"A united people will never be defeated!" shouted Maria Betânia Mota, as the indigenous assembly in a partially burned-out agricultural college began. Hundreds of voices roared back in approval.
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Emboldened by Bolsonaro, Armed Invaders Encroach on Brazil’s Tribal Lands
Ten days after Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro took office, dozens of men entered protected indigenous land in a remote corner of the Amazon, hacking a pathway beneath the jungle canopy. Inspired by Bolsonaro's vow to open more native territory to commercial development, the men, armed with machetes, chainsaws and firearms, had come...
Bolsonaro Wants to Plunder the Amazon. Don’t Let Him.
Mr. Bolsonaro's rise to power will test companies' promises to be responsible. Will leading global agribusiness companies be complicit in Mr. Bolsonaro's assault on the Amazon and its people, thus sacrificing their commitments, their reputation and our climate? And will financial institutions like BlackRock heed their own calls for companies to...
California Split Over Carbon Trading Plan for Tropical Forests
"TFS could allow oil refiners, which are purchasing oil from Ecuador to turn around and buy offset credits from the same regions in Ecuador that have been devastated by oil drilling," said Zoe Cina-Sklar of advocacy group Amazon Watch. Instead of carbon trading, California should curb Amazon crude imports and take immediate measures to wean itself...
Jair Bolsonaro Launches Assault on Amazon Rainforest Protections
"There will be an increase in deforestation and violence against indigenous people," said Dinaman Tuxá, the executive coordinator of the Articulation of Indigenous People of Brazil. "Indigenous people are defenders and protectors of the environment."
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Adapt to a Changing Amazon Now, or Pay Far Higher Price Later, Experts Say
The costs of acting now to adapt to a predicted, dramatic loss of Amazon rainforest would be at least one order of magnitude lower than the economic fallout if we waited and did nothing, a new study says.
It Doesn’t Matter If Ecuador Can Afford This Dam. China Still Gets Paid.
To settle the bill, China gets to keep 80 percent of Ecuador's most valuable export – oil – because many of the contracts are repaid in petroleum, not dollars. Pumping enough oil to repay China has become such an imperative for Ecuador that it is drilling deeper in the Amazon, threatening more deforestation.
Catastrophic Oil Spill in the Peruvian Amazon Pits State Energy Company Against Local Tribe
Last week, at least 8,000 barrels of crude oil gushed into the northern Amazon rainforest in Peru, creating one of the worst spills the region has seen in years. State oil company Petroperú is blaming a local indigenous community for sabotaging a pipeline and triggering the spill, but the leader of Peru's Wampis Nation, whose members make up that...
Illegal Gold Rush Destroying Amazon Rainforest
"Illegal mining is a serious threat to the Amazon rainforest and the indigenous peoples who call it home," said Moira Birss of Amazon Watch, a U.S.-based non-profit group. "This report provides important new data and clearly demonstrates the scope of the problem, and as such is a call to action to regional governments and the companies that...
The Voices of Amazon Women and a Visionary Declaration to Protect Indigenous Lands
"The Amazon Rainforest ecosystems are vital lungs of the Earth. Thus, the justice and well-being for the people of Sarayaku is inseparably tied to the fate of all people worldwide."
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."
US Funds with Big Amazon Farming Stakes Face Bolsonaro Choice
Amazon Watch is running a campaign against BlackRock for its investments in companies that cause deforestation in the Amazon. In the past, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has called on companies to invest with social and climate impact in mind.
Strict Amazon Protections Made Brazilian Farmers More Productive, New Research Shows
Strong environmental protections are necessary to save the Amazon, protecting Brazil and the world from the loss of this critical, fragile habitat. Far from being bad for business, Brazil's Amazonian protections help sustain the country as a global breadbasket. If Bolsonaro scraps them, he won't just imperil a legendary rainforest. He'll hurt...
Jair Bolsonaro: Looming Threat to the Amazon and Global Climate?
With little more than a week to go until a runoff election, far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro – who has affirmed his intention to withdraw Brazil from the Paris Climate Agreement – continues to be the rising political star in the world's eighth biggest economy, and the nation that stands as guardian to a major portion of the Amazon...
Throwing Stones at BlackRock’s Fossil Fuel Investments
One of the world's largest fund managers, BlackRock, which has been proclaiming its high sustainability and ethical values is fighting off a barrage of criticisms that it is in fact one of the worst offenders against the planet.
Indigenous Communities Reject Oil Drilling in Block 10
The recent approval of a new oil concession in Ecuador fails to fulfill Indigenous rights enshrined in the country’s 2008 constitution
NACLA | "I come from the Amazon, and my people have long defended the rainforest from threats like oil drilling, which would destroy our forest home. We know that a majority of oil exported from the Amazon comes to California to be processed, also harming the communities near refineries and contributing to global climate change," said Mirian Cisneros...
