“For us Indigenous Peoples, security is not about weapons. It is about taking care of our territories."
Land Rights
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.”
The Amazon Is Not a Resource Reserve: It Is a Territory of Life
This week, Indigenous peoples and communities from the nine countries of the Amazon Basin are gathering at the Pan-Amazonian Social Forum in Puyo, Ecuador. The gathering is considering how to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels.
El País | We know another kind of wealth. It is in our rivers, in the animals and plants, in the knowledge passed down by our elders, and in the relationships that allow the world as we know it to continue to exist.
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."
Brazil’s Supreme Court to Hear Cases That Could Reshape Indigenous Rights and Amazon Protections
August rulings could reshape territorial and environmental protections across the Amazon
“The outcomes of these cases could either weaken or reinforce the safeguards that limit the expansion of mining, agribusiness, and infrastructure into Indigenous territories."
Amazon Watch is building on more than three decades of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
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.”
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.
Triple Trouble: Geopolitics, Illicit Economies, and the Risks of the “War Against Narco-Terrorism” in the Colombia-Ecuador-Peru Tri-Border
A new report by Amazon Watch and Amazon Underworld documents how U.S.-backed militarization, expanding criminal economies, and incoming right-wing governments are converging in one of the most volatile regions of the Amazon.
A Living Forest, Not an Oil Field: Sarayaku’s Vision for the Amazon
More than two decades ago, helicopters, soldiers, and oil workers descended on the territory of the Kichwa people of Sarayaku, in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Playing For Change Brings Together Manu Chao and Alexandre Carlo in a Song for the Amazon
Today, Playing For Change, a global project known for bringing together musicians from different countries in collaborative videos, released the song “Acontecer,” an international call to protect the Amazon, Indigenous peoples, and the planet.
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.
Canadian Mining Company Changes President in Brazil Amid Xingu Dispute
O Globo | Canadian mining company Belo Sun has changed the leadership of its operations in Brazil. The move comes as the company works to convince investors that the project is moving forward.
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.
Brazilian Court Mounts Pressure on Canadian Mining Companies Operating in the Amazon
Court of Appeals rulings reinforce Indigenous claims concerning lack of consultations while prohibiting government agencies from representing Canadian interests in legal proceedings
“Waking up to this news brought us extreme happiness. Every victory, small or large, strengthens our work even more."
Peru’s Amazon at a Crossroads as Drug Trafficking Expands Across Indigenous Territories
A new report on the impact of drug trafficking on Indigenous Peoples in Peru warns that the country faces a defining decision: confront the rapid expansion of organized crime in the Amazon, or risk allowing new systems of criminal power to take root across vast regions of the country.
Indigenous Peoples Brought the Amazon Crime Crisis to the U.N. What Happens Next?
“It is fundamental that states understand Indigenous peoples are crucial actors when it comes to security and containing organized crime."
Brazilian Court To Rule on Whether Belo Sun’s Amazon Gold Mine Stays Suspended
Associated Press | Scientists said that any dam failure could send toxic waste rapidly into the river, threatening Indigenous and riverine communities as well as the ecosystem.
Hope and Action To Phase Out Fossil Fuels
Traveling back to Bogotá from the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia, I struggled to name a feeling I had never experienced after a climate conference: hope!
Indigenous Amazon Groups Urge the U.N. To Curb Organized Crime, Not Militarize Territories
Associated Press | “In light of this situation, it is essential that responses to organized crime and illicit economies do not translate into new processes of militarization, criminalization, or the subordination of Indigenous governance systems.”
Indigenous Peoples Call on U.N. Action as Organized Crime Expands Across the Amazon
Indigenous leaders who gathered at the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues are demanding a decisive shift away from failed militarized responses toward rights-based approaches that center Indigenous territorial governance, autonomy, and community-led security systems in efforts to confront organized crime. They warn that current state responses are not only insufficient but, in many cases, actively deepen violence and insecurity in their territories.
Indigenous leaders who gathered at the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues are demanding a decisive shift away from failed militarized responses toward rights-based approaches that center Indigenous territorial governance, autonomy, and community-led security systems in efforts to confront organized crime.
A New Gold Rush Threatens the Amazon
Whenever gold returns to the center of global geopolitics, the Amazon comes back into the crosshairs. The war between the United States and Iran has put the metal back on the radar of markets, investors, and the extractive industry.
Amazon Indigenous Delegation Arrives to Historic Conference on Transition Away From Fossil Fuels
The First Conference on Transitioning Away From Fossil Fuels marks a turning point in climate diplomacy. It is the first time countries will explicitly address the root cause of the climate crisis: the unmitigated proliferation of fossil fuels.
Amazon Watch and Allied Organizations Release Landmark Report on Amazon Crime
In the context of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Amazon Watch, together with allied organizations, presents the first report to analyze how illicit economies and repressive government responses threaten the rights, territories, and physical and cultural survival of Indigenous peoples.
Brasília Becomes Indigenous Territory
Last week, Brazil’s capital Brasília was transformed into a center of Indigenous resistance. With more than 7,000 Indigenous people occupying the capital, the 2026 Free Land Camp (ATL) pressured Brazil’s government to uphold native land rights
In a Major March, Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples Demand Land Demarcation and the Cancellation of Ferrogrão
More than 7,000 Indigenous people marched through the streets of Brasília yesterday under the banner “Demarcate, Lula! A sovereign Brazil is one with demarcated and protected Indigenous lands.”
Major Indigenous Protest in Brazil Targets Belo Sun Gold Mine Project
Thousands of Indigenous people marched in Brazil’s capital yesterday, during the second day of the 2026 Free Land Camp (ATL), the country’s largest Indigenous mobilization, to denounce land rights violations driven by large-scale mining, agribusiness, and logging projects.
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Peru Must Protect Kakataibo People in Isolation
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has issued a clear mandate, ordering the Peruvian State to protect the Kakataibo people living in voluntary isolation in the Kakataibo Indigenous Reserve.
“The rainforest speaks with the voice of a woman.”
Ecuador’s Indigenous Women March Against Oil
On International Women's Day, Indigenous women from across the Ecuadorian Amazon traveled by foot, car, and canoe to Puyo with a single, unified demand: No more oil in the Amazon.
Middle Xingu Indigenous Women Mark One Month of Mobilization Against Belo Sun’s Advance in the Amazon
One month into their occupation of the Altamira headquarters of Brazil’s National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (FUNAI), Indigenous women from the Middle Xingu region led a peaceful action.






















