escalated through late summer, we joined with allies at Rainforest Action Network, Greenpeace USA, and Friends of the Earth US to contact BlackRock directly about the meaningful steps the...

    October 31, 2019
    757 views
    3 min read

    Indigenous Ecuadorians Too Strong to Be Ignored After Deal to End Protests

    After days of unrest, president agrees to stop austerity package – showing the political force of Ecuador's indigenous groups

    The Guardian | "I believe that peace triumphed," said Patricia Gualinga, from the Amazonian Kichwa community of Sarayaku. "But I feel a knot in my throat about the loss of the lives of indigenous brothers. There is a lot of pain to be healed and the government should be aware of this."

    October 16, 2019
    3,766 views
    4 min read

    Amazon Watch is building on more than 28 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.

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    Ecuador's Indigenous Movement Achieves Important Victory

    "How can we talk about 'development', when our territories where we've lived for hundreds of years are being exploited, are being auctioned off, turned into new oil concessions. This undeniably affects us!"

    October 14, 2019
    1,555 views
    3 min read

    Deal Struck in Ecuador to Cancel Austerity Package and End Protests

    The New York Times | Under the agreement, Mr. Moreno pledged to withdraw from an International Monetary Fund-backed program, known as Decree 883, that raised fuel prices, and the Indigenous leaders agreed to call off more protests. The two sides agreed to work together to put in place a new economic policy of government spending cuts and taxes to increase revenues.

    October 13, 2019
    2,437 views
    4 min read

    The Women of the Amazon Have Come in Peace

    Quito, Ecuador – We are women of peace, defenders of our territories and our families. We are making this statement after much pain and indignation, witnessing so much inhuman repression, and after many days of suffering, racism and violence against our brothers and sisters who participate in the National Strike, where people are demonstrating in...

    October 12, 2019
    5,924 views
    2 min read

    Brutality, Violence, and Repression in Ecuador

    Ecuador's indigenous movement is under attack while demanding justice and respect for their rights and territories

    "For centuries, we have protected our lands in the mountains and the Amazon, and we will not allow indigenous peoples, indigenous territories, and our global climate to pay the cost for the government's mounting debt to China and international lenders. Once again, we are putting our bodies and our lives on the line to protect our families, rights...

    October 11, 2019
    1,502 views
    7 min read

    Statement on the National Strike by Ecuador's Indigenous Movement

    "This moment of crisis presents Ecuador with a unique opportunity to heed the call of its people, support indigenous-led solutions, begin a transition to a post-petroleum economy, and put into practice the visionary concepts guaranteed by their Constitution, including the rights of nature and 'buen vivir' (living well), as well as respecting...

    October 8, 2019
    3,889 views
    3 min read

    Amazon Defenders Make Their Voices Heard at Climate Week

    As fires continue to rage in the Amazon rainforest, millions of people have taken to the streets around the world to demand radical, systemic change to the way humanity is handling the climate catastrophe. At New York's Climate Week, indigenous leaders from the Amazon, pro-democracy activists from Brazil, and members of Amazon Watch's team arrived...

    October 5, 2019
    4,024 views
    7 min read

    BlackRock's CEO Fiddles While the Amazon Burns

    We can't allow asset managers to keep profiting from the Amazon crisis

    What does the world's largest asset manager have to do with the fires raging in Brazil and other parts of the Amazon? In short: a lot. As the world's biggest money manager, BlackRock plays a key role in deciding where and how the $6.5 trillion in funds they manage are invested.

    September 24, 2019
    1,336 views
    3 min read

    Statement on Murderous Invasion of Brazilian Indigenous Territory

    On Saturday July 26, dozens of heavily armed wildcat gold miners invaded the remote Amazonian territory of the Waiãpi indigenous people in the Brazilian state of Amapá, driving out residents by threatening violence. This invasion followed the miners’ murder of local leader Emyra Waiãpi on Monday July 22nd, who was stabbed to death before his body...

    July 29, 2019
    2,005 views
    2 min read

    Power to the Protectors in Ecuador

    Kichwa Communities Fight Fossil Fuel Expansion with Renewable Energy

    This spring, we carried out the second install of our Power to the Protectors program in three Kichwa communities in the central Ecuadorian Amazon, all threatened by new oil expansion.

    July 11, 2019
    1,743 views
    5 min read

    An Earthquake Rocks GeoPark

    "As the Achuar People, along with the Wampis Nation, we completely reject the entry of GeoPark into our territory. You all are aware of human rights and environmental law, yet you still insist on polluting our lands. Understand that no matter how much you insist on entering our territory, we are never going to allow oil companies to come in."

