As climate denial gained renewed political traction and governments moved to restrict civic space, Indigenous peoples and grassroots movements across the Amazon advanced bold, collective visions for the future.
Mining Out of the Amazon
Mining in the Amazon has terrible effects on the livelihoods and health of Indigenous peoples and frontline communities as well as the overall balance of the Amazon’s biological diversity. Yet, mining giants with well-known track records of devastation and rights violations are eyeing Indigenous and traditional communities’ lands and other protected areas in the Amazon.
Despite committing to withdraw from all mining interests in Indigenous lands, multinational companies continue to bulldoze through communities and their territories to complete their mining projects. Banks and asset managers are once again behind this extractive surge by financing these company’s projects.
Amazonian Indigenous Peoples Void Belo Sun’s Consultation, Threatening Mega-mine’s Approval
Juruna and Arara peoples formally revoke consultations used by Canadian company to justify licensing of its Volta Grande gold mine in Brazil’s Xingu region
“Prior consultation is a binding requirement established by the Federal Regional Court and an indispensable condition for the environmental licensing process to move forward.“
From Self-Government to Climate Leadership: The Wampis Nation’s Story
“For us, the Wampis, autonomy means living in freedom and peace as we have inherited our territory. It means being free from pollution and deciding our own future, for ourselves, but also for all of humanity”.
Brazil’s Senate Rams Through Constitutional Amendment Imperiling Indigenous Lands and Communities
Mining companies stand to benefit as Indigenous organizations warn of impending human rights and environmental disaster
Brazil’s largest Indigenous organizations warn that the amendment dismantles the country’s constitutional framework for territorial protection.
Ecuador Rejects Militarization and Backs Call for Accountability
President Noboa's defeat in the national referendum comes after weeks of mobilization and repression
By rejecting Noboa’s militarized reforms, Ecuadorians chose solutions that protect life and dignity instead of policies based on repression.
Amazon Watch is building on more than 28 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Protect the Amazon, Tax the Polluters: Climate Activists Demand Action at COP30 in Belém, Brazil
Democracy Now! | The Brazilian government said, "We’re going to put a hold on Ferrogrão. We’re not going forward on this soy railway for Cargill and ADM and Bunge and all these multinational corporations to feed animals, not people. We’re not going forward with this without people’s consent.”
The Fight Against Climate Change Is Also a Fight Against Organized Crime
Belém COP cannot succeed without taking decisive action
Open Global Rights | Belém can be remembered as a turning point – when the world stopped treating the Amazon as a victim and began dismantling the criminal economies driving its collapse.
Standing With the Kakataibo
Resilience amid Peru’s crisis of corruption and organized crime
The Kakataibo have made it clear to us: they will not give up. Their fight to reclaim and defend their ancestral lands has lasted more than two decades, and this is simply another chapter in a long struggle for survival and justice.
Defending the Amazon Against Illegal Economies
The Wampís Nation’s fight to defend their territory against an invasion of illegal mining
The Wampís’ fight is not just local, it’s global. Defending the Amazon means defending the planet.
Defending Mocoa in Southern Colombia
Art, culture, and children’s resistance against Giant Copper mining threat
“Mocoa is the most conserved territory, where the mountains hold the winds of the ancestors, which descend to embrace the Amazon.”
Indigenous Groups Criticize Ecuador’s $47 Billion Oil Expansion Plan in Amazon
Associated Press | “The Amazon is not for sale. We will defend our territories because we have not been consulted – this is our home."
“Mining Mafia” Scandal Threatens Brazil’s COP30 Credibility as Police Uncover Massive Fraud
On the eve of the COP30 climate summit, a corruption scandal in Brazil exposes how mining operates outside the law, putting communities and the climate at risk
"These false authorizations not only legalize the advance of destruction, but also put our water, our health, and our food security at risk."
Interview With Chief Raoni: “Congressmen Only Think About Destruction, Not About Future Generations”
Indigenous leader says he is skeptical about the practical effects of COP30 and laments that, under the Lula administration, projects such as Marco Temporal and the Destruction Bill are moving forward
O Globo | On the eve of COP30, Raoni is also skeptical about the environmental meeting to be held in Belém.
Amazon Watch Welcomes Historic Conviction of Former Brazilian President Bolsonaro for Coup Plot
"His arrest offers a welcome reprieve for the Amazon and its peoples by weakening the chance that his destructive agenda will return to the region,”
An Important People-Powered Win in Brazil, but the Fight Isn’t Over
A partial veto protects key environmental safeguards, but dangerous loopholes still put the Amazon at risk
With COP30 in Belém just months away, Brazil had a chance to send the world a bold message about its commitment to climate justice. Instead, it delivered a mixed one.
Brazil’s Partial Veto of “Devastation Bill” Stops Some Setbacks, but Critical Loopholes Remain
Amazon Watch warns that preserved provisions still threaten Indigenous land rights and environmental protections ahead of COP30
“This soy doesn’t feed our people. We don’t eat soy – it’s for export and corporate profit. Meanwhile, pesticides contaminate our water, our soil, and even the rain. It’s poisoning all of us, not just Indigenous peoples."
In Ecuador, Environmentalists Worry Noboa Is Unwinding Nation’s Green Reputation
Associated Press | “We are seeing a sweeping package of regressive reforms that are rolling back environmental protections, Indigenous rights guarantees, and threatening basic civil liberties like the freedom of speech and assembly,"
Lula, the World Is Watching: Veto the Devastation Bill Now!
International pressure grows in support of Brazil's civil society's call
“Our future will be condemned if President Lula doesn’t veto the Devastation Bill.”
You Can’t Kill a River
Why the Volta Grande still lives – and how the peoples of the Xingu continue to oppose mining company Belo Sun
In the Volta Grande do Xingu, the river still runs. Even with turbines and licenses strangling it, the Xingu endures because the peoples who protect it refuse to disappear.
Indigenous Wampis Are Ambushed in Peru After Government Backs Out of Anti-mining Joint Patrol
Associated Press | Indigenous leaders say the incident highlights the growing risks faced by land defenders and the government’s failure to uphold its promises.
2024-2025 Annual Report
In a world increasingly in denial about the consequences of climate change and fossil fuel extraction, Amazon Watch is doubling down on our grassroots partnerships.
Exclusive London Climate Week Preview of “When Waterfalls Die”
New documentary by acclaimed journalist Brandi Morin captures Shuar People's resistance to copper mining project threatening 268 square kilometers of pristine Amazon rainforest
“This isn’t just their story – it’s humanity’s final crossroads between ancient wisdom and corporate greed. When the last defender falls, we all lose something irreplaceable.”
Mura People Rise Against Mining Invasion in Brazil
A powerful new alliance emerges to confront extractivism on Indigenous lands
“What happened at this large meeting was not just a gathering of the Mura most directly affected by the Brazil Potash project. Rather, the significance of this event lies in the fact that this struggle has become, first and foremost, the struggle of all Indigenous peoples.”
“We Will Not Retreat:” Mura Take Land Defense to Global Stage at COP30
Indigenous leaders mobilize internationally following court decisions greenlighting potash mining on their ancestral territory
“They want to divide us so they can silence us. But what’s at stake is the future of our land, our water, and the life of our people. And we will not stand by in silence.”
Canadian Mining Company’s SLAPP Lawsuit Against Amazon Defenders Dismissed in Brazil
Court exposes Belo Sun’s attempt to silence critics of its gold mine project in the heart of the Amazon rainforest
"The court's decision to reject the legal complaint represents a victory for forest protection movements, reining in a company that appears to believe it is above the law."
Indigenous Peoples Denounce Criminal Expansion in the Amazon at the U.N.
“The Permanent Forum must formally recognize that organized crime and illegal economies such as drug trafficking and illegal mining are an existential threat to our peoples."
Munduruku Nonviolent Protest for Indigenous Land Rights Reaches Brazil’s Supreme Court
“It was a struggle to get to this meeting. We spent days and nights under the sun and rain, blocking cargo transport on the highway. We had to hit agribusiness in the pocket to be heard by the Supreme Court.”
2023-2024 Amazon Defenders Fund Report
Stories of Solidarity
The Amazon Defenders Fund (ADF) is an activist-led solidarity fund built upon Amazon Watch’s multi-decade track record as a trusted partner to Indigenous nations and local organizations.
Militant Mothers of the Movement: Meet Maria Leusa Munduruku
Maria Leusa Munduruku has emerged as a powerful defender of Munduruku territory in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon against a conflux of extractive megaprojects such as dams, mining, illegal logging, and the Ferrogrão mega-railway.
