Amazon Watch
    Amazon Watch

    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.

    Murder of Two Yanomami by Illegal Miners Heightens Fears of Renewed Cycle of Violence

    The Indigenous Hutukara Yanomami Association demands a rigorous investigation of the murders and reinforces the need for the Brazilian government to immediately expel more than 20,000 miners illegally operating on Yanomami land

    "The murder of two more Yanomami by miners must be rigorously investigated and reinforces the need for the Brazilian State to act urgently and immediately remove all the miners who are illegally exploiting the Yanomami Territory and harassing and assaulting the Indigenous communities who live there."

    June 30, 2020
    4,300 views
    3 min read

    Is BlackRock the New Vampire Squid?

    The investment giant casts itself as socially responsible while contributing to the climate catastrophe, evading regulatory scrutiny, and angling to influence a Biden administration

    The New Republic | Luiz Eloy, a member of the Terena people and a lawyer with the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, said in an email that BlackRock has "changed absolutely nothing to alter its investment strategy, which pours money into the very companies that brutalize us and take down forests on an industrial scale. Talk means nothing to us, not after...

    June 26, 2020
    3,634 views
    9 min read

    Proposed Gold Mine in Brazilian Amazon Presents Unacceptable Degree of Risk

    Hydrogeologist recommends that Canadian company Belo Sun’s license be revoked

    An expert study released today reveals serious deficiencies in the environmental impact assessment submitted to Brazilian authorities by Canadian mining company Belo Sun. The analysis exposes an unacceptable degree of risk, resulting in a scenario where the tailings dam at the proposed Volta Grande gold mine will fail, contaminate the Xingu River...

    June 17, 2020
    2,947 views
    2 min read

    Miners Out, COVID-19 Out: The Yanomami and Ye'kwana People Launch a Global Campaign to Expel Miners from Their Territory

    Indigenous leaders demand the urgent removal of 20,000 illegal gold miners from their lands to prevent the spread of COVID-19 through their villages. The disease could infect up to 40% of Yanomami communities if wildcat mining remains, threatening a new ethnocide.

    Roraima State, Brazil – In a new global campaign led by a coalition of Yanomami and Ye'kwana organizations, Indigenous leaders define the #MinersOutCovidOut campaign as "a cry for help against an old nightmare which has turned even more deadly." Launching internationally today, the campaign demands that the Brazilian government immediately remove...

    June 11, 2020
    3,176 views
    4 min read

    One Legal Victory, but Two More Allies Have Fallen in Brazil

    Killers of forest guardian Paulo Paulino Guajajara are finally indicted, as two more Indigenous people are murdered

    Impunity cannot be brought to an end solely by increasing indictments and convictions against low-level henchmen. Instead, those who benefit and profit from these acts of violence must also face consequences, including the companies that benefit from illegal land grabbing and Amazon deforestation, like mining, agribusiness and logging.

    April 23, 2020
    3,719 views
    3 min read

    Amazon Watch is building on more than 28 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.

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    International Organizations Amplify Indigenous Peoples' Demands in Response to Coronavirus Pandemic

    Among the demands, Indigenous peoples call for an Amazon-wide moratorium on all extractive activity on their territories

    COVID-19 poses a mortal threat to Amazonian Indigenous peoples. As of April 7th there have already been at least 1,868 cases of the disease in the region and 59 deaths. Those numbers are likely to explode in the coming weeks, and we need to take action now to prevent more deaths.

    April 8, 2020
    2,377 views
    2 min read

    Coronavirus, Land Invaders, and Missionaries… OUT!

    Indigenous leaders are demanding that the Brazilian government remove illegal loggers and miners and prohibit missionary groups from entering their territories

    Encouraged by Bolsonaro's project to open up Indigenous territories for economic exploitation, non-Indigenous people are putting more than 300,000 Indigenous people in the Brazilian Amazon at risk of contracting the novel coronavirus. What's worse is that the deforestation caused by these criminal industries is encroaching upon the territory of...

    March 26, 2020
    6,285 views
    5 min read

    Haaland, Omar, and Brazilian Congresswomen Call for Global Solidarity

    "We, Indigenous peoples, are the main target of Bolsonaro’s government. The Amazon is on fire. Laws and policies to protect the environment and uphold our rights are being dismantled. Our institutions are being gutted. The president has taken action against demarcation of our lands, threatening our existence. This puts lives at risk, especially in...

    February 27, 2020
    5,703 views
    3 min read

    Bolsonaro Threatens the Indigenous Right to Be

    Brazil's president once again attempts to erase the Indigenous way of life through his policies and actions. "Is this what we want: to wipe out the Indigenous peoples? Is this Brazil's policy?" asked Brazilian Congresswoman Joênia Wapichana.

    February 20, 2020
    6,547 views
    5 min read

    BlackRock's Agribusiness Engagement Guidelines Draw Scrutiny from Environmental Groups

    Amazon Watch and Friends of the Earth demand real action on deforestation and human rights

    "BlackRock is clearly feeling the pressure from the climate and Indigenous rights movement to align its investment practices with a sustainable world, which includes how it engages with and invests in agribusiness," said Moira Birss, Climate and Finance Director at Amazon Watch. "Its new statement identifies many of the key risk factors of the...

    February 7, 2020
    5,261 views
    3 min read

    Joaquin Phoenix Makes Film with Extinction Rebellion and Amazon Watch

    Sônia Guajajara, Executive Coordinator of the Association of Brazil's Indigenous Peoples said: "This film is very important for us at this moment. It demonstrates the artists' engagement in Amazon protection by showing the key role Indigenous peoples play in defending the forests, the planet, and life itself."

