“Our future will be condemned if President Lula doesn’t veto the Devastation Bill.”
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.
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.”
Amazon Watch is building on more than 28 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
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.
Blood Gold in the Amazon: Belo Sun’s Mega-Mine Threatens People, Land, and Climate
An infusion of new financing and lax regulation has rekindled the company’s aggressive efforts to greenlight its disastrous open-pit gold mine
A recent cash infusion from Luxembourg-based investor La Mancha Resource Capital, combined with a shocking court ruling, has given the Canadian company new momentum to push forward with one of the most destructive mining projects the Amazon has ever faced.
Grounding in Our Collective Power: Victories for the Amazon from 2024
Through bold campaigns, strategic advocacy, and unwavering solidarity with our Indigenous and local community partners, we achieved groundbreaking victories in 2024.
Major Victory to Halt Mining in the Heart of the Brazilian Amazon
Brazilian judge annuls Belo Sun's land rights contract, delivering a major blow to the company's plans to build Brazil's largest open-pit gold mine
This recent federal court decision annulling Belo Sun and INCRA’s contract is a crucial step toward justice, underscoring the resilience of the communities of the Volta Grande do Xingu.
Brazilian Justice Voids Belo Sun Mining’s Concession
In a major victory for the communities of the Amazon’s Volta Grande do Xingu, a judge’s ruling annulled the Canadian mining company’s contract with Brazil’s Land Reform Institute
A Brazilian federal court issued a major setback to Belo Sun, declaring the contract that granted the company its land concession null and void.
Ancestral Outcry: The Battle to Save the Tapajós River from Ferrogrão
In a spirited direct action, hundreds of Indigenous people and allies blocked commodity shipping on a major Amazonian river for six hours to protest mounting agribusiness-driven threats
Dozens of canoes lined with signs denouncing Ferrogrão formed a barrier blocking the traffic of barges transporting soy and other commodities.
A Fossil-Free Amazon Has a Powerful New Ally
A powerful new configuration of Parliamentarians for a Fossil-Free Future joined forces with Indigenous leaders at COP16 to usher in a new era of climate justice in the Amazon.
2023-2024 Annual Report
For 28 years, Amazon Watch has worked tirelessly to defend the Amazon rainforest in solidarity with Indigenous peoples. Reflecting on the past year, I am deeply moved by the courage of our Indigenous partners, and I am profoundly honored by the trust they continue to place in us.
“A Luta Continua!” Brazil's Indigenous Peoples Resist Attacks on Their Rights
Two days of protest force the the Brazilian Senate to delay a vote on PEC 48, a constitutional amendment that would significantly limit Indigenous land rights
“We know that if the constitution changes, it will only facilitate more invasions of our territories. We have already lived long enough with these invasions."
Indigenous Leadership at Climate Week: Amplifying Voices for Global Action
At New York's Climate Week, Indigenous leaders from across the Amazon demanded urgent solutions to the climate crisis, highlighting the destruction of the rainforest and calling for an end to fossil fuel extraction
The global shift in climate policy that we need will only happen if leaders listen to the voices of Indigenous and frontline communities, and if we collectively push for action.
In Ecuador, Booming Profits in Small-scale Gold Mining Reveal a Tainted Industry
Mongabay | Lax regulation, corruption, and organized crime have enabled multimillion-dollar proceeds from drug trafficking to be laundered through illegally mined gold.
A Reprieve Among the Flames as a Munduruku Territory Advances
Brazil’s Justice Minister’s declaration of Sawré Muybu territory in the eastern Amazon moves an endangered land and its communities closer to federal protection
While the Amazon continued to burn and suffer a historic drought, the news demonstrated how the determined struggle for ancestral land offers a key solution to today’s crisis.
Brazil’s Justice Minister Clears Munduruku Territory for Formal Titling
The “declaration” of Sawré Muybu territory upholds embattled Indigenous land rights in an endangered Amazonian region
“This is an enormous triumph for the Munduruku people, and for all of us who fight for Indigenous rights, for the forest, and for climate justice. It is proof that, even in the most ruthless of contexts, it is possible to achieve remarkable victories."
Attacks on Indigenous Rights in Brazil Are Fueling Amazon Fires and Climate Change
A brazen new institutional assault on Indigenous rights by a Supreme Court Justice is underway, threatening to undo fundamental constitutional protections of Brazil’s Indigenous communities
As Brazil stands at a critical crossroads, the support and vigilance of the international community are essential to ensuring that Indigenous rights are upheld and the Amazon rainforest is preserved for future generations.
Daniel Noboa’s Calls for Renewable Energy Investments in Ecuador at Extreme Odds With Divisive Copper-Gold Project in Amazon
“Instead of appealing to foreign investors about renewables in Ecuador, the Noboa administration must first confront the alarming consequences of expanding mining into the Amazon."
Gold, Gangs, and Governance
How Illegal Mining and Organized Crime Threaten Ecuador's Amazon and Its Indigenous Peoples
This report exposes how criminal economies not only pose a threat to Indigenous peoples but also severely compromise the ecological integrity of the Amazon.
Can Mining Override Agrarian Reform and Food Sovereignty in the Amazon?
Brazil’s Institute of Agrarian and Colonization Reform refuses to repeal a Bolsonaro-era rule authorizing mining and other industrial projects on protected lands in the Amazon
We recommend that INCRA immediately suspend IN 112 and replace it with a policy that better regulates the historical uneven relationship between large private enterprises and small farmers in rural settlements.
Solaris Stock Price Plummets As Indigenous Resistance Mounts
Solaris Resources hit its lowest stock price this week as Indigenous organizations once again initiated multiple actions to reject its flagship copper-gold Warintza project in Ecuador.
