"Minister Pérez' announcement sends a clear message: civil society pressure to defend rights and ecosystems works, and expanding the fossil fuel frontier deeper into Ecuador's Amazon presents risks to companies and problems for the state. This is an important victory for our collective work to keep fossil fuels in the ground from California to the...
Kichwa
Ecuador’s Yasuní Bait and Switch
While Ecuadorian government officials were busy touting the country's advances to reduce emissions at COP 24 in Poland, activists gathered outside the country's Environment Ministry to protest government plans to greatly expand oil drilling in its remote Amazon rainforest and indigenous lands. These are fossil fuels the planet can ill afford to...
A Victory in the Struggle for REAL Climate Solutions!
Not only do offset programs allow continued pollution, but these particular forest protection schemes have a poor track record of actually protecting forests and often lead to the displacement of indigenous peoples who have stewarded their lands for millennia. Plus, offset schemes hurt the communities – predominantly people of color and indigenous...
The Voices of Amazon Women and a Visionary Declaration to Protect Indigenous Lands
"The Amazon Rainforest ecosystems are vital lungs of the Earth. Thus, the justice and well-being for the people of Sarayaku is inseparably tied to the fate of all people worldwide."
Ecuador’s Indigenous March Over 600km to Demand an End to Mining
"They're still in the construction phase and the environmental impacts are very severe," said Carlos Mazabanda, Amazon Watch's Ecuador Field Coordinator." More than 1,200 hectares of primary forest were clear-cut for the mine, which has affected rivers, aquatic life and indigenous communities' access to water."
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Today We Celebrate Life and Resistance on the Front Lines of Extraction
Día de los Muertos is traditionally a day for remembering and honoring those who have come before us. For those of us committed to environmental justice, that often includes remembering those who have lost their lives resisting the impacts of pollution, deforestation, and land grabbing. In this celebration of resistance, of course we also took...
Ecuador Reduces Plan for New Oil Blocks in Amazon Rainforest Under Pressure from Indigenous Peoples
Oakland, CA – Ecuador's Hydrocarbon Minister Carlos Pérez unexpectedly announced that the oil auction planned for the end of 2018 would be reduced from the original sixteen blocks to two, as leaders of Ecuador's Amazonian indigenous nationalities gathered outside of the country's annual Energy, Mining, and Oil conference yesterday to denounce...
New Climate Report Calls for Action Not Desperation
Scientists have finally caught up with the lived experience and traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples. As the Florida Panhandle picks up the pieces and North Carolina recovers from its second hurricane in less than a month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued its most dire warning yet.
Amazon in Focus 2018
While the threats to the Amazon and indigenous peoples seem daunting at times, we cannot lose sight of hope and victories on the horizon. And while the day-to-day isn't always good, there are still many reasons to be hopeful for the future of the Amazon. Indigenous peoples across the Amazon are resisting extraction and further destruction of their...
Great News for Earth Defenders!
Finally, we have some good news to report: Latin American and Caribbean countries are lining up to ratify a new treaty requiring stricter protections for the environment and for Earth Defenders! In recent months Amazon Watch worked to publicize the Agreement's importance and organized our supporters to push for its ratification – a big THANK YOU...
Indigenous Communities Reject Oil Drilling in Block 10
The recent approval of a new oil concession in Ecuador fails to fulfill Indigenous rights enshrined in the country’s 2008 constitution
NACLA | "I come from the Amazon, and my people have long defended the rainforest from threats like oil drilling, which would destroy our forest home. We know that a majority of oil exported from the Amazon comes to California to be processed, also harming the communities near refineries and contributing to global climate change," said Mirian Cisneros...
Climate Action Must Address Fossil Fuels, Protect Forests, and Listen to Communities
"We are here because 2.5 million acres of our forests are being negotiated behind our backs. Our forests are not just carbon," said Marlon Santi of Sarayaku. "Allowing oil companies to continue to pollute while using the forests we have protected for millennia as carbon sinks without our consent is not a climate solution."
Indigenous, Frontline Community Groups and Climate Leaders Decry Greenwashed Climate Summit, Deliver Open Letter to Gov. Brown
In open letter to Brown, communities most affected by climate change demand real people- and earth-based solutions
San Francisco, CA – On day three of the Solidarity to Solutions Week countering the upcoming Global Action Climate Summit, frontline leaders hosted a rally and delivered an open letter rejecting the Governor's Climate and Forest Task Force and demanding its cancellation.
Sarayaku Launches Living Forest Proposal – ¡Viva Kawsak Sacha!
In late July, the Kichwa People of Sarayaku officially launched their visionary Kawsak Sacha (Living Forest) proposal to the world. It was an incredibly beautiful, energizing, and historic moment to witness!
International Coalition Asks Ecuador’s President Moreno to Protect Earth Defenders from Attacks
Quito, Ecuador – Today, International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, an international coalition launched a campaign calling on Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno to implement three policies to protect Earth Defenders – those who dedicate their lives to protecting human rights and nature, many of whom are indigenous leaders.
Ecuador’s Indigenous Activists Are Under Attack. Will the Government Protect Them?
