More than 7,000 Indigenous people marched through the streets of Brasília yesterday under the banner “Demarcate, Lula! A sovereign Brazil is one with demarcated and protected Indigenous lands.”
Tapajos
Bringing Down a Decree: Inside the Indigenous Victory on the Tapajós River
On January 30, I witnessed the inauguration of the Munduruku people’s Pariri Association headquarters at the Praia do Mangue Indigenous Reserve.
‘The river won’: how campaigners in Brazilian Amazon stopped privatisation of waterway
The Guardian | "A victory for life.” That was the triumphal message from Indigenous campaigners in the Brazilian Amazon this week after they staved off a threat to the Tapajós River by occupying a grain terminal operated by Cargill, the biggest privately owned company in the United States.
Indigenous Resistance Forces Brazil To Revoke Amazon Waterway Decree
“This proves that life – the river – has no price. It cannot be sold, it is not negotiable. That’s why we will never back down.”
From Pandora to the Amazon, Indigenous Leadership Is Protecting Life on Earth
More than a decade after Avatar brought global attention to the destruction of Indigenous lands, Amazon Watch has released a new short video.
Amazon Watch is building on more than 28 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Indigenous Leaders Defending the Amazon Take Center Stage in New Amazon Watch Video
New short video narrated by Avatar star Oona Chaplin features director James Cameron, legendary Chief Raoni Metuktire, and Goldman Environmental Prize winner Alessandra Korap Munduruku
Indigenous Protesters Intercept Grain Barge, Escalating Demands to Repeal Decree Privatizing Amazonian Rivers
Today, 400 Indigenous peoples in four boats intercepted a grain barge on the Tapajós River in the city of Santarém (PA).
Amazon Fires: Indigenous Peoples Mobilize to Save Their Territories, and the World Steps Up in Solidarity
The crisis is not over, but we also need to prevent the next emergency now
The current crisis is not the beginning of the assault on the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous guardians, and unfortunately, it will not be the last. Long before Brazil's current far-right government took power, local and global industrial interests set the stage for these fires, and they will not change their behavior unless they are...
The Amazon Burns, and the World Responds
Bolsonaro’s hate-filled rhetoric aims to set the stage for a coordinated assault on indigenous land rights, as political representatives of Brazil’s powerful agribusiness sector work to open native lands to industrial activities. In this dire context, it is essential that Brazil’s vibrant resistance movement continue to gain strength and momentum.
With the Brazilian Amazon in Flames, We Must All Be the Resistance
Today we may be witnessing the tragedy of our lifetime: the Brazilian Amazon is in flames and in peril. Indeed, it's not only the Amazon, but our entire planet that is in crisis as the devastation of this life-giving biome poses a real, existential threat for all of humanity.
Indigenous Women Mobilize to Resist Bolsonaro
Yesterday, nearly 3,000 indigenous women leaders from across Brazil staged a mobilization in the nation’s capital as part of the country’s first Indigenous Women's March. Entitled "Territory: our body, our spirit,” this historic gathering was in response to escalating violations of indigenous rights under the Bolsonaro government, as native...
As the Brazilian Amazon Burns, Indigenous Peoples Take a Stand
Last month Amazon Watch visited the Munduruku people in the Amazonian state of Pará, whose nation stretches the vast Tapajós River basin. Our stay in the contested Sawré Muybu territory was illustrative of the spiraling threats faced by indigenous peoples in Bolsonaro’s Brazil.
Government Crackdown on Illegal Amazon Gold Mining Could Backfire for Brazil’s Munduruku
The rights and safety of Indigenous communities must be protected from these threats as well as their territory
"Once again, the [police] operation did not do its work." Given the grave socio-environmental impacts of organized crime in the Amazon, the Brazilian government must reign in local mafias, be they miners, loggers, or land grabbers. However, it cannot do this with isolated actions, nor by allowing its informants – in this case imperiled indigenous...
Growing Movement Builds Unity to Defend Indigenous Brazil
Last week's mobilization was a shining example that spirited resistance is alive and well even in the dark days of the presidency of Michel Temer. This resistance provides a critical counterweight to growing repression and environmental devastation and deserves ample support, from local to global levels, to send a firm message to the Brazilian...
