The Amazon rainforest can seem unimaginably vast. Similarly, the fight to defend it from the onslaught of industrial-scale threats like oil drilling, logging, and huge dams can appear overwhelming. But across the region, local indigenous peoples and our work to support them is making the difference and protecting the lands they have known for...
As I reflect on our recent work at COP21 in Paris on the Winter Solstice, I am very proud of what we achieved and filled with great hope for our work ahead. The Amazon Watch team did an incredible job of accompanying and supporting a twelve-person delegation of indigenous leaders, women and youth from the Kichwa community of Sarayaku in the...
I was among the Indigenous People from the Amazon Rainforest who made it to the COP21 climate summit in Paris. I felt it was my duty to be the voice of those who could not attend.
While government officials inside COP21 conference rooms just outside Paris were reviewing the cost-benefit analyses of cutting down on emissions or debating the numerical semantics of the warming of the earth, the human side of climate change and environmental destruction took center stage just a few kilometers south at the Maison des Metallos on...
At the closure of this year's critical COP21 summit in Paris, the most inspirational stories do not stem from official negotiations. They emanate from the heroic efforts of global indigenous movements, bringing a message of resilience and defiance from the front lines of climate change.
The Kichwa tribe in the Sarayaku region of the Amazon in Ecuador believe in the 'living forest', where humans, animals and plants live in harmony. They are fighting oil companies who want to exploit their ancestral land. A delegation of indigenous people are at the Paris COP21 climate conference to make sure their voices are heard.
For months Sarayaku - with our help - has been planning the canoe's journey to Paris. In the end, the canoe had its own plans. And, I'm realizing, the canoe's ultimate trajectory might well have been more wise than what we had laid out. The Canoe of Life's spirit continues to reveal itself.
After a long adventure of over a year – after the idea was born, after selecting the tree, after building the canoe, after being transported to the city, after having to respond to the demands of the Ministry of Environment and a review by the Ecuadorian police – on the 7th of December, the Canoe of Life arrived in Paris, France.
"Now is the time to stop these destructive ideas in our ancestral territories and around the world! We as indigenous peoples have the opportunity to bring our vision – and a clear proposal – that could call on a transformation for all of humanity."
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.
Our hearts go out to all the victims of the violent attacks in Beirut and Paris last week, to their loved ones and all those in the path of violence in response to these attacks. We condemn these acts of senseless violence.
"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?"
Chevron's polluted house of cards has come crashing down around them. Guerra is a liar – and he freely admits it. Chevron can either double down and insist Guerra was "before it before he was against it" or denounce him now – in which case they can never argue he's credible by any stretch.
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.
In 2015, several indigenous peoples announced important advances in their decades-long struggles to defend their sacred homelands. The Achuar people of the Northern Peruvian Amazon and the U'wa people of the Colombian cloud forest both embody the power of grassroots resistance in the face of multi-billion dollar corporations.
Refinery29 | "People see indigenous people as very primitive. And many times the government, well, our president, he has called a lot of our leaders stupid and ignorant," Gualinga said. "I know that the things that I am doing will have a consequence in the future, but I'm not afraid."
As Indigenous Women of the Americas, we understand the responsibilities toward the sacred system of life given to us by the Creator to protect the territorial integrity of Mother Earth and Indigenous Peoples. These responsibilities include the safety, health and well being of our children and those yet to come, as well as the children of all of...
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...
reported.ly | In an exclusive investigation for reported.ly, journalist Nina Bigalke traveled to an oil concession deep in the Amazon rainforest to film an illegal access road, the existence of which Ecuador’s government has denied. As indigenous peoples seek to secure the future of their ancestral lands, President Rafael Correa faces fierce political...
What becomes of places like the Amazon Basin that don't have major oil reserves, but are vital for the regulation of the earth's climate, house 20% of the planet's fresh water, and one in ten of the world's known species?
Publicity for "The Green Inferno," the latest film by "torture porn" film director Eli Roth, left our team at Amazon Watch in disbelief that anyone thought making a film based around the retrograde stereotype of the savage cannibal indigenous tribe was an acceptable idea in 2015. Understanding that controversy might well boost ticket sales, we...
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...
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.
In light of yet another of Chevron's courtroom setbacks in the Ecuador pollution case, company CEO John Watson and his management team again face a stark choice: admit defeat and prevent further death to rainforest villagers, or continue on their disastrous folly by denying the truth. How many more people will lose their lives if Chevron fights on?
