An urgent message is traveling from the Amazon to the United Nations. This week, Amazon Watch will accompany a delegation of Indigenous leaders from Peru and Ecuador to New York for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII).
A picture is worth a thousand tears. That was what I felt traveling to Ecuadorian Amazon with Amazon Watch on a woman donors delegation last month where we traveled from the Andes to the Amazon and deep into the remote Kichwa community of Sarayaku.
Last week, Brazil’s capital Brasília was transformed into a center of Indigenous resistance. With more than 7,000 Indigenous people occupying the capital, the 2026 Free Land Camp (ATL) pressured Brazil’s government to uphold native land rights
Indigenous peoples have demanded for decades that governments come together and commit to getting off fossil fuels. The First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, taking place later this month in Santa Marta, Colombia, is a manifestation of that demand.
The Administration designated a dozen Latin American criminal cartels as terrorist organizations and launched Operation Southern Spear in September.
On International Women's Day, Indigenous women from across the Ecuadorian Amazon traveled by foot, car, and canoe to Puyo with a single, unified demand: No more oil in the Amazon.
On January 30, I witnessed the inauguration of the Munduruku people’s Pariri Association headquarters at the Praia do Mangue Indigenous Reserve.
What began as a commitment to support frontline communities has grown into a global movement for rainforest protection, Indigenous rights, and climate justice.
More than 800 cases of sexual abuse against Indigenous girls and boys remain unresolved in Condorcanqui. A growing health emergency compounds the crisis.
More than 60 Indigenous leaders from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru gathered in the Peruvian Amazon to confront a rapidly growing threat.
Awajún and Wampis women have transformed grief into organized power, compelling the state to reverse a dangerous rollback of justice services for survivors of sexual violence.
When Petro met Trump on February 3rd, the stakes were high. The Trump Administration had decertified Colombia from receiving security assistance on grounds that it was not adequately addressing drug trafficking.
More than a decade after Avatar brought global attention to the destruction of Indigenous lands, Amazon Watch has released a new short video.
The Amazon has reached an ecological tipping point. What happens in 2026 will help determine whether climate justice remains possible or becomes an empty slogan.
In a time of repression and daily outrage, where do we find hope? For nearly 30 years, the U’wa people of Colombia have shown the world what spiritual, cultural, and political resistance looks like. Their struggle continues, and so does our commitment.
As climate denial gained renewed political traction and governments moved to restrict civic space, Indigenous peoples and grassroots movements across the Amazon advanced bold, collective visions for the future.
“For us, the Wampis, autonomy means living in freedom and peace as we have inherited our territory. It means being free from pollution and deciding our own future, for ourselves, but also for all of humanity”.
By rejecting Noboa’s militarized reforms, Ecuadorians chose solutions that protect life and dignity instead of policies based on repression.
“We’re very happy that our lands advanced in the demarcation process, but there are so many lands that still need to be recognized and demarcated in Brazil.”
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.
“The forest lives because we are here. If they remove the people, the forest will die with them."
In a few days the 30th United Nations Climate Conference will take place – in the Amazon!
In a few days the 30th United Nations Climate Conference will take place – in the Amazon!
The Wampís’ fight is not just local, it’s global. Defending the Amazon means defending the planet.
“We set out not to conquer, but to connect; so that the world, finally, will listen to the voices of the Amazon.”
In the face of inaction and paralysis of countries in making significant progress to address the climate crisis and its principal driver – fossil fuels – a worldwide coalition of legislative leaders has taken matters into their own hands, demonstrating what true climate leadership can look like.
“Mocoa is the most conserved territory, where the mountains hold the winds of the ancestors, which descend to embrace the Amazon.”
“Ecuador’s new oil auction is a direct threat to our territories. After 60 years of extraction, we’ve seen only death and destruction, not development.”
Scientific research confirms that Indigenous-managed lands are the most effective barriers against deforestation and fire. Where Indigenous rights are secured and enforced, forests thrive – and so does our global climate.
Amazon Allies is our incredible community of monthly sustainers. A monthly gift to Amazon Watch is a powerful way to be part of the Indigenous-led movement for the Amazon!
