Under international standards, the impacted communities should have been consulted for the creation of Block 64 as well as all leasing contracts, which did not happen. As such, the “intercultural dialogue mechanisms” cannot be considered as complying with the international standards of FPIC.
Indigenous Rights
Brazilian Court Rules for Mura People Against Potássio do Brasil
Potássio do Brasil fined and forced to remove signs from Mura Indigenous village
Potássio do Brasil is an example of how mining companies violate Indigenous rights even before their operations begin.
Demarcation Now! Brazil’s Indigenous Movement Secures Land Recognition Victories
Munduruku land Sawré Muybu, home to 2023 Goldman Prize Winner Alessandra Munduruku, is one of the territories heading into the final steps of the demarcation process
"Lula promised to resume land demarcation. We believe in him, but let's not fool ourselves that now the fight will be easy. We will not solve 523 years of destruction in four years, but we will push on!"
2021-2022 Annual Report
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!
Brazilian Indigenous Leader Alessandra Munduruku Awarded Goldman Prize
We celebrate and honor the life and journey of resistance by the great Indigenous leader Alessandra Munduruku. May her example serve as a source of inspiration and strength to continue our work in defense of the Amazon in solidarity with all Indigenous peoples.
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Amazon Indigenous Woman Wins Goldman Environment Prize
Associated Press | “This award is an opportunity to draw attention to the demarcation of the Sawre Muybu territory. It is our top priority, along with the expulsion of illegal miners.”
The Right to Decide: U’wa Bring Case to Court After 25 Years
“As the U’wa Nation, we have a special mission for the Blue Planet, our Mother Earth, which is to defend her, protect her, safeguard her. Not just for the U’wa but for the whole world. This is the essence of the U’wa struggle from time immemorial.”
New Toolkit Guides Investors on Indigenous Rights Respect
Toolkit and website provides innovative guidance for institutional investors on due diligence for Indigenous rights, which is a responsibility of investors and is crucial for climate stability, biodiversity protection, and financial risk management
New York, NY —Today, Amazon Watch published Respecting Indigenous Rights: An Actionable Toolkit for Institutional Investors, an Indigenous-led guide for pension funds, asset managers, and other institutional investors on their responsibility to respect the rights of Indigenous peoples.
Respecting Indigenous Rights
An Actionable Due Diligence Toolkit for Institutional Investors
The rights of Indigenous peoples are protected by a robust and growing body of international human rights instruments and jurisprudence. This Toolkit provides practical guidance and tools for institutional investors to learn about and meet their responsibility to respect Indigenous peoples’ rights, and in turn, avoid financial, and reputational...
State Treasurers and Public Pensions Urged To Support Climate and Indigenous Rights Resolutions at Annual General Meetings
“Public pension fund officers have an obligation to protect their members from both the financial volatility and physical destruction of the climate crisis. They must do their job by voting yes on climate and Indigenous rights resolutions at bank and insurance shareholder meetings this spring.”
Women Must Be Protagonists in Solving the Climate Crisis
As the most vulnerable population, particularly those at the intersection of the environment and Indigeneity, women should take part in the development of global climate solutions
"We will all be affected by climate change." The truth is that some will face the impacts of this process much more than others. And it is women and girls who are the most vulnerable, with Black and Indigenous women being even more exposed.
UN Human Rights Committee Calls on China for Mechanisms to Investigate and Punish Harmful Activities of Its Companies and Banks Abroad
"Having the Committee recommend that Chinese companies and banks be held legally responsible for human rights abuses arising from their operations abroad is not only a step forward in protecting Chinese investment, but also in guaranteeing human rights in any context of transnational capitalism."
China's Human Rights Obligations in Relation to Business Activities in Latin America
Chinese business activities in Latin America have increased at an unprecedented rate – impacting the Ecuadorian Amazon. Through the United Nations, those Latin American countries are granted processes to advocate for the respect of human rights, and when they are not, it provides external oversight to guide reparation and compliance.
Amazonian Women Mobilize on International Women’s Day
This International Women’s Day 2023, we celebrated Indigenous women as life-givers, wisdom keepers, and leaders while denouncing violence against women and Mother Earth.
Women Defenders for Territories Free of Mining!
Celebrate International Women's Day by meeting defenders on the front lines of the Mining Out of the Amazon movement
Across the Amazon Basin, women are organizing in defense of life, rights, and territories, and are a critical part of the front lines movement resisting increasing threats such as mining.
New Research Exposes Rights Violations and Financial Risks with Solaris Resources Mining in Ecuador
Assessment warns investors of mining risk in Ecuador as government touts country as "world’s next mining destination" at international mining convention
Amazon Watch released new research today that exposes the social, cultural, and human rights impacts related to Solaris Resources Inc.'s Ecuador mining operations, and the consequential environmental, business, and political risks faced by the company, its investors, and the mining sector writ large. According to the research, investors should be...