Peru Support Group | Peru's government and its Congress appear to be at loggerheads over control of Block 192, the country's main onshore source of crude. Indigenous peoples of the north-eastern jungle are indignant at the government turning its back on dialogue about the future of Block 192. The issue throws into question the government's whole approach to prior...
Amazon Watch works hard to ensure that indigenous spokespeople are featured in media coverage related to their lands and rights, but rarely do we see a film 100% in their voice. That's why we're so eager for you to watch and share the film.
This struggle is very clear as we feel the same deception and frustration of seeing the incompetence of our government to exercise its entrusted role. In other words, their responsibility to lead and serve the Ecuadorian people.
Major roadways across Ecuador were closed yesterday as indigenous groups joined by labor, campesino, and civil society organizations began a national strike against proposed constitutional amendments that would curtail indigenous rights and allow President Rafael Correa to stay in power indefinitely.
We are deeply appreciative for the honor of collaborating with indigenous peoples, organizations, and activists, from around the Amazon rainforest and elsewhere. It is extraordinary to find common cause in high-stakes human dramas that, we believe, will help shape the future of the entire planet.
"I've seen a publicity campaign saying that Pluspetrol is working hand-in-hand with the communities, that they protect the environment, our health, our children. It makes me ashamed for them to see this advertising they aren't living up to. They don't care. What's more, they won't admit all the bad things they have done. The people who don't live...
EarthRights International | To be clear, there's absolutely nothing wrong with "an effort to pressure Chevron into a settlement." And in the only legal proceedings that Amazon Watch actually participated in, a federal court found that "...there is nothing to suggest that Amazon Watch’s campaigns and speech were more than mere advocacy...All that Chevron has shown this Court...
As part of an ongoing effort to blur the truth, The Washington Times just published a "hit piece" against Amazon Watch, which has long supported the Ecuadorian communities that were devastated by decades of Chevron's reckless actions for which it has been found guilty in a landmark environmental lawsuit.
Not long ago we asked our international community to send a message to Pope Francis calling on him to urge President Correa to leave the oil in the ground in the Amazon and to respect indigenous rights. Thanks largely in part to the many thousands of you who took action – it worked!
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.
Our fabulous friends The Yes Men have just released their third (and many say best) movie called The Yes Men Are Revolting. Of course, Amazon Watch has direct experience with the genius of The Yes Men. A couple years ago when Chevron launched its insulting “We Agree” ad campaign The Yes Men worked with us and our allies at the Rainforest Action...
On one side of the table a group embodying integrity, legitimacy, humility. Across from them on the other? The personification of cynicism, obfuscation and arrogance. That was the scene in Bogotá yesterday where the U’wa people took their fight into a meeting with the Colombian government, calling on it to live up to previously negotiated...
While the Pope’s Encyclical acknowledges both God and science and is expected to influence global politics, it is not a scientific or a political document. It is, rather, a definitive moral case for action on climate change calling on all of humanity to reject "capitalism at all cost" and to care for the environment and for people in need from a...
When Brazilian energy planners proposed to choke the Amazon's Tapajós river and its tributaries with dozens of large hydroelectric dams, they underrated a formidable foe: the Munduruku people. The largest indigenous group in the Tapajós Basin, the Munduruku are proving to be sophisticated adversaries who are throwing a wrench in the dam industry's...
Amazon Watch is excited to announce that we are now accepting bitcoin payments for donations. As this payment method becomes more mainstream, we hope to continue to ensure that your donations are used most economically and effectively to protect the future of our planet.
Last month in direct violation of its own laws on "free, prior, and informed consultation" Ecuadorian government officials and oil company technicians entered oil blocks 74 and 75 in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon, without informing many of the communities whose ancestral territory the blocks overlap, in what appears to be part of a plan to...
In May, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang visited South America and indigenous leaders from the Ecuadorian Amazon urged him not to drill for oil in their territory. In 2013, Li promised to use an "iron fist" to punish companies that destroy the environment. Support indigenous communities, ask Li to live up to his promise and to cancel China's...
The U'wa are an extraordinary people, paralleled by the amazing territory they call home. With this photo gallery – featuring images taken by the U'wa themselves – we hope to take you on a visual journey into the majestic lands they are defending. Not only are these breathtaking landscapes, each of these places holds a profound...