    July 2, 2019
    965 views
    6 min read

    Amazon Leaders Tell GeoPark CEO James Park: Leave Our Territory

    Eight Achuar and Wampis leaders from the Peruvian Amazon confronted GeoPark executives at the oil company’s annual shareholder meeting

    Nelton Yankur Antich, president FENAP, which represents 45 communities located in both the Pastaza and Morona river basins, said, "We are here specifically to manifest our decision not to permit the entry of GeoPark into our territory."

    July 1, 2019
    1,046 views
    3 min read

    Indigenous Tribe Halts Oil Drilling in Amazon – for Now

    WhoWhatWhy | "The Achuar and the Wampis communities have an opportunity now to convince GeoPark that this project is fatally flawed, before the company attempts to push it forward and exacerbates socio-environmental conflicts in the rainforest."

    June 27, 2019
    1,101 views
    3 min read

    Chevron’s Corrupt Legal Practices Called Out by Leading Human Rights and Environmental NGOs

    "It is also extremely concerning to us that Chevron has been able to leverage this apparently paid and largely false witness testimony to target the reputation of Mr. Donziger, who has worked for more than two decades with the affected communities in Ecuador to try to hold Chevron accountable for what is considered one of the worst oil-related...

    June 25, 2019
    5,321 views
    5 min read

    Statement on GeoPark's Withdrawal of Its Request for a Drilling Permit

    Late on Thursday, June 20th, the Chile-based oil company GeoPark withdrew its request for an environmental permit to begin oil drilling in a concession area known as Block 64, located in the northern Peruvian Amazon. The company's about-face came after a concerted campaign of protests from indigenous Achuar and Wampi communities opposed to oil...

    June 21, 2019
    4,297 views
    2 min read

    Amazonians Rising Up and Winning Against Oil!

    "The government tried to sell our lands to the oil companies without our permission. Our rainforest is our life. We decide what happens in our lands. We will never sell our rainforest to the oil companies."

    June 18, 2019
    4,477 views
    5 min read

    “My Message for GeoPark? Don’t Enter Achuar Territory.”

    An indigenous delegation from the Peruvian Amazon prepares to take the fight to GeoPark's doorstep

    "We don't want the oil company to enter our territory because they contaminate everything – the air we breathe, the forest from which we source our food. As our ancestors left our territory to us, we want to leave it for future generations."

    June 10, 2019
    6,210 views
    4 min read

    More Pathetic Excuses from BlackRock’s CEO

    The "conscience of Wall Street" passes the buck on climate action

    Larry Fink's view of real climate action was clear when he dodged hard questions and tried to shift the blame to others. When challenged on the billions in assets that BlackRock owns in the fossil fuel industry driving climate change, he blamed his clients. Yep, really. Some leadership, huh?

    June 3, 2019
    700 views
    3 min read

    The Chevron Way: Admit Nothing. Deny Everything. Make Counter-accusations.

    Every year, a larger band of human rights and environmental activists show up at the Chevron shareholders meeting to stubbornly speak truth to power. It's essential to do so, as this is the one time that the Chevron CEO, board, and senior management are forced to listen to us.

    May 30, 2019
    6,130 views
    3 min read

    For the Achuar, Life Comes Before Oil

    Two million acres of Achuar land is threatened by Geopark’s imminent exploitation of Block 64

    Intercontinental Cry | "This is not the first time a company has tried to come into our territories – coming in with trickery – but the response has always been the same over four decades: we don't want oil."

    May 27, 2019
    3,567 views
    9 min read

    Wall Street’s Sustainable Darling Is Profiting from Climate Change

    The world's largest asset manager, BlackRock, has millions of dollars invested in fossil fuels despite claiming to be a steward of the environment

    Vice | "It is time that BlackRock stops financing, sheltering and shielding destructive investments that threaten people and the planet," said Alfred Brownell, a Liberian activist who recently won this year's Goldman environmental prize.

    May 24, 2019
    5,709 views
    5 min read

    New Report: European and North American Companies Support Soy, Cattle, and Timber Companies Responsible for Recent Surge in Amazon Deforestation

    A new report from Amazon Watch shows for the first time how firms that fuel the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon under Brazil's new president openly trade with and receive financing from a range of companies and major investors in Europe and North America. Although these producers of soy, cattle, and timber for export have documented links to...

    April 25, 2019
    4,635 views
    9 min read