Amazon Watch
    Amazon Watch

    Indigenous Rights

    Ecuador Announces Launch of New Oil Auction for End of 2026

    Indigenous leaders warn investors of longstanding opposition, uncertain returns, and material risks

    "Yesterday's announcement changes nothing on the ground. Indigenous nations have opposed oil extraction in these territories for decades, previous rounds failed to deliver, and the fundamental obstacles remain."

    October 2, 2026
    8,461 views
    3 min read

    Juma Xipaia Denounces Canada’s Belo Sun Mining Corp in New York Event

    Prominent Brazilian Indigenous leader protested Amazonian mega-gold mine during a Climate Week NYC action as Brazil’s Supreme Court weighs ruling over the future of the project; Leonardo DiCaprio promotes a video on Indigenous resistance to Belo Sun

    “Listen to the Indigenous peoples who are saying no to this project of death,” said Juma Xipaia, founder of Instituto Juma.

    September 23, 2026
    8,722 views
    2 min read

    Three Years After Ecuador’s Historic Yasuní Vote, the Oil Still Flows

    Three years after Ecuadorians voted to keep Yasuní’s oil in the ground, extraction continues, threatening Indigenous Peoples living in isolation and a historic climate precedent

    The Waorani people took to the streets of Puyo to mark the three-year anniversary of Ecuador's historic Yasuní referendum and protest the government’s failure to carry out the will of voters.

    September 22, 2026
    8,537 views
    5 min read

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

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    The Belo Sun Case Reaches Brazil’s Supreme Court

    Federal prosecutors are asking the court to “urgently” suspend Belo Sun’s installation license. The request was signed by Brazil’s deputy prosecutor general and is now before Supreme Court Chief Justice Edson Fachin.

    Sumaúma | "After so many years of violations and irregularities that have marked the project’s environmental licensing process, we hope the Supreme Court will examine the case with the attention and responsibility it requires.”

    September 14, 2026
    5,011 views
    5 min read

    Rubio’s Regional Tour Doubles Down on Failed Militarized Approach to the Amazon

    Amazon Watch statement on Marco Rubio's trip to Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru

    “The Trump administration’s hyper-militarized approach to addressing ‘narco-terrorism’ in the Andean-Amazon region is likely to fail, while exacerbating violence against communities caught in the crossfire.”

    September 10, 2026
    8,399 views
    4 min read

    Capirona Sings for Its Rivers

    “We cannot afford to abandon our struggle. For now, we need clean water, but we will keep fighting to heal the rivers and secure alternative livelihoods for our community.”

    September 8, 2026
    9,933 views
    4 min read

    Rio Mural Honors Women Defending the Amazon’s Rivers

    Yesterday, I participated in the inauguration of a monumental new mural in Rio de Janeiro celebrating Indigenous, Quilombola, and riverine women who defend the Amazon’s rivers and territories.

    September 1, 2026
    13,013 views
    5 min read

    Monumental Rio Mural Celebrates Women Defending Amazon Rivers

    The 30-foot Rio de Janeiro mural symbolizes the struggle of Indigenous, Quilombola, and riverine women to defend Amazonian rivers from industrial threats

    “When I look at these three women – Indigenous, riverine, and Quilombola – I also see a message about where many of the answers to the climate crisis lie: in the territories and in knowledge that generations have passed down.”

    September 1, 2026
    8,618 views
    4 min read

    Political Declaration of Puyuk from the Pan-Amazon Social Forum (FOSPA)

    Today, August 20, 2026, we come together in the city of Puyuk to denounce three years of non-compliance with the popular consultation to leave oil in the ground. The Yasuní mandate calls the peoples of the Pan-Amazon together at this XII FOSPA.

