Acción Ecológica denounces the request made to set in motion an administrative procedure that would dissolve our organization on the grounds that we have deviated from the aims for which we were constituted.
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.
Amazon Watch Statement on Recent Events in Shuar Territory in Nankints
Amazon Watch is concerned about the escalating tensions between the Shuar community of Nankints, the government, and the Chinese mining consortium EXSA (Ecuacorriente and Explorcobres).
Joint Declaration from CONAIE and CONFENIAE on the Recent Events in Nankints, Morona Santiago
We reiterate our request to national and international human rights organizations to collaborate in protecting the rights, life and integrity of the Shuar community and of all [people] involved in this situation, and we call for the solidarity of the people to demand the demilitarization and a cease of the violent actions that benefit the Chinese...
Beautiful Solidarity: Our Historic Visit to U’wa Sacred Territory
At Amazon Watch we are extremely proud of the relationship of solidarity we have built with the U’wa, who continue to amaze and inspire us.
Victories by Brazil’s Indigenous Movement Demonstrate Ways To Resist Authoritarianism
From North to South America and around the world, the ascendency of authoritarian leaders portends dangerous days ahead. Yet at the same time, remarkable stories continue to emerge of determined resistance to these brutal regressions, led by the continent's indigenous peoples from the Amazon to Standing Rock.
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Will Colombia’s Peace Process Have an Environmental Dark Side?
For the majority of Colombians, and for those who have worked on human rights in Colombia, the conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions can't end soon enough.
Ecuador’s Indigenous Peoples Strengthen Resolve To Protect Rights and Resources
In the face of direct attempts by the government to subvert its leadership and the continued encroachment of oil and mineral exploitation further into the Amazon, an organized, strengthened CONFENIAE is critical to the defense of Amazonian peoples and lands, and needs our support.
Peru: New President, Old Tensions
After five lackluster years under President Ollanta Humala, Peru is facing a new political scenario with the ascension of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to the presidency. Here are some of the flashpoints Amazon Watch will be monitoring in the coming months and years.
Amazon Land Rights Face Greatest Threat
“Not only is securing land tenure the right thing to do, it’s one of the world’s most cost-effective climate mitigation strategies”
Environmental Official Murdered in Brazilian Amazon
Araújo is the latest in a long list of environmentalists assassinated in Brazil. According to the NGO Global Witness, 448 environmentalists were killed in Brazil from 2002-2013. This was half of the total killed worldwide.
Amazon Watch Welcomes Acquittals in Peru’s Baguazo Case, But Denounces Ongoing Impunity for Real Perpetrators
Washington, DC – Late yesterday, Peru's Superior Court of Justice of the Amazonas region announced the long-anticipated verdict in the Baguazo trial, throwing out for lack of evidence all charges against the 52 indigenous defendants in the case, including internationally-recognized leaders Alberto Pizango and Santiago Manuin.
An Indigenous Community’s Battle To Save Their Home in the Amazon – In Pictures
There are currently over 60 major hydroelectric dam projects in the Amazon. The third largest project is the Belo Monte on the Xingu River, Brazil, which has already displaced 20,000 indigenous and riverine people.
Protection of Amazon’s Biodiversity Could Fuel "Fourth Industrial Revolution"
The Amazon rainforest holds the biological keys to kick-start a "fourth industrial revolution" if its biodiversity is protected, said a study published on Friday.
Gold Mining in Peru: Forests Razed, Millions Lost, Virgins Auctioned
70,000 indigenous Awajúns and Wampís are at risk from such mining operations because of the impacts on the forests, biodiversity and rivers, which they depend on for their lives and livelihoods.
Jiyukam Presente! Homage to a Peaceful Warrior
A wave of sadness has surged forth from the Amazon rainforest, washing over many who have supported indigenous rights in Peru. Yesterday we learned that the long-time Achuar leader Jiyukam Lucas Irar Miik had drown in the Pastaza River, as he returned to his home community of Puerto Rubina. As reported by his son, his boat hit a log and capsized...
Brazilian Public Prosecutors Denounce Ethnocide and Call for Judicial Intervention in Belo Monte
The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office today initiated legal proceedings in a federal court in Altamira seeking recognition that the implementation of the Belo Monte dam project constitutes an act of ethnocide by the Brazilian government and dam concessionaire Norte Energia, citing abundant evidence of "the destruction of the social organization...
Why a Paris Climate Treaty Needs To Protect the Amazon
As negotiators butt heads in Paris over the fine print of a new United Nations climate treaty, one issue they will need to address urgently is the fate of the Amazon.
