The Achuar of the Pastaza River provide a different vision than the traditional top-down models of nature conservation, as laid out in the Achuar Life Plan. Put to paper in 2003, the Life Plan outlines the Achuar's own development model which includes a collective title for their ancestral territory, keeping extractive companies and roads out...
Let's say you're an oil company (because, you know, corporations are people, too). You have plans to drill in the Amazon rainforest. The government encourages you to go in, since it will get a share of your profits. There's just one problem: local indigenous communities are vehemently opposed, having seen nearby rivers polluted and people poisoned...
A new chapter has opened in the Peruvian Achuar effort to keep their Amazonian territory free of oil companies with the official launch of the #AdiosGeoPark campaign. An important tool in this new campaign is the short but powerful video produced by Vagabond Films in conjunction with filmmaker Charles Gay.
The Achuar have a concrete plan for defending their ancestral homeland: they're demanding that the Peruvian government provide legal recognition of their collective territory and they're actively campaigning to keep out extractive industries, including oil, mining, and logging.
From the snow-covered plains of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe of North Dakota to Shuar rainforest territories in the Ecuadorian Amazon, there is a resurgence of resistance to extractive industry projects around the world. These conflicts have major implications for China, Latin America's largest trading partner, whose state run companies are...
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...
Reuters | Indigenous protesters in Peru seized oil wells in an Amazonian oil block on Tuesday and said they also planned to halt output in a neighboring concession to press the government to address pollution and compensation demands.
Fusion | According to Andrew E. Miller, with Amazon Watch, community-based documentation of the ongoing pollution in the region led to four rivers being declared "environmental emergency zones" by Peru's Environment Minister, though he told Fusion that "few actions were taken to actually address the crisis."
The Planet / Sierra Club | Achuar resistance to oil exploration has achieved some success. Now the Ecuadorian government is attempting to take down indigenous leaders for defending their territory from oil development plans.
We know indigenous peoples are important stewards of the environment. But specifically how do they protect their territory? Watch a presentation by Amazon Watch's Andrew Miller on specific struggles in Peru, Brazil, and Ecuador.
From the Amazon to the Andes, communities are protesting the devastation left by mining and oil projects. Successive governments have readily resorted to repressive measures.
Today – June 5th – is the fourth anniversary of one such "massacre foretold" in Peru. This past week, we worried about a similar scenario at the site of the controversial Belo Monte dam in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon.
Dearest Daughter, from Dad in the Amazon – Yesterday I left the Amazon jungle after an amazing week there. Prior to leaving however, I shared with my Achuar indigenous friends a dream I had about you.
Dearest Daughter, from Dad in the Amazon – This is my first international trip away from you since your birth eight months ago, and I already miss you tremendously. I want to explain to you the importance of this trip.
"I would like to thank our allies in Canada for their solidarity in this struggle. Thanks to the many actions taken we have achieved a great victory: a large and powerful corporation, Talisman, has been forced to leave our ancestral territory."
Paris, France – Dozens of activists protested against the Ecuadorian government during its XI Round oil concession promotional activities in Paris today, where officials met with European investors and oil company executives seeking to auction off an enormous swath of pristine Amazon rainforest.
Houston, TX – Indigenous leaders from the Ecuadorian Amazon have challenged the Ecuadorian government face-to-face during its XI Round oil concession promotional activities around the North America Prospect Expo (NAPE), the oil prospecting industry's semi-annual trade show where government officials scheduled meetings with oil company...
First, some good news! Thanks in no small part to shareholder advocacy efforts, Talisman Energy and ConocoPhillips announced plans this fall to withdraw from key oil blocks in the Peruvian Amazon. And in the historic Chevron lawsuit, the Ecuadorian plaintiffs have launched a global enforcement strategy, which is already making strides in Argentina...
It's been a huge year here at Amazon Watch. As we look towards 2013 we know that we can only do so thanks to the strong foundation you provide. Your activism, your partnership, all those petitions and all your financial support.
Platts | Quito, Ecuador – Ecuador's oil minister Wilson Pastor Wednesday presented terms for an international licensing round for new blocks in the country's southeast amid protests by indigenous groups seeking to protect the area of the Amazon basin, which is still 85% covered by rainforest
Reuters | Quito, Ecuador – Ecuador will launch a licensing round on Wednesday for 13 oil blocks in unspoiled Amazon areas despite opposition from indigenous groups that fear damage to their ancestral lands.
Quito, Ecuador – Hundreds of indigenous people gathered in Quito today at the VII Annual Meeting of Oil and Energy where the Ecuadorian government announced the opening of the XI Round, an oil auction covering nearly eight million acres of rainforest in the Amazon.
"We have fought long and hard against Talisman's drilling in our territory because of the negative environmental and social impacts we have seen from oil drilling around the world," said Peas Peas Ayui, President of the National Achuar Federation.
Canadian Business | Calgary, Canada – Talisman Energy Inc., which switched CEOs earlier this week, says it plans to wind down its operations in Peru as it was unable to big enough resource position there.
Reuters | Canada's Talisman Energy Inc is giving up its eight-year-long effort to produce oil in Peru, the company said on Thursday, as it continues to shed assets in a bid to boost its share price.
Calgary, Canada – Today Talisman Energy announced its decision to cease oil exploration activities in the Peruvian Amazon and to exit the country upon completion of ongoing commercial transactions. "Now that Talisman is leaving we can focus on achieving our own vision for development and leave a healthy territory for future generations,"...
After observing the Achuar's peaceful and pure way of living off the land and how they care for the rainforest, I am deeply moved and inspired to help however I can in their fight to get Talisman to leave the Amazon and their lives in peace. Please join me in this fight.
Three years ago yesterday, Peruvian police opened fire on a group of protesters near the town of Bagua in northern Peru. The violent clashes that ensued left 34 dead and over 200 injured in the worst violence in recent history.
The Globe and Mail | "All human technology fails," said Ampush Ayui Chayat, an Achuar delegate from Perú. "Talisman has insisted their new technology will change everything. But if this is how Canadians let oil companies operate in their own land, how can we trust them in ours?"
