The ruling is the result of sustained efforts by civil society and institutional allies to prevent the installation of Belo Sun's massive gold mine and to seek redress for the illegal acts committed in the course of the project's environmental licensing process.
“The demarcation of lands of all Indigenous peoples in Brazil continues to be our main goal. But to guarantee the demarcation, the protection of our lands, we must also 'Indigenize politics' with the presence of diversity, of women occupying the positions of power and decision-making positions.”
This Earth Day is perhaps the most important in human history. If we hope to avert the worst of the climate crisis, we must act now. With the Amazon at a tipping point, we must permanently protect the rainforest and make this moment a turning point for the future of our planet.
Brazil’s President Bolsonaro is using a possible fertilizer shortage caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine to justify his attempt to ram contentious legislation through Congress.
Intense market and supply chain conditions – due in part to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – have led to increasing inflation around the world, and Peru has been no exception. Today, the controversial Talara oil refinery will be inaugurated and touted by the government as a solution to the current energy crisis. It is not.
“The latest IPCC report affirms what Indigenous peoples in the Amazon and across the world have been saying for decades: colonialism caused the climate crisis, and colonialism continues to worsen it today."
Indigenous peoples have repeatedly mobilized to oppose Bill 191/2020, and polls show that 86% of Brazil’s public is against mining on Indigenous lands. The Munduruku refer to it as "the project of death that is dividing our people and bringing violence [against those who] fight to defend our land."
As part of the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council, more than 60 civil society organizations released a new report that evaluates 26 projects backed by Chinese companies and capital across nine Latin American countries. The investigation found a pattern of failure to comply with international standards on human rights and the environment...
In many ways, Amazon Watch's community reflects the expansive ecosystem we work to protect, showing up in endlessly diverse ways to amplify Indigenous rights and resistance.
“We have not committed any crime, we are defending our territory, the natural resources of all Ecuadorians. We guarantee food sovereignty, the protection of land and water”
Brazil’s President Bolsonaro is using a possible fertilizer shortage caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine to justify his attempt to ram contentious legislation through Congress.
Indigenous women across the Amazon are coming together like never before to protect and defend our lives, rights, bodies, and territories in the face of ever-increasing threats.
“There must be a general understanding that Indigenous lands, traditional territories, and protected areas in the Amazon are not available for mineral exploration, nor should they be, both because there must be respect for our constitutional right to self-determination as Indigenous peoples over our territories, and because of our lands’...
In the latest edition of the Complicity in Destruction series, research by APIB and Amazon Watch found that international financiers, including BlackRock, Vanguard and Capital Group, poured USD $54.1 billion into eight large mining companies, including Vale, Anglo American, and Belo Sun.
If you have followed Amazon Watch’s campaigns over the years, the name Block 64 might ring a bell. Over the course of almost 30 years, the Peruvian government has encouraged a steady parade of international oil companies to explore and exploit the oil concession, located near the border with Ecuador. All have hit a major obstacle: the vehement...
Amid the onslaught of negative news, we welcome signs of progress. This Tuesday we received word that the confessed trigger-man in the fatal shooting of Indigenous leader Arbildo Meléndez has finally been captured. His widow, Zulema Guevara, has courageously fought for justice in her husband’s case, herself becoming the target of death threats.
2021 was full of highs and lows as we entered our second year in physical isolation from one another. We celebrated 25 years as an organization with our community, in deep solidarity with Indigenous peoples. We reflected on all that we have accomplished together and what challenges remain ahead.
When you make a tax-deductible donation to Amazon Watch, you can count on your contribution being put to work effectively and immediately. As we work to achieve climate justice and a just transition for all, we always center Indigenous voices in the movement.
Yesterday, Brazilian Military Police, including a squad of elite special police known as the BOPE, violently attacked a surveillance post maintained by the Macuxi people in the Indigenous community of Tabatinga, on Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Territory, Roraima state. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at peacefully assembled community...
Mongabay | Conflicts with mining companies have become even more serious, says Carlos Mazabanda, Ecuador field coordinator for Amazon Watch, as the state looks to expand its mining sector and relieve some of its dependence on oil. Many communities have been divided by mining companies, while conflicts in the southern province of Morona Santiago have resulted...
The Guardian | As world leaders inside COP26 in Glasgow boasted about pledges to slash greenhouse gas emissions and end deforestation, Indigenous delegates gathered to commemorate activists killed for trying to protect the planet from corporate greed and government inaction.
In late October, Ecuador’s right-wing president Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency, citing rising violent crime. But the surprise move also conveniently suspended civil liberties just as civil society was gearing up to protest his economic and policy proposals seeking to implement neoliberal reforms and a business-friendly environment...
“We denounce the Ecuadorian government’s use of this State of Emergency as a pretext to quell opposition to its proposed policy reforms and silence Indigenous, union, and workers’ rights to peacefully protest. Such militarization has a clear purpose – to restrict the right of freedom of association, expression, and peaceful protest – which can...
In partnership with Brazilian allies – the Climate Observatory and Greenpeace Brazil – Amazon Watch organized a flight over the Amazon rainforest with experts and key journalists to expose fires, deforestation, illegal mining, and cattle ranching in September. This initiative was central to our Amazon Ceasefire campaign and the shocking results of...
Reuters | "What we are seeing is an attack on indigenous people, on their rights, their lives and territories," said Leila Salazar-Lopez, executive director of Amazon Watch. "Indigenous people are the best protectors of the Amazon forest and of biodiversity around our planet ... because they have intrinsic spiritual and cultural connections to the land."
New York, NY – A virtual Climate Week event held today highlighted the critical role U.S. and European banks must play in ending oil and gas financing in the Amazon rainforest. The event, led by international environmental advocacy groups and Amazon Indigenous leaders, revealed a new "Exit Amazon Oil and Gas" campaign and exclusion policy that...
During his first 100 days in office, Ecuador’s new president, Guillermo Lasso, made it clear that his government’s economic policy will be based on extractivism. According to the new administration, natural resources, such as oil, gas, and minerals, found in Ecuadorian subsoil are "essential," given the economic situation he inherited due to poor...
"We know that our home is under attack every single day. Oil, mining, logging, hydroelectric exploitation, and highways are advancing and destroying the Amazon. Like a virus, industry is destroying the lands where our ancestors are buried, destroying trees, mountains, rivers and lagoons. Our territories are the extension of our bodies. Nature is...
The Amazon has already lost 17 percent of its forest cover and an additional 17 percent of its rainforests have been degraded. If deforestation increases and surpasses the 20-25 percent threshold, this vital ecosystem will reach an irreversible tipping point of ecological collapse. The Amazon rainforest, as we've known it, could dive into the...
