Al Jazeera | “The guaranteed right to our territory is at risk,” Lorena Curuaia, a leader of the Curuaia Indigenous people, told Al Jazeera. “We could lose territories that we have lived in for thousands of years.”
Land Rights
From the Rainforest to the Interamerican Commission: Protecting the Brazilian Amazon
How Amazon Watch and allies bring Indigenous leadership and demands to international decision-makers
In the last couple of years, we have grown our work in international advocacy and legal strategies to denounce the threats the Brazilian government tries to pose to the environment and Indigenous peoples by pushing for a set of bill of laws known as the “Destruction Package.”
Peruvian Indigenous Movement Achieves a Victory, Though Threats Remain
The oil industry, illegal miners, and land traffickers continue their attacks in lockstep with the Peruvian Congress through a dangerous set of bills
It is essential that we recognize this pattern and be ready to mobilize in solidarity with the Peruvian Indigenous movement in the struggles to come over the next few months.
Peruvian Congress Places Isolated Indigenous Peoples Under Threat
The Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force founding member state, California, could use its influence to protect them and defend the “PIACI” law
Peru’s regional governments, as well as extractive companies trying to greenwash their image in front of the world, must know that we will not allow them to continue. The GCF Task Force must denounce this contradiction.
Brazil’s Pivotal Indigenous Land Rights Ruling Faces Another Delay
Delay prolongs risks for the climate and Indigenous lives
“The Supreme Court’s definitive ruling denying the Marco Temporal thesis is the only means to counter the moves of Brazil’s agribusiness-oriented Congress and guarantee these proposed legislation's unconstitutionality.”
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Allows Controversial Soybean Railway to Advance
The railway is regarded as one of the most anti-environmental projects being considered by Lula de Silva's government and has even been dubbed the "new Belo Monte."
Javari Valley Communities Remain Under Threat a Year After Dom and Bruno's Murders
"Our focus must not be limited to the direct perpetrators of crimes, but also extend to those endorsing predatory activities in the Javari Valley."
Regressive and Destructive Indigenous Land Bill Advances in Brazil, Despite Protests
"The lawmakers who voted today in favor of this project will go down in history as responsible for approving a bill that explicitly attacks the lives of Indigenous peoples in Brazil."
Dismantling the Environment Is Shooting Yourself in the Foot
Nearly 800 organizations sign a letter rejecting Provisional Measure 1154 in Brazil
The substitute for Provisional Measure 1154, approved in the Mixed Committee, dismantles the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA) and the agencies linked to it and weakens the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI). The text needs to be amended by the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Brazil's Congress Deals Major Blow to Indigenous Rights and Environmental Governance
"Brazil's presidency may have changed, but a deeply-rooted anti-environmental and anti-Indigenous sentiment persists in Congress."
Rights at Risk as Ecuador’s President Dissolves Congress
A wave of uncertainty and concern has gripped Ecuador after right-wing President Lasso invoked Article 148, known as the “muerte cruzada” clause in the country’s constitution, dissolving congress and convening new elections.
Second Chance for Lula as Controversial Amazon Dam Goes Up for Renewal
Mongabay | “What would be great is if that dam was gone. But there is another plan that would allow the waters to reach the lowland breeding grounds and that is a solution that we could live with.”
Risks and Rights Violations Associated With the Marco Temporal Thesis
An Interdisciplinary Analysis from Law, Economics, Anthropology, and Climate Science
Marco Temporal is a political thesis transformed into an ad hoc constitutional interpretation mechanism that limits the rights of Indigenous peoples to their traditional lands through the application of an arbitrary, restrictive, and legally unfounded temporal cutoff.
Amazon Watch Response to Petroperú
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.
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!"
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 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...
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...
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.
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."
Canadian Gold Miner Belo Sun Accused of Misleading Investors
Environmental advocate: "No investor should even think of touching this company"
Financial Post | “We are putting any institution or company looking to invest in or acquire Belo Sun on notice: this is a bad actor selling a dangerous project. Anyone looking to get involved with it will be shouldering serious risk and will be complicit in the continued threats to the Amazon rainforest, Indigenous and traditional peoples, and the global climate.”
Biodiversity Can Only Exist With “Land Back”
"As Indigenous Peoples at CBD COP 15, we demand Indigenous-led solutions to the climate crisis and for our rights to be respected. Our peoples are the keepers of Biodiversity around the world. It is through our solutions that we will see the world through the climate crisis."