At Any Cost? The Peruvian Government Launches a New Campaign to Attract Oil Investments in the Midst of the Crisis.
Is it prudent to invest in what will undeniably become a new front of social conflict and human rights violations in the north of the country, this time with Amazonian Indigenous people?
Solidarity With the Family of Eduardo Mendúa and CONAIE
Stop the stigmatization, criminalization, and violence against the Indigenous movement
“Amazon Watch expresses our deepest condolences and solidarity with the family and loved ones of Mendúa, and with the leadership and members of CONAIE. We join their demand for a thorough and rigorous investigation and acknowledgment of the root causes of his death. We consider it essential that Eduardo's widow and children find justice and the...
Josefina Tunki Delivers Testimony at the UN on Behalf of the Shuar Arutam People
Josefina joined communities affected by Chinese business operations in Latin America to testify at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva
“The Shuar Arutam People have already decided and have declared forcefully that we do not want mining or consultation in our territory.”
Illegal Gold Mining Brought Death, Disease, and Violence to the Yanomami in Brazil
This practice must cease, for the future of the Amazon and its peoples
The shocking images of death and destruction of the Yanomami people and their lands that recently swept the world reestablish a tragedy foretold.
The Transformative Power of Reciprocity and Gratitude
“Gratitude is so much more than a polite thank you. It is the thread that connects us in a deep relationship. Gratitude and reciprocity are the currency for a giving economy or regenerative economy.”
Brazilian Government Launches Huge Operation to Remove Illegal Miners from Yanomami Lands in the Amazon
Actions began this Monday with support from special forces; approximately 25,000 miners are estimated to have flocked into the territory, bringing violence, disease, and destruction
The Brazilian government has initiated operations aimed at dismantling extensive illegal gold mining activities in the Amazon’s Yanomami Indigenous Land. The objective is to drive tens of thousands of illegal miners from the country’s largest Indigenous reserve after they invaded the territory over a span of several years.
Two Brazilian Indigenous Youths Are Murdered, Shot in the Back Amid Conflicts Over Land
São Paulo, Brazil – Two youths, Nawir Brito de Jesus, 17, and Samuel Cristiano do Amor Divino, 25, of Brazil’s Indigenous Pataxó people, were brutally murdered on Tuesday, January 17, 2023, in the municipality of Itabela, in southern Bahia state.
The Massacre in Peru Must Be Stopped!
The violence unleashed by the government of Dina Boluarte is aimed primarily at Indigenous peoples and campesinos in the south of the country and has already claimed over 40 lives
Over the last few weeks, Peru has been going through an unprecedented political and social conflict that has already resulted in more than 40 deaths.
How We’re Ending Amazon Crude in 2023!
Indigenous movements are gaining political, judicial, and legislative victories setting the stage for keeping oil in the ground this year
There are several reasons to be optimistic about building momentum to further restrict plans to expand oil extraction in its Amazon and keep fossil fuels permanently in the ground, and Ecuador is a great example.
Brazil at a Turning Point: “Never Again Without Us!”
Brazil's Indigenous peoples take back the right to decide over their lives and territories under the Lula government
For the first time, a government has put Indigenous peoples at the center, recognizing their ancestral right to decide over their lives and territories.
In Sweeping Moves, President Lula Reestablished the Amazon Fund and Signed Environmental Executive Orders
President Lula’s decrees reinstated environmental funding programs, such as the Amazon Fund, revoked a Bolsonaro decree facilitating artisanal Amazon mining, reestablished deforestation control plans, and renamed the Ministry of Environment to include the term Climate Change
“After four years of relentless dismantling of socio-environmental legislation, Lula’s new government is beginning to rebuild the fundamental norms eviscerated by the Bolsonaro regime."
Major U.N. Biodiversity Deal Recognizes Indigenous Rights but Lacks Critical Enforcement Measures
Democracy Now! | The landmark agreement seeks to halt the Earth’s sixth major mass extinction event, and Indigenous communities will have an increased role in protecting wildlife as part of the deal.
Amazon Watch at COP15 in Defense of Biodiversity and Indigenous Rights!
Canadian mining company Belo Sun’s stock took a major hit as our new report exposed major risks to investors during COP
Indigenous communities are uniquely qualified to speak on the intersections between mining and biodiversity: Indigenous lands make up around 20% of the Earth’s territory, containing 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity, requiring Indigenous peoples to be at the forefront of all decision-making regarding any global climate commitments.