The circus of lies, denial and propaganda videos that has become the Chevron annual shareholder meeting took place at Chevron's San Ramon, California headquarters once again yesterday. Not surprisingly, Chevron's lies about its Ecuador fiasco were recycled from years past – many of which seem to be nearing their expiration date.
Alianza Arkana Blog | The last few days have seen the start of a process to decide the future of a territory that has been subjected to oil exploration for the last 40+ years – namely, oil block 192 (formally called 1AB) that spans three river basins (Tigre, Corrientes, Pastaza) and is home to over 100 indigenous communities.
Amazon Watch is proud to once again support Humberto Piaguaje, a longtime indigenous partner and courageous leader of the Secoya people in Ecuador, and a growing coalition of communities affected by Chevron's operations in denouncing the company's atrocious pattern of human rights abuses, environmental destruction and attacks on democracy at their...
An indigenous assembly held in April on the banks of Brazil's Teles Pires River, an Amazonian waterway currently being strangled by a cascade of hydroelectric dams, produced the following manifesto of resistance from the Kayabi, Apiaká, Munduruku and Rikbaktsa peoples.
Recently, questions have arisen about how Amazon Watch works to stop deforestation, and we'd like to take a moment to clarify our strategic approach to this vast problem and acknowledge that our programmatic strategy indeed addresses the heart of this issue.
"If you want to take care of the forest, you need to invest in us – indigenous peoples – because no one takes better care of the forest than we do. If it weren't for us, the cattle and the soy would have taken this whole forest. I know we are only of the size of a grain of sand but we make a huge difference. The air you breathe comes...
Chevron's retaliatory RICO case against the Ecuadorians and their lawyers would not have come about were it not for the generous suggestion of U.S. Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan. Chevron spent millions upon millions filing cases against the Ecuadorians everywhere other than Ecuador once the company saw the verdict was about to come down, but when...
To draw attention to Chevron's threat to open society and freedom of speech, Amazon Watch and Pulitzer Prize winning animator Mark Fiore present The Adventures of Donny Rico.
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...
This week we're highlighting a rainforest resident's story of how he lost three daughters due to the toxic contamination of his home and an interview with a former oil worker who recalls the helplessness he felt at being ordered by Chevron to dump toxic waste directly into the rainforest, day after day:
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.
International Institute on Law and Society (IIDS) | For the first time in Peru, an indigenous people demands the recognition of their legal personhood as a first nation or people and not simply as a "community".
Amazon Watch joined a powerful assembly in the Munduruku community of Waroapompu in the Tapajós region of Brazil to discuss how the Munduruku will strengthen themselves in resistance to dams planned within their territory.
In 2011, a mysterious package arrived at our D.C. office. Beat up, rumpled and with no return address, a staffer avoided opening it fearing it may have been a bomb. We could never have guessed that the contents would instead turn out to be a smoking gun in one of the largest and longest-running environmental cases in the world.
I walk a small path, surrounded by an infinite number of trees, plants and the scent of flowers. My lungs fill with pure, fresh air when I take a deep breath. My bare feet touch the ground, damp from yesterday's rain. This is my home. This is where I grew up. This is what I want to share with my children one day.
Twenty years ago I traveled to the Ecuadorian Amazon and my life was forever changed. As a volunteer at the Jatún Sacha Biological Station, I learned the basics of tropical ecology and became quickly fascinated by the interconnectedness of all life. I also witnessed the devastation caused by oil spills, firing me up to take action and to design a...
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.
We just found out that the Commonwealth Club of California plans to honor Chevron CEO John Watson as a "distinguished global citizen" who has "given back" to the global community. WHAT?!
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...
Observing the mountains on a sunny afternoon in the Amazon, my home, I began to reflect on the past few months I have spent on the road as an active voice advocating for the defence of indigenous territories, our rights and the rights of the future generations who have an inherent right to live in a healthy world. We all do.
This week hundreds of representatives from five indigenous nationalities came together in a special assembly to defend their Amazon territory from oil, mining, logging, destructive dams and the commodification of nature.
The Achuar and U'wa indigenous peoples have me in awe of the immense power of grassroots resistance in the face of multi-billion dollar corporations. Years after graduating from university, I find myself once again a student. Throughout my tenure at Amazon Watch, I have been honored to "informally apprentice" under our wise and humble indigenous...
Amazon Watch is proud to partner with indigenous women from across the Amazon basin to support their work to protect their ancestral territories from oil extraction and destructive mega-dam projects. These women are true leaders in the growing movement to protect the rainforest and all life.
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.
Indian Country Today | I live in a country which spends a third of my tax dollars on the military, so I do not know actually how peace is found. So say that you wanted peace. How would that work out?
"The U'wa people would like to inform national and international public opinion that the Magallanes gas exploration block has been completely dismantled. Ecopetrol has removed all the machinery that had been found there in a demonstration of respect for our rights as an indigenous people."
For thousands of years the rainforest provided indigenous peoples with all they needed for subsistence and income. It gave them everything – fresh food, water, life. Now, after decades of drilling, many of these territories are ravaged by oil contamination. More and more, people who lived in sustainable balance with the forest are being...
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.
Tomorrow in the US and as part of Global Divestment Day thousands of activists around the world will be calling on governments, universities, places of worship, and in some cases, their own families, to pull their investments from the fossil fuel companies that are threatening the future of life on Earth.
Amazon Watch, allies, friends and wee ones joined some 8,000 mostly Californians in downtown Oakland over the weekend to call for an end to the state’s use of fracking and to demand stronger leadership on combating climate change within a climate justice framework.
Once again, the most prolific oil complex in Peru's Amazon region has exploded with local indigenous protests, grinding oil production to a halt. Both Achuar & Kichwa indigenous communities have risen up, stopping roughly 3,100 barrels/day of oil production.
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.
Last Friday Amazon Watch returned to Davos to attend the 16th and final Public Eye Award ceremony where the international web community awarded Chevron the Lifetime Award for its disaster in Ecuador and subsequent efforts to evade responsibility.
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.
It's been weeks since a Petroperú pipeline ruptured just upriver from San Pedro – again – one of five known breaks in the region in less than six months that spewed crude into the jungle and contaminated the river and surrounding rainforest within Kukama territory and the buffer zone of the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, the largest...
Ecuador's President Correa was well-rewarded for his trip last week to China, but this could have grave impacts for the Amazon and the people who live there.
The Society Pages | Yesterday, in Quito, Ecuador, hundreds of Indigenous people from around the country, including those from the Amazon, the Sierra and the Coast, gathered outside the offices of CONAIE, in the north of the city, to continue the fight against a government plan to close the organisation's headquarters.
Earlier this month, the world's eyes were on Lima as 196 nations debated what to do about climate change at the UN COP20 climate summit. While world leaders debated, negotiated, signed and didn't sign agreements, Amazon Watch and our allies sounded the alarm on the critical importance of the Amazon rainforest and indigenous ancestral territories...
This month's hearing before Canada's Supreme Court was Chevron's last appeal to try to stop a full enforcement trial. Chevron audaciously asked the court to ignore all precedent, and to change the law just for them.
Huffington Post | I walk a small path, surrounded by an infinite number of trees, plants and the scent of flowers. My lungs fill with pure, fresh air when I take a deep breath. My bare feet touch the ground, damp from yesterday's rain. This is my home. This is where I grew up. This is what I want to share with my children one day.
Amazon Watch and indigenous allies joined thousands of marchers yesterday in defense of the rainforest and territorial rights and to demand that voices from the Amazon be heard at the United Nations COP20 climate negotiations.
"When we lose the Amazon, we not only create emissions, but we lose the climate stabilizing function of the forest," Amazon Watch founder Atossa Soltani told Democracy Now! at the "Women Leading Solutions on the Frontlines of Climate Change" event hosted by WECAN around the UNFCCC COP20 climate summit currently taking place in Lima, Peru. "We're...
Yesterday hundreds of indigenous peoples from communities across the Amazon joined together on a beach in Lima, Peru to create a massive "human banner" image to promote awareness about territorial rights for indigenous peoples in the global climate conversation. Beneath the heat of the sun and to the sound of beating drums, indigenous peoples and...
A delegation from the environmental collective Yasunidos finally arrived to Lima, Peru today after a week of harassment and intimidation by Ecuadorian police and military that sought to prevent them from crossing the border to attend the COP20 climate conference, and thrust the Ecuadorian government's continued domestic crackdown on civil society...
Together with our indigenous allies from the Amazon and NGO allies from the north and south, Amazon Watch is in Lima to highlight and expose major threats from a wave of egregious extractive and infrastructure projects planned for the Amazon.