Yudja Indigenous People Request Consultation Regarding Belo Sun
Federal Public Prosecutor, Para, Brazil | The company proposes to undertake mining operations in an area that will be most impacted by the Belo Monte hydroelectric project. The Federal Public Prosecutor, National Indian Foundation and Federal University of Para met with the indigenous Yudja to discuss their right to be consulted.
Dear Li Keqiang: "Please Respect Our Rights and Environment"
Chinese premier’s visit to Latin America raises concerns about the impacts of mining, oil, agriculture and infrastructure projects
The Guardian | "We don't accept, and we will not accept, the exploitation of oil in our territories because our vision of the world, our ideas about development, has no place for it," said Manari Ushiga, an indigenous Sapara leader from the Amazon in Ecuador. "It would be better if the Chinese company gave up on these lots. We are not going to accept the end of...
The Amazon Oil Spills Overlooked by Environmental Leaders in Lima
As global environmental delegates gather in Peru for the UN climate talks, five oil spills in the country’s Amazon jungle are causing a hidden environmental disaster
The Guardian | Over the last few months – as Peru helped guide the United Nations climate negotiations – five separate oil spills along a main oil pipeline through the Amazon have spewed thick black clots of crude across jungle and swamp and carpeted local fishing lagoons with dead fish.
Thousands of Marchers Demand Just Solution at UN Climate Talks in Lima
Indigenous peoples from the Andes to the Amazon joined trade unionists, students and women’s groups in demonstration in the Peruvian capital
The Guardian | From the Amazon to the Andes, thousands of activists marched through the streets of Lima on Wednesday to demand a just solution to climate change. The march through the traffic-choked streets put a human face on the United Nations climate negotiations, a process largely confined to suited bureaucrats working behind the high walls of a military...
Fracking, REDD, Lima Climate Talks...All Slammed at Nature Rights Tribunal
13 judges meet in Peru to hear accusations that the rights of “Mother Earth” are being violated
The Guardian | "[REDD gives] permits to pollute," Smithie told the Tribunal. "[It means] forests of the world acting as a sponge for northern industrial countries' pollution. They can pollute if they grab forests in the global south."
Ecuador Indigenous Leader Found Dead Days Before Planned Lima Protest
Shuar leader José Isidro Tendetza Antún missing since 28 NovemberActivists believe death linked to opposition to state-Chinese mine project
The Guardian | The body of an indigenous leader who was opposed to a major mining project in Ecuador has been found bound and buried, days before he planned to take his campaign to climate talks in Lima.
Why the Result of Brazil's Elections Could Be Bad News For the Climate
ThinkProgress | Rousseff is coupling her strategy of hydropower expansion in the Amazon with a heavier reliance on fossil fuels. Projects like Belo Monte are typical of Rousseff’s development strategy. Many other large scale infrastructure projects of high environmental impact and dubious utility are in the works, such as the diversion of the Sao Francisco River...
Elections in Brazil: a Win for Rousseff, and China
Now that president Dilma Rousseff has won re-election, Chinese investment in Brazilian energy and agriculture looks set to keep booming
Chiina Dialogue | “China sees electricity from Brazil's Amazon dams as part of a supply chain delivering energy-intensive aluminum and steel directly from a region rich in these resources.”
Amazon Tribe Fights Brazil Dam Project
BBC News | Over the last few months some 13,000 Munduruku have been protesting against government plans to build a series of hydroelectric dams that will flood part of their land on the upper reaches of the Tapajos river.
Brazil: Gunmen Threaten to Assassinate Leading Amazon Shaman
Davi Kopenawa, shaman and internationally renowned spokesman for the Yanomami tribe in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, has demanded urgent police protection following a series of death threats by armed thugs reportedly hired by goldminers operating illegally on Yanomami land.
Brazil Spends Billions on "Green" World Cup, but Does Little to Protect Environmentalists
South American nation holds the dubious distinction of having the highest number of murders of environmental activists
Earth Island Journal | Brazil is today the most dangerous place in the world to be an environmental activist. By the end of Sunday's final match, an estimated 3.7 million people will have flocked to Brazil to support their home teams. And if statistics hold true, at least two Brazilian environmental activists will have been murdered over the course of the tournament.
Judge Revokes Mining License in Brazilian Amazon
Citing Belo Sun's failure to assess the impacts of its planned mega-mine on nearby indigenous communities, a federal judge rescinded the company's licenses, putting the brakes on yet another Amazon extractive industry tragedy.
