Amazon Watch
    Amazon Watch

    Yasuni

    Ecuadorians Vote Down Noboa’s Extractive Agenda

    The results of a recent national referendum delivered a major victory for the Amazon

    This victory belongs to the people of Ecuador. It is a reminder that democratic power still matters, even in times of crisis. But it is also a beginning, not an end.

    November 20, 2025
    8,481 views
    3 min read

    Ecuador and Oil: A Challenge for Democracy and the Amazon

    Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, more than 930,000 square kilometers have been opened for oil and gas exploration in Latin America and the Caribbean, an area larger than Venezuela

    El País | What is at stake is not only Ecuador’s Amazon. A just energy transition must begin from the principle of shared but differentiated responsibility.

    October 7, 2025
    5,859 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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    Indigenous Amazonian Delegation Receives Honors in California Senate

    “California is complicit in violating our rights by continuing to consume crude that our courts and voters have said must stay in the ground. We are calling on California to take action to phase out its imports of oil that has come at a high price for our forests, our peoples, and our climate.”

    June 17, 2025
    3,254 views
    4 min read

    Drilling Toward Disaster

    Amazon Crude and Ecuador’s Oil Gamble

    The Amazon is rapidly becoming a new frontier for oil production. This coincides with the Amazon biome reaching an existential tipping point. Amazon crude from Ecuador is a major contributor to this dangerous cycle.

    June 2025
    7,541 views
    2 min read

    IACHR Condemns Ecuador for Violating Rights of Tagaeri-Taromenane People

    Landmark ruling calls for concrete measures to guarantee their survival

    “This judgment of the Inter-American Court is the result of many years of struggle and is a guarantee of the rights to territory for peoples in isolation, so that they can live without the threat of oil, mining, and other threats."

    March 14, 2025
    1,845 views
    4 min read

    Ecuador: A Decisive Election for the Amazon

    Amid rampant violence and the failure to implement the Yasuní referendum, Indigenous and frontline organizing will only intensify.

    February 13, 2025
    2,341 views
    6 min read

    Yasuní: A Global Climate Victory at Risk

    The people of Ecuador overwhelmingly voted to keep one of its largest oil reserves in the ground. It was a vote for hope, for the future, and for the protection of biodiversity and Indigenous rights.

    January 22, 2025
    6,845 views
    6 min read

    ¡Sí a la Vida! Yes to Yasuní!

    The Waorani hold a historic summit to ensure oil stays in the ground as Ecuador misses deadline to decommission drilling in Yasuni

    Ecuador’s citizens made history by voting to keep fossil fuels in the ground in Yasuní. But the government’s failure to implement the referendum sets a dangerous precedent.

    September 4, 2024
    5,011 views
    5 min read

    Despite Victory in a Historic Referendum, Yasuní National Park Is Again at Risk

    Ecuador's president announces plans to ignore the popular vote and continue drilling for oil in one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, home to Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation

    The government seeks to upend the will of voters and continue drilling in Yasuní under the pretense of funding the country’s escalating conflict with organized crime. 

    January 30, 2024
    2,836 views
    7 min read

    Solidarity, Advocacy, and Resistance in the Amazon and Beyond

    This solidarity grantmaking is built upon a multi-decade track record as a trusted partner among Indigenous nations and local organizations and guided by the principles and cosmology of Indigenous peoples. 

    January 11, 2024
    1,301 views
    3 min read

    Seven Challenges for the New Ecuadorian Government

    Ecuador’s powerful business class is in power yet again following the election of Daniel Noboa

    We question whether he will prioritize the protection of nature and the rights of Indigenous peoples as he promised during his campaign or – more likely – carry on with the extractivist agenda of prior administrations and continue to disregard Indigenous rights.

    October 26, 2023
    4,973 views
    4 min read

    Yasuní Victory Shows Us the Way to End Amazon Crude

    In a historic vote, Ecuadorians have shown the world what true climate leadership looks like. Their vote is a step toward a fossil fuel-free future that protects biodiversity and the rights of isolated Indigenous peoples.

    August 30, 2023
    6,278 views
    7 min read

    Ecuador Makes History: Vote to Keep the Oil in the Ground in Yasuní Underway

    Watch this video update from our Ecuador legal advisor, Nathaly Yepez, about the exciting referendum

    The protection of Yasuní is crucial: It is one of the most biodiverse places on earth, and any invasions by oil and extractive activity could further destabilize our global climate and destroy the territory of the Tagaeri and Taromenane peoples.

    June 1, 2023
    4,700 views
    1 min read

    How We’re Ending Amazon Crude in 2023!

    Indigenous movements are gaining political, judicial, and legislative victories setting the stage for keeping oil in the ground this year

    There are several reasons to be optimistic about building momentum to further restrict plans to expand oil extraction in its Amazon and keep fossil fuels permanently in the ground, and Ecuador is a great example.

    January 10, 2023
    5,660 views
    5 min read

    First-Ever Regional Court Case Involving Rights of Uncontacted Peoples Awaits Verdict

    The Inter-American Court of Human rights is evaluating the first-ever case concerning the rights of Indigenous communities in voluntary isolation

    Mongabay | In the case Tagaeri & Taromenane Indigenous people vs the Ecuadorian state, lawyers representing the communities in voluntary isolation say the Ecuadorian state has failed to protect these populations and propelled the extractive industry in the area, putting pressure on the rainforest and increasing conflict between local communities.

    October 13, 2022
    2,506 views
    7 min read