This week's "Caravan to Resist Dams in the Amazon" marked the largest political action ever staged in opposition to the Brazilian government's authoritarian march to dam the Tapajós River. Assembled on the banks of the majestic river, members the region's indigenous and traditional communities joined religious leaders and activists to stand as one...
Today some 60 Mundurukú people and 10 activists gathered at an island near the proposed São Luiz do Tapajós dam site in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, and performed an act of strength, dedication, and perseverance demonstrating their passion at any cost to save the Tapajós region.
The Brazilian government's decision to dam the Amazon's Tapajós River demonstrates a shocking disregard for the rights of the region's indigenous and traditional peoples. Tensions continue to escalate, with the Mundurukú people carrying out an "auto-demarcation" process of their land in defiance of the government's intentional deferral of the...
"Today we are living through a key moment in history when we need to take action, and we need to take action now. The drought in São Paulo, for example, is not happening by chance. Even if no one is talking about it, this problem is directly connected to the destruction of the Amazon, where I live, because the standing forest regulates the...
On Tuesday night the world's two biggest polluters – the US and China – announced a surprisingly ambitious climate deal. We should take a moment to celebrate this interim victory while realizing that it does not go nearly far enough in addressing climate change. Now it is our collective, global responsibility to ensure that both...
"I worry for my children, for all our children and the future generations. Despite our fight to keep the earth in balance, to protect our territory and our tradition, the Amazon is in danger." Mayalú Kokometi Waura Txucarramãe addressed a diverse group of climate leaders, international experts, government officials and media at the Climate Reality...
The Climate Reality Project | Brazil still faces a number of obstacles to scaling a decentralized model for solar, most notably taxes and the lack of incentives for residential solar users to sell electricity back to the grid. But the country's history of innovation in the energy market proves these obstacles can be overcome.
Growing up in the Amazon, it didn't cross my mind that one day I would be sitting in a Chelsea apartment in New York City writing about the importance of organized civil society movements and demanding that governments take action towards the protection of the only planet that we have.
Chevron's retaliatory RICO case against the Ecuadorians and their lawyers would not have come about were it not for the generous suggestion of U.S. Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan. Chevron spent millions upon millions filing cases against the Ecuadorians everywhere other than Ecuador once the company saw the verdict was about to come down, but when...
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.
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...
There are many corporations worthy of being condemned for their actions that harm people and the planet, but none more deserving than Chevron. This company has reveled in its role as corporate criminal on the run from a $9.5 billion verdict against it in Ecuador for the deliberate dumping of billions of gallons of toxic wastewater into the...
Development Progress | Given the growing scrutiny of Brazil's dam-building boom, the Tapajós River is now a key battleground in the global debate on the true costs of our development model and its fate could determine the future of the Amazon region.
We can hardly wait to dream, scheme and celebrate with you at Bioneers 25th Anniversary Summit Conference this weekend! Join us along with our allies in San Rafael, CA on October 17-19th as we discuss "The World We Want & How to Get There" and work to grow the movement for Mother Earth and future generations.
Yasunidos, the Ecuadorian youth collective that launched a movement to preserve the most biodiverse place on earth, has been nominated for the Human Rights Tulip Award. Friday, October 10th is the last day to vote!
If the Belo Monte disaster set a grim paradigm for human rights and environmental protection in the Amazon, then the manic race to dam the nearby Tapajós River confirms that the Brazilian government will stop at nothing to produce energy at any and all cost.
Last Sunday the world – and likely you, our readers – took notice as powerful actions took place in over 2,000 locations around the world for the People's Climate March. Where I live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 400 people braved pouring rain, marching for hours as we called for clean energy, not mega-dams in the Amazon.
Chevron got a little help from its friends in the corporate media last week. It is clear that business journalists will come out of the woodwork to defend the company from attacks on their own kind, even if the truth about Chevron’s human rights violations is sacrificed in the process.
This past week a small group made big waves in New York City. Amazonian indigenous spokespeople and social movement leaders joined the Indigenous Bloc in leading more than 400,000 others at the People's Climate March. Amazon Watch joined front-line indigenous communities and representatives in demanding that humanity keep the oil in the ground as...
"When women decide to do something, when we are firm and radical, we will be successful and make it happen!" Patricia Gualinga addressed a packed crowd in the very spirit of her words, moving the entire room to a standing ovation. "Everywhere on the planet, we have such a powerful impact."
The key to solving the climate crisis starts with respecting indigenous rights and territory. Indigenous peoples whose lands, culture and way of life are already being destroyed are calling for a stop to the expansion of the oil frontier. Their voices deserve to be heard, especially since the regions they are trying to protect are vital for all of...
"We have to free ourselves from our addiction to oil. If we want to take on climate change, we can't continue extracting, consuming, looking for more oil and sacrificing more [indigenous] territories," said said Esperanza Martinez, founder and president of Acción Ecológica in an interview with Naomi Klein in New York City.
Huffington Post | If we continue preying on the Earth under the banner of the oil economy, we put at risk both our lives and that of the planet. Mother Earth is tired of so much abuse and ill-treatment. Now is the time to put on the brakes, to say, "this is the limit, we can't continue this way."
Our future is in peril and the changing climate is a key indicator. Scientists warn us that global warming is spiraling out of control which is why we need to see immediate action now. As the Amazon basin is a keystone area in combating climate change, preserving this region is essential for humanity's survival.
On Sunday, September 21st march in New York City or in your community to demand action for climate justice, for Mother Earth, for our shared future. To change this dangerous trajectory we're on – to bend the course of history – we need everyone on board.
The last eighteen years have been an incredible journey. Together we have helped protect millions of acres of pristine rainforest and have stood with indigenous peoples as they fought for and strengthened their rights. With our partners, we have won globally significant victories for rainforests and corporate accountability.
Alianza Arkana Blog | Last week, indigenous women sent a clear message to visiting government officials: If there is no real movement toward solutions to the appalling contamination in their territories, then there will be no more bidding on the oil under their territories.
An article in Rolling Stone reminds readers that, "it's the farmers and the Indians, not the lawyers, who continue to struggle daily with the 50-year legacy of oil production in the region."
"Used to blaming all of the problems and postponements of project developers on [the environmental agency] IBAMA and [indigenous agency] FUNAI, developers tend to hide their own technical incompetence behind alleged delays in environmental licensing."
Take action to defend Davi Yanomami! Send a letter to the Brazilian government demanding urgent police protection.
Your petitions worked! Last week Minister Tapia announced plans to open an investigation into Petroamazonas' spill. Let's thank the minister and insist that she prohibit Petroamazonas from expanding its operations further into the Amazon.
On July 17, Oliver Utne, a U.S. citizen residing in Ecuador with a valid visa, was abruptly questioned, detained, and forced to leave the country after being targeted by Ecuadorian immigration officials. Utne had been living in the country for several years and coordinating an innovative solar canoe project with the Achuar indigenous people.
ClearWater | A Petroamazonas pipeline ruptured, spewing thousands of barrels of crude oil into the Aguarico River. When would the company stop the spill? How poisoned is our water? When will it be safe to bathe, wash clothes, and fish in our river? Will the company clean up the spill? These were the questions on the minds of many of the Cofán, Siona and...
International Rivers | The Xingu River Alive Forever Movement, which represents communities affected by the Belo Monte Dam, with support from International Rivers and Amazon Watch, has compiled the most comprehensive history of the destructive dam from its inception to today, in a new, interactive web timeline.
Despite Brazil's devastating loss to Germany in the World Cup semi-final, Brazil still has a chance to be a world champion in clean and renewable energy rather than continuing to rely on destructive and outdated hydroelectric dams like Belo Monte.
Citing Belo Sun's failure to assess the impacts of its planned mega-mine on nearby indigenous communities, a federal judge rescinded the company's licenses, putting the brakes on yet another Amazon extractive industry tragedy.
...Brazil! Many predict Brazil will win the 2014 World Cup. But when it comes to social justice, Brazil is no winner. I say this from the perspective of a Brazilian human rights campaigner who has struggled on these "fields" with my fellow players for a long time.
At long last we bring you Episode #3 in The Adventures of Donny Rico, a clever deep dive into the methods used by Chevron in its desperate and unethical campaign to turn the tables on the very victims it poisoned in Ecuador's rainforest.
While the world watches Brazil host the global sporting spectacle, its powerful agribusiness sector is laying the groundwork for a massive land grab, intent on gutting indigenous rights riding a wave of racism and intolerance.
Huffington Post | Chevron has put unprecedented resources into its campaign against the Ecuadorian villagers, hiring more than 60 law firms and 2,000 legal professionals to wage a war of attrition.
Alianza