President Lenín Moreno should make protecting Indigenous groups a priority, says Amnesty International's Americas director
Americas Quarterly | As indigenous peoples from across Ecuador commemorate the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples on August 9th, activists will demand that Ecuador's President Lenín Moreno fulfills his promise to protect them and their territories. The day comes as a string of recent threats and attacks against indigenous human rights defenders has...
Protesters Occupy Ecuador’s Environment Ministry Over Expanded Oil Drilling in Yasuní National Park
Quito, Ecuador – Environmentalists occupied the lobby of Ecuador's Environmental Ministry on Tuesday to protest a pending environmental license that would open the Ishpingo oil field inside the world-renowned Yasuní National Park.
Visionary “Living Forest” Proposal to Be Launched by Kichwa People of Sarayaku in Ecuador
Proposal for New International Category of Forest and Rights Protection to Be Presented to Government Officials and International Dignitaries
The Kichwa People of Sarayaku will officially launch its Kawsak Sacha, (Living Forest) proposal in Ecuador this July 2018 with a four-day exhibition and conference in Quito that will showcase Sarayaku's way of life, culture, and vision and will involve a formal presentation to the Ecuadorian government and international dignitaries.
The Last Guardians: A Must-Watch Film Highlights the Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice
Now available for download and streaming, The Last Guardians takes viewers to the Ecuadorian Amazon to further understand the struggle of indigenous community members as they defend their land and culture against the threats they face from extractive industries.
Earth Defenders Risk Life and Limb to Protect the Amazon Rainforest
This World Rainforest Day, we're honoring the indigenous Earth Defenders who are risking life and limb every day. Ecuador, in particular, is a dangerous place to be an Earth Defender. In addition to criminalization – baseless criminal charges used to silence dissent – more and more Earth Defenders are being threatened and physically assaulted.
ENI-AGIP Oil Project Threatens Indigenous Territories in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Indigenous organizations have rejected the company's presence in their territories and an Indigenous leader has been subjected to threats and intimidation
"This attack is a reprisal for the struggle that I've been waging to defend life and our territories against the threat that is still being pushed upon us, fossil fuel exploitation in our territories."
The Erin Brockoviches of Ecuador
For these women, environmentalism and women's rights are closely linked: Past drilling projects have resulted in increased assaults, cancer, and infertility.
The New Republic | By fighting to protect their traditional land, indigenous women are making an innovative argument that the lives of the people and the wellbeing of the environment are inextricably linked – and a battle for one is a battle for the other.
Defending Indigenous Lands, Territories, and Resources at the UN
More than 1,000 representatives of indigenous peoples traveled to New York in late April to participate in the 17th Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Amazon Watch supported and accompanied Amazonian leaders to call for respect and protection of their lives, cultures, and ancestral territories and an end to the harassment and...
New Report Shines Light on Dark Days for Amazon Earth Defenders in Ecuador
The Human Rights Watch report found that the Correa government "amassed broad powers to curb public debate of its policies on the environment and other pressing issues..[then] abused these powers to harass, intimidate, and punish Ecuadorians who opposed oil and mining projects that the president endorsed...and used the criminal justice system to...
Indigenous Amazonian Leaders at U.N. to Demand an End to Resource Extraction and Threats Against Rights Defenders
Women's delegation from the Ecuadorian Amazon will bring call for permanent protection of rainforest lands to the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous representatives from several nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon will attend the17th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York City from April 16 to 27.
From Ecuador’s Amazon to President’s Palace, Indigenous Women Demand End to Drilling
"Oil has not brought development for the Waorani"
Thomson Reuters | "We will return to our communities and wait for a response from the government," said Zoila Castillo, vice-president of the parliament of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon. "If we do not receive a response in two weeks, we will be back."
Keep Off Our Land, Indigenous Women Tell Ecuador’s President
Women's movement demands an end to unrestricted oil drilling and mining on Indigenous lands and action on violence against land defenders in first meeting with President Lenin Moreno
The Guardian | "Your government cannot permit that our rights continue to be violated," Patricia Gualinga, an indigenous Kichwa from Sarayaku, told the president during the meeting. "Ecuador has to change its energy policy. It could be an example for the world," she said. Gualinga, who received death threats in January, said environmental defenders, particularly...
Amazonian Indigenous Women Take Demands for End to Oil and Mining Directly to Ecuador’s President
In a Meeting with President Moreno, the Women Called for an Amazon Free of Natural Resource Extraction and an End to Threats Against Them and Other Earth Defenders
Quito, Ecuador – After presenting to Ecuador's President Moreno their demands to end natural resource extraction in their Amazon rainforest territories in a meeting in the presidential palace late Thursday, a delegation of Amazonian indigenous women announced they will give him fifteen days to provide concrete responses. The women also...
Standing Shoulder-to-Shoulder with Indigenous Women at Risk in Ecuador
A call for international solidarity to protect the rights and lives of Earth Defenders
"We are marching for our lives! Our sisters are being threatened, our rights are being trampled, and our territories are being destroyed. We are here as women to defend the Amazon against extraction. Enough is Enough!"