    August 20, 2026
    6,473 views
    13 min read

    Amazonian Communities Move To Protect Tocantins River Fish Nursery

    Community-led heritage declaration and federal petition aim to protect a unique and biodiverse 43-kilometer rocky ecosystem threatened with destruction in 2027

    “We learned to fish by knowing every rock, every eddy, and every path through the Pedral. You cannot separate our lives from the Pedral do Lourenção.”

    August 20, 2026
    8,375 views
    3 min read

    Indigenous Communities and Social Movements Unite Against Mining in Ecuador’s Amazon

    The action, held on the Jatunyaku River in Napo, formed part of the official program of the XII Pan-Amazonian Social Forum under the banner “Adoke Öme – One Territory, Free from Extractivism.”

    On the Jatunyaku River, community representatives unfurled two banners bearing the messages that have echoed for years: "Water is life” and "Love the Amazon."

    August 19, 2026
    8,388 views
    5 min read

    Mandate of the Indigenous Peoples and Nations

    Political, Economic, and Social Agenda for the Amazon Basin

    We, the Indigenous Peoples and Nations, preexist the creation of States. Since ancestral times we have inhabited, governed, and protected our territories, exercising our own forms of government, knowledge, and life. Our collective, territorial, and self-determination rights do not originate from State recognition, but from our existence as Peoples.

    August 18, 2026
    6,354 views
    9 min read

    From Sarayaku to Paris by Canoe

    Paty Gualinga remembers an unforgettable journey of laughter, adventure, and solidarity

    In this video, Paty Gualinga looks back on one unforgettable chapter in Sarayaku and Amazon Watch's shared history.

    August 13, 2026
    10,553 views
    2 min read

    Belo Sun’s Reported “Legal Victory” Does Not Resolve Key Disputes Over Amazonian Gold Project

    Brazilian court decision dismissed a duplicative claim without ruling on Indigenous consultation, environmental assessments, tailings-dam safety, or ongoing legal challenges related to Indigenous rights and public land access on the Xingu River’s Volta Grande.

    “Belo Sun has an established pattern of making questionable statements to investors about the standing of its mega-mine, both concerning its legal standing and level of standing with affected communities.”

    August 4, 2026
    8,493 views
    3 min read

    The Chapra Nation Is Powering Its Own Future

    How solar energy, internet access, and community leadership are strengthening territorial defense in the Peruvian Amazon

    This month, Amazon Watch and the Chapra Nation fulfilled a dream years in the making: we brought solar energy, freezers, and internet connectivity to 12 communities across Chapra territory.

    July 31, 2026
    9,480 views
    6 min read

    They Delivered Justice, Not a Favor

    The Remanso Massacre was not an isolated act. It is part of a wider pattern of violence sweeping across the Colombian Amazon and the tri-border zone where Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador converge.

    July 10, 2026
    11,056 views
    4 min read

    El Niño Returns to an Amazon Already on the Brink

    Global El Niño and Coastal El Niño could combine to create wildfire conditions resembling the catastrophic Amazon fire seasons of 2019 and 2024

    A future where forests thrive and Indigenous rights are respected is possible. But it requires acting with far greater urgency than the world has managed so far.

    June 18, 2026
    12,549 views
    4 min read

    Bay Area Communities Mark 13th Annual Anti-Chevron Day

    Investor votes on Indigenous rights and human rights due diligence resolutions underscore escalating scrutiny of Chevron’s global operations

    Shareholders, Indigenous leaders, human rights defenders, and environmental justice advocates converged on Chevron's Annual General Meeting today.

    May 27, 2026
    4,294 views
    5 min read

    Brazil’s Supreme Court Approves Reduction of Amazonian Park, Paving the Way for Megarailroad

    Despite the ruling, the Ferrogrão “grain railway,” backed by U.S.-based Cargill, remains stalled without an environmental license and continues to face major legal and regulatory challenges

    Brazil’s Supreme Court upheld a law reducing the size of the Jamanxim National Park, allowing the Ferrogrão railway project to move closer to environmental licensing.

    May 22, 2026
    8,233 views
    4 min read