    February 6, 2020
    2,268 views
    4 min read

    BlackRock Issues Investment Stewardship Statement on Agribusiness

    "BlackRock is clearly feeling the pressure from the climate and Indigenous rights movement to align its investment practices with a sustainable world, which includes how it engages with and invests in agribusiness," said Moira Birss, Climate and Finance Director at Amazon Watch.

    February 5, 2020
    6,029 views
    2 min read

    Australia and the Amazon: Two Terrible Tragedies With One Key Difference

    Various news outlets have noted that both the Australian and Amazon tragedies were related to climate change but failed to describe a key difference between them: the fires in Australia are almost exclusively wildfires, while those that ravaged the Brazilian Amazon were intentionally set by people, primarily for land speculation and agribusiness.

    January 16, 2020
    4,023 views
    4 min read

    BlackRock Responds to Demands for Stronger Climate Action with Bold New Commitments

    The company still remains the largest investor in coal, oil, gas, and the companies driving deforestation

    "This announcement is a major step in the right direction for BlackRock," said Moira Birss, Finance Campaign Director at Amazon Watch. However, It still leaves questions about how it plans to address the fact that it is the world's biggest investor in deforestation."

    January 14, 2020
    749 views
    3 min read

    Protecting the Amazon Is Going to Take All of Us!

    For everyone that hosted a fundraiser, shared our videos and posts, or did something creative to spread awareness and protect the Amazon, thank you. This movement requires all hands on deck. We need to maintain the same sense of urgency in order to protect it and its Indigenous peoples. Onward together!

    January 10, 2020
    6,274 views
    3 min read

    The Climate Movement Is Going After Wall Street

    A new effort, Stop the Money Pipeline, aims to end the financing of fossil fuels

    A coalition of some of the nation's leading climate, youth, and Indigenous organizations launched a major new mobilization, Stop the Money Pipeline, that will pressure banks, insurance companies and asset managers to stop financing fossil fuels and deforestation and start respecting human rights and Indigenous sovereignty.

    January 10, 2020
    2,511 views
    7 min read

    Climate Change: Amazon Oil Boom Under Fire at UN Talks

    BBC News | "All those countries are here making declarations about cutting emissions, Ecuador and Peru are making declarations about protecting the Amazon but what we are seeing is a whole different plan to expand extraction, there's a gap between what countries are committing too and what they are actually planning to do in terms of fossil fuel expansion."

    December 10, 2019
    4,771 views
    3 min read

    The Amazon Sacred Headwaters Threat Assessment

    Imminent new oil drilling in the western Amazon threatens the most biodiverse rainforest in the world, survival of indigenous peoples, and climate stability

    At a time when the world needs to be racing to protect the Amazon, a new oil boom in the headwaters of the mighty Amazon River in Ecuador and Peru puts this area, known as the Amazon Sacred Headwaters, in great peril.

    December 2019
    6,153 views
    6 min read

    A Canadian Company Wants to Build Brazil's Largest Open-pit Gold Mine

    The Star | "We can't accept Belo Sun in our region, not in Brazil," indigenous leader Bel Juruna told the thousands of carnival-goers in attendance that day. "We demand that this company leave us alone on our lands, that the government respects us and respects our nature."

    November 9, 2019
    1,079 views
    6 min read

    Indigenous Forest Guardian Murdered by Illegal Loggers in Brazilian Amazon

    Another indigenous leader was gravely wounded in the ambush and a logger is reportedly missing

    Earlier today, members of the Guajajara people's Forest Guardians, a volunteer land and environmental monitoring force, were ambushed by a group of illegal loggers in the Araribóia indigenous territory, leaving one Guardian dead and another gravely wounded. Forest defender Paulo Paulino Guajajara was killed by a shot to the face, while the attack...

    November 1, 2019
    3,166 views
    3 min read

    BlackRock's Ghoulish Lack of Action for the Amazon

    BlackRock is a major investor in the industries driving deforestation and indigenous rights violations in the Amazon. That's why, as the Amazon fires crisis escalated through late summer, we joined with allies at Rainforest Action Network, Greenpeace USA, and Friends of the Earth US to contact BlackRock directly about the meaningful steps the...

    October 31, 2019
    901 views
    3 min read

    Indigenous Ecuadorians Too Strong to Be Ignored After Deal to End Protests

    After days of unrest, president agrees to stop austerity package – showing the political force of Ecuador's indigenous groups

    The Guardian | "I believe that peace triumphed," said Patricia Gualinga, from the Amazonian Kichwa community of Sarayaku. "But I feel a knot in my throat about the loss of the lives of indigenous brothers. There is a lot of pain to be healed and the government should be aware of this."

    October 16, 2019
    3,831 views
    4 min read

    Ecuador's Indigenous Movement Achieves Important Victory

    "How can we talk about 'development', when our territories where we've lived for hundreds of years are being exploited, are being auctioned off, turned into new oil concessions. This undeniably affects us!"

    October 14, 2019
    1,760 views
    3 min read

    Deal Struck in Ecuador to Cancel Austerity Package and End Protests

    The New York Times | Under the agreement, Mr. Moreno pledged to withdraw from an International Monetary Fund-backed program, known as Decree 883, that raised fuel prices, and the Indigenous leaders agreed to call off more protests. The two sides agreed to work together to put in place a new economic policy of government spending cuts and taxes to increase revenues.

    October 13, 2019
    2,518 views
    4 min read