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    California Lawmakers Seek to Curb Oil Imports from Amazon

    Associated Press | “Consuming oil from the Amazon is incompatible with climate leadership. As the world’s fourth-largest economy, California is sending a powerful market signal by examining its crude footprint and role in Amazon destruction.”

    August 27, 2025
    4,900 views
    2 min read

    A Historic Alliance for the Amazon

    “This deal has no consent, no legitimacy, and will face legal and social resistance every step of the way.”

    This united front builds on a track record of resistance: in more than 25 years, no new oil well has been drilled in Ecuador’s southeastern Amazon.

    August 19, 2025
    6,262 views
    4 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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    Our Voice Is Our Power

    Indigenous women in the Amazon have been at the forefront of the fight against climate change and the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, and today we are stepping up into new leadership roles, successfully forcing out extractive industries and companies from our sacred territories.

    November 26, 2020
    2,259 views
    5 min read

    Amazonian Women Mobilize to Demand Justice and Support for Earth Defenders

    The Amazonian women joined the march with the goal of amplifying their voices of resistance against extractivism

    Over 100 Amazonian women, representing multiple Indigenous nations across Ecuador, came together to march for the dignity of their peoples, to reclaim their songs and wisdom, to re-ignite their fight against extractivism, and to address social inequality and the rampant impunity for those who attack defenders of nature.

    March 19, 2020
    4,443 views
    3 min read

    Indigenous Opposition Forces Andes Petroleum Out of Controversial Rainforest Oil Block

    Oil company's departure latest in wave of indigenous resistance that has shelved new Ecuador drilling plans

    "The declaration by the government of force majeure in Block 79 is a result of our fight, and it was forced to recognize that these territories are ours, we live there. We are asking the government to remove all oil concessions from our territories. We will remain vigilant," said Yanda Montahuano, a Sapara leader.

    November 6, 2019
    5,783 views
    4 min read

    Amazonians Rising Up and Winning Against Oil!

    "The government tried to sell our lands to the oil companies without our permission. Our rainforest is our life. We decide what happens in our lands. We will never sell our rainforest to the oil companies."

    June 18, 2019
    4,648 views
    5 min read

    Statement Regarding Decision to Delay Licensing of Ecuadorian Oil Blocks 86 and 87

    "The decision to put a hold on auctioning blocks 86 and 87 shows that the advocacy made by Shiwiar, Sapara, and Kichwa indigenous peoples to protect their territories, that are part of the best preserved tropical forests in the country, has been successful. While we celebrate this victory, we know that the next step must not be further...

    May 10, 2019
    715 views
    3 min read

    Indigenous Groups in Ecuador Convene to Talk Resistance in the Amazon

    "The Shiwiar, Sapara and Kichwa nationalities of Kawsak Sacha decide to leave the oil in the subsoil and declare their territories intangible in perpetuity, where it is forbidden to extract non-renewable natural resources. The governments in turn must respect this decision."

    April 1, 2019
    1,419 views
    5 min read

    Portraits: Women Defenders of the Amazon

    For decades, oil companies have taken advantage of the resource-rich land of the western Amazon, violating the basic human rights of the indigenous people while simultaneously inflicting harm and destroying the beautiful rainforest. Indigenous communities have responded with powerful messages, defending their land at all costs. At the forefront of...

    December 20, 2018
    2,978 views
    3 min read

    Ecuador’s Indigenous March Over 600km to Demand an End to Mining

    "They're still in the construction phase and the environmental impacts are very severe," said Carlos Mazabanda, Amazon Watch's Ecuador Field Coordinator." More than 1,200 hectares of primary forest were clear-cut for the mine, which has affected rivers, aquatic life and indigenous communities' access to water."

    November 16, 2018
    5,114 views
    4 min read

    Amazon in Focus 2018

    While the threats to the Amazon and indigenous peoples seem daunting at times, we cannot lose sight of hope and victories on the horizon. And while the day-to-day isn't always good, there are still many reasons to be hopeful for the future of the Amazon. Indigenous peoples across the Amazon are resisting extraction and further destruction of their...