Environmental Campaign Targets BlackRock Amid Claims of “Climate Destruction”
Calls out Fink for failing to "walk the talk"
Investment Week | An environmental campaign has criticised BlackRock for allegedly being the "largest owner of fossil fuel companies and single largest contributor to climate destruction", and singled out CEO Larry Fink as failing to manage the business in line with his own expectations of stocks the firm invests in.
The Amazon on the Brink
Once a leader in protecting the region's vast forests, Brazil is now moving in the opposite direction
The New York Times | If the government's retrenchment on environmental protection continues, there may soon be nothing to stop the chain saws on the Amazonian frontier, where the rule of law can be weak and land is frequently seized and cleared illegally. This has implications beyond Brazil. The Amazon's lush forests make up the largest reserve of carbon dioxide on...
Uncontacted Tribes at Risk Amid “Worrying” Surge in Amazon Deforestation
Brazil is grappling with scores of deadly land conflicts, illustrating the tensions between preserving Indigenous culture and economic development
Thomson Reuters | Ilegal loggers and militias cleared an area three times the size of Gibraltar in Brazil's Amazon this year, threatening an "uncontacted" indigenous tribe.
Brazilian Legislators Break Law, Attack Amazon, Trade Freely with World: Report
Mongabay | A report published this week by Amazon Watch reveals that six prominent Brazilian politicians – members of the bancada ruralista agribusiness lobby and all but one up for election in October – have been found guilty of serious environmental, economic, and social crimes and offenses.
“They Won’t Be Able to Eat Their Money”
Pacific Standard spoke with Amazonian activists, local grandmothers, and small children at Saturday's march in San Francisco
Pacific Standard | "The planet depends on us; the Earth, the rivers, the mountains, the trees provide us with oxygen, and we need to ensure that we protect them. We need to listen to each other's voices, we need to understand that climate change doesn't just affect indigenous people – it affects all of us. We must have the will to change. We're committing suicide in...
Thousands March in Rise for Climate Demonstration in San Francisco
San Francisco Chronicle | Mirian Cisneros, president of the Kichwa people of Sarayaku in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador had a simple plea to the United States: respect indigenous people's rights and stop extracting fuels from their land. "We must leave fossil fuels underground, both in the Amazon forest and the whole world," Cisneros said.
Thousands March in San Francisco to Draw Attention to Global Climate Change Ahead of World Summit
East Bay Times | “I come from the living forest,” said Mirian Cisneros, president of the Kichwa People of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon. “I also come from a people that have fought for years and years against the threat of oil drilling. I am here in this large march with brothers and sisters from the whole planet because we understand that we have to leave...
In the Declaration of Yarinacocha, Shipibo Healers Organize to Resist Spiritual Extractivism
Reality Sandwich | Last April, a Canadian ayahuasca tourist rode a motorbike into the Amazonian township of Victoria Gracia, sought out the venerated 81-year-old Shipibo healer Maestra Olivia Arévalo Lomas, pulled out a gun and shot her dead. The fallout from the murder is emblematic of a common problem, what we are framing as spiritual extractivism.
Climate Leadership Means Keeping Fossil Fuels in the Ground in Tropical Forests and Beyond
California Governor Jerry Brown can show true climate leadership by phasing out oil and gas production in the state
Mongabay | Protecting tropical forests is key to mitigating climate change. When California Governor Jerry Brown convenes the Global Climate Action Summit next week, he should seize the opportunity to make an announcement that will help address one of the root causes of both deforestation and climate change: a phase out of oil and gas production in...
Belo Monte: There Is Nothing Green or Sustainable About These Mega-dams
The Conversation | Belo Monte is just one of many dams across the globe that have been justified – and funded – as sustainable pursuits. Yet, this conflates the ends with the means. Hydroelectricity may appear relatively 'clean' but the process in which a mega-dam is built is far from it.
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...
Chinese/Western Financing of Roads, Dams Led to Major Andes Amazon Deforestation
Mongabay | "We are seeing some of the same manifest destiny-style development schemes that characterized the region decades ago. It is rapidly turning the Amazon from carbon sink to carbon source at the time the climate – and planet – can least afford it," said Kevin Koenig of Amazon Watch.
Brazil’s Political Storm Driving Amazon Deforestation Higher
Mongabay | Many experts aren't surprised by these land-grabber assaults, even though the Apyterewa preserve lies within the area of influence of the giant Belo Monte dam built on the Xingu River, and even though one of the conditions for the dam's construction, agreed to in 2010, was that the government protect this territory and evict all illegal intruders...
