Paris, France – Indigenous leaders Maria Leusa Kaba Munduruku and Rozeninho Saw Munduruku will receive today the prestigious UNDP Equator Prize at an awards ceremony at COP 21, in recognition of the Munduruku people's courageous efforts to protect their territories in the Brazilian Amazon from threats posed by planned hydroelectric dams, as well...
Xingu
Global Coalition Says Mega-dams Should Be Kept Out of Climate Initiatives
A coalition of more than three hundred civil society organisations from 53 countries has launched a manifesto calling on government leaders and financiers at the Paris climate talks to keep large hydropower projects out of climate initiatives.
10 Reasons Why Climate Initiatives Should Not Include Large Hydropower Projects
Support from climate initiatives is one of the reasons why more than 3,700 hydropower dams are currently under construction and in the pipeline. Yet large hydropower projects are a false solution to climate change.
Brazil Authorizes Operation of the Belo Monte Dam, Disregarding the Rights of Affected Communities
Altamira, Brazil – The Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) today authorized the Belo Monte Dam’s operating license, which allows the dam's reservoirs to be filled.
Fierce Determination: Learning from an Indigenous Woman Warrior
"The land is for the people who are living in the rainforest...My territory is already contaminated. How can I back down? How will my children live a healthy life? How will future generations live?"
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Amazon Fracking Scheme Encounters Stiff Resistance in Brazil
In an act of defiance targeting the Brazilian Oil and Gas Agency, Brazilian indigenous leaders and activists interrupted a major auction of new fracking concessions set to spread across the Amazon rainforest.
The Unseen Truth: Mega-dams and Human Rights
For the people who once lived within and relied upon the forest for survival, industrial development such as mega-dam construction greatly impacts the natural balance, automatically altering their right to live in a healthy environment. That's why talking about human rights abuses in the Amazon requires the acknowledgement that environmental...
How Hydroelectric Power May Undermine Brazil's Pledge to Slash Greenhouse Gases
VICE News | "Brazil is putting these dams into the energy mix, without so much as looking at their carbon footprints," said Brent Millikin, the Brazil-based Amazon program director for International Rivers, a US environmental group. "The dams are a disaster every way you look at it."
Greenpeace Report Slams Brazil Plan for Tapajos Dam in Amazon
Reuters | Greenpeace called on Brazilian authorities on Tuesday to reject an environmental assessment for a hydroelectric dam on the Tapajos River in the Amazon because it was a "marketing tool" that disregarded the indigenous people living along its banks.
Amazon Watch's 10th Annual Luncheon
Thank you to all who joined Amazon Watch at our 10th Annual Luncheon at the gorgeous Bently Reserve in San Francisco. It was a special opportunity to celebrate our accomplishments, learn more about the plans for the coming year and support our work.
Victory on the Xingu: Belo Monte Denied Operational License
Recently we asked the international community to take action by urging the Brazilian environmental agency IBAMA to reject the dam-building consortium Norte Energia's request for Belo Monte's operational license. In a stunning victory for social and environmental accountability – and thanks in part to the many thousands of you that took...
Recollections of Home: Thoughts on the Flooding of Altamira and the Belo Monte Dam
Antonia Melo is standing on her front porch. Behind her sits a room full of memories and photos. Her grandchildren wrap their arms around her legs. She speaks with strength, energy and indignation. At first, I couldn't really feel the sadness in her tone when I spoke with her, but now I can.
Yudja Indigenous People Request Consultation Regarding Belo Sun
Federal Public Prosecutor, Para, Brazil | The company proposes to undertake mining operations in an area that will be most impacted by the Belo Monte hydroelectric project. The Federal Public Prosecutor, National Indian Foundation and Federal University of Para met with the indigenous Yudja to discuss their right to be consulted.
Indigenous People in Brazil's Amazon – Crushed by the Belo Monte Dam?
IPS | Ethnocide, the new accusation leveled against the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, brings to light deeper underlying aspects of the conflicts and controversies unleashed by megaprojects in Brazil's Amazon rainforest.
Dirty Business: Unraveling Connections Between Brazil’s Dam Industry and Corruption Scandal
As the investigations of operation Lava Jato have unfolded revealing massive corruption within the Brazilian dam industry, the fundamental reasons for the federal government's obsession with destructive dam projects such as Belo Monte and São Manoel are becoming increasingly clear.
Brazilian Indigenous Leader to Address UN Council in Effort to Stop Dam
Ademir Kaba Munduruku will argue Brazil is violating indigenous rights by failing to consult them about the hydroelectric project on the river Tapajós
The Guardian | The Brazilian government has violated its own constitution and international law by developing hydroelectric power plants in the Amazon, according to an indigenous leader due to address the 29th United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday afternoon.
Brazil's Belo Monte Dam Puts Livelihood of 2,000 Families at Risk, Prosecutors Say
Federal prosecutors say Norte Energia, the consortium building the $11bn dam, has violated agreed-to items that are endangering locals’ means of survival
Associated Press | Construction of a massive hydroelectric dam is endangering the livelihoods of at least 2,000 families in Brazil’s Amazon jungle state of Para, according to federal prosecutors who recommend that efforts to move the residents be suspended.
Working Together to Keep Fossil Fuels in the Ground!
This week Amazon Watch was proud to host a pioneering Climate Equity Strategy Session in partnership with the Sierra Club and the Hillary Institute, where representatives from indigenous and frontline communities, international NGOs, and climate and energy experts discussed the challenges and opportunities of keeping fossil fuels in the ground in...
Private Sector Bows Out of Belo Monte as Vale Slashes Its Stake
Vale clearly couldn't wait to offload its poor investment in a polemic project that's already run more than a year over schedule and $1 billion over budget.
Brazil: Mired in Scandal, Refusing to Progress
With Belo Monte's criminal irregularities in the spotlight, one would think the Brazilian government would lay low – perhaps even learn from the current crisis! Unfortunately we I was seeing the opposite here on the jungle jet and throughout the nation.
Mounting Evidence of Corruption in the Brazilian Dam Industry
Last Sunday millions of citizens in dozens of cities throughout Brazil took to the streets to protests rampant corruption, erroneous economic policies and rollbacks of social benefits. Protestors called for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, claiming government mismanagement and a possible direct link between the president and an...
Occupy Amazonia? Indigenous Activists Are Taking Direct Action – and It's Working
The Conversation | The relative success of direct action in recent decades contrasts with the often bloody encounters that went before, from which poorly-armed Indians invariably emerged badly.
Decolonization and the Munduruku Protocol: It's Time to Listen
The Munduruku Protocol on consultation procedures, published couple of weeks ago and presented to the Brazilian government, is the first protocol of a consultation process proposed by an indigenous nation that I have ever seen. It is very well written, closely following international and national law.
Carnival for Some, Struggle for Others
It's carnival time in Brazil, but for people of the Xingu there is no time to celebrate. Three years after construction initiated on Belo Monte dam, the consortium used the distraction of carnival to request an Operating License.
Reflections on the Xingu: A Campaigner's Return to the Amazon
The battle against Belo Monte is far from over, as last week's protests illustrate. Many lessons have been learned, steeling resistance and resilience for the coming clash over the government's plans to wreck the spectacular Tapajós.
Looking Back in Brazil, Onward in 2015!
As 2015 kicks off, it's important to reach out to our supporters and followers and to take a moment to assess our work last year and take a peek at the year to come.
Guardians of Life: The Indigenous Women Fighting Oil Exploitation in the Amazon
Washington Post | Felipe Jacome's set of photos Amazon: Guardians of Life documents the struggles of indigenous women defending the Ecuadoran Amazon through portraits combined with the powerful written testimonies.
New Power for Bad, Old Habits? Why Brazil Must Change Its Energy Path
Development Progress | There is an urgent need to, as another Brazilian energy expert has said, ‘open up and manage a debate on the country’s energy path’, including the future contribution of hydropower. A more open and transparent decision-making process with robust, independent review would increase the political legitimacy of decisions.
The Human Impact of the Belo Monte Dam Has Already Begun: Displacement and Despair in Altamira
Development Progress | Since the construction of the Belo Monte dam began, the city of Altamira has been in a state of "complete chaos in all social and public policy areas, especially health, public safety, and housing," says Antonia Melo, leader of the movement Xingu Alive Forever. "There has been rampant population growth as well as rises in drug abuse and child...