NGOs Denounce Tapajós Basin Intimidation, Violence, Brazil Inaction
The 38 NGOs include Amazon Watch, Instituto Socioambiental, and WWF Brasil
Mongabay | Thirty-eight national and international NGOs issued a strongly worded statement demanding the Brazilian government uphold environmental laws, act on indigenous rights violations, and end escalating intimidation by the builders of hydroelectric dams on the Teles Pires River. Also condemned was the Temer administration's failure to prosecute illegal...
World Water Day: Deadly Plight of Brazil’s River Defenders Goes Unheard
At a high-level talking shop for the global water industry in Brazil, river defenders and community activists – who are often murdered or criminalized for trying to protect their resources – have set up an alternative forum to share their stories
The Guardian | Alessandria Munduruku described how women have moved to the forefront of the community's campaign to protect territory. "The government doesn't care for us, only for agribusiness so our struggle is very difficult. We are up against illegal mines, loggers, ports, roads, agribusiness and investors from China and Canada," she said. "The men are weak...
A Gold Mine Swallowed Their Village. This Amazon Tribe Is Here to Take It Back
Climate Home News | "Game used to be very easy here – pig, deer, tapir. But it is all gone due to the machines and pollution. Now, only one stream still has fish, but they are all sick from mercury. This damage will remain forever."
Native Brazilians Try to Close Major Illegal Mining Site Polluting River in Pará
Folha de S.Paulo | Tired of waiting for the government to take action against the major illegal mining sites located in the Munduruku Indigenous Territory and in the Crepor National Forest, Munduruku warriors and leaders organized an expedition to drive non-indigenous prospectors out of the area.
Mega-Dams May Be History in the Brazilian Amazon!
Last week's announcement should be celebrated as a tentative victory, albeit a fragile one that demands vigilance as Brazil continues to weather political and financial instability. This victory will only become a reality when we insist it be upheld. We owe this to our on-the-ground partners for all they do on our behalf to defend this life-giving...
Brazil Announces End to Amazon Mega-dam Building Policy
The government's hydroelectric dams policy change announced this week will surely be greeted as a hopeful sign by environmentalists and indigenous groups. But experts warn that a much bigger strategic policy shift is needed regarding infrastructure planning and agribusiness before the Amazon can be deemed safe from major deforestation.
Climate Justice Now! Keep It in the Ground!
"My message here at COP 23 for the people, for allies of the world, is that we need to fight together, unite forces, because the states that are here speaking in our name are at a negotiating table where supposedly they are looking for solutions, but these solutions are for them, not for Indigenous peoples."
Xingu River Defender Antônia Melo Honored for Her Lifelong Struggle
"I am but drop of water in the ocean, but together with many others we can shape the force of its waters and make change. This is what motivates my commitment to continue fighting, so that human rights, social-environmental justice, and that life be affirmed for present and future generations!"
Brazil’s National Indigenous Movement: Resolute in Times of Crisis
Given its recent impressive and successful record at resisting an onslaught of attacks, Brazil's National Indigenous Movement should inspire anyone resisting regressive governments around the world.
Brazil’s Mega Hydro Plan Foreshadows China’s Growing Impact on the Amazon
"Support of projects that result in rainforest destruction undermines China's efforts to position itself as a leader in the global fight against climate change."
Brazilian Firm Wants To Build New Dams in Amazon’s Aripuanã Basin
With the bancada ruralista mining / agribusiness lobby in control of the Temer government and Congress, a Brazilian company, Intertechne Consultores, sees it as an opportune time to revive a shelved plan to build dams in the Amazon’s Aripuanã basin.
We Are Made of the Sacred!
A mobilization of the Munduruku people, which began two months ago by women concerned with defending sacred places and indigenous rights and led to an occupation of the construction site of the São Manoel hydroelectric dam project, ended on Friday. The Munduruku, however, have made it clear that their struggle continues.
Unexamined Synergies: Dam Building and Mining Go Together in the Amazon
"The truth is that installing a hydropower dam provokes the installation of mining projects. This never, or extremely rarely, is integrated into the licensing process as a synergetic effect."
Toxic Mega-Mine Looms Over Belo Monte’s Affected Communities
On the banks of Brazil's lower Xingu River, a toxic controversy looms large, threatening to heap insult upon the grievous injuries of the nearby Belo Monte hydroelectric dam. Belo Sun would become Brazil's largest open-pit gold mine, straddling the territories of three indigenous peoples and other traditional communities that are already reeling...
"It Opens the Floodgate"
"You cannot deny land to indigenous people that are ancestrally attached to it and expect them to continue to exist as a culture," said Christian Poirier, program director at Amazon Watch.