    October 9, 2018
    757 views
    2 min read

    Ecuador’s Indigenous Activists Are Under Attack. Will the Government Protect Them?

    President Lenín Moreno should make protecting Indigenous groups a priority, says Amnesty International's Americas director

    Americas Quarterly | As indigenous peoples from across Ecuador commemorate the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples on August 9th, activists will demand that Ecuador's President Lenín Moreno fulfills his promise to protect them and their territories. The day comes as a string of recent threats and attacks against indigenous human rights defenders has...

    August 8, 2018
    3,438 views
    4 min read

    Building Power: Telling Stories of Resistance and Resilience to a Global Audience

    When Gloria spoke to shareholders, the room paid rapt attention. Many had never heard an indigenous person speak about the impacts that oil drilling and climate change would have on their way of life. An issue that had seemed abstract became real, and the impact of their investment decisions gained a human face. Creating this personal connection...

    June 1, 2018
    1,611 views
    3 min read

    Amazonian Leaders Call on California to Go Fossil Fuel-Free at Chevron’s Richmond Refinery

    Bay Area environmental and Indigenous organizations join protest to call attention to Chevron's key role in causing destruction to people and planet

    Richmond, CA – Indigenous leaders from the Ecuadorian Amazon joined Bay Area allies at Chevron's Richmond Refinery on Thursday morning to call on California's political leadership to phase out oil and gas production and processing in the state, including its importation of crude oil drilled in the Amazon rainforest.

    May 17, 2018
    2,334 views
    3 min read

    Defending Indigenous Lands, Territories, and Resources at the UN

    More than 1,000 representatives of indigenous peoples traveled to New York in late April to participate in the 17th Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Amazon Watch supported and accompanied Amazonian leaders to call for respect and protection of their lives, cultures, and ancestral territories and an end to the harassment and...

    May 10, 2018
    2,660 views
    6 min read

    Standing Shoulder-to-Shoulder with Indigenous Women at Risk in Ecuador

    A call for international solidarity to protect the rights and lives of Earth Defenders

    "We are marching for our lives! Our sisters are being threatened, our rights are being trampled, and our territories are being destroyed. We are here as women to defend the Amazon against extraction. Enough is Enough!"

    March 15, 2018
    6,028 views
    3 min read

    Indigenous Women March in Ecuador, Vow to “Defend Our Territory”

    Women from different regions of the Ecuadorian Amazon gathered in the city of Puyo, Ecuador to mark International Women's Day

    Mongabay | About 350 Indigenous women from across the Ecuadorian Amazon gathered here yesterday to celebrate International Women's Day, and, they say, to fight back against a system that violates their rights. Many women spoke out specifically against the extractive industries operating in their territories.

    March 9, 2018
    4,807 views
    5 min read

    Indigenous Amazonian Women: Defending Mother Earth

    Cultural Survival | On March 21st, 2016, International Women's Day, an Amazonian women's alliance was born when indigenous women from seven nationalities – Kichwa, Sápara, Shiwiar, Shuar, Achuar, Andoa, and Waorani – joined forces for the first time, marching together in defense of their rights, rainforests, and future generations.

    March 2018
    4,149 views
    4 min read

    My First Decade at Amazon Watch

    Over ten years, I have been privileged to play a role in most of the organization's major campaign initiatives. While the moments of exhilaration, frustration, learning, anger, and beauty could fill a book, I want to share ten snapshots of key experiences that represent what serving with Amazon Watch has meant to me.

    October 19, 2017
    1,059 views
    8 min read

    Sápara People of Ecuador Fight Big Oil For Broken Promises

    The Sápara people of Ecuador are fighting to keep more oil drilling out of their territory, especially after a recent meeting with the Ecuadorean government that left the issue unresolved, and silence from an international organization that had given them protective status.

    August 25, 2017
    4,336 views
    2 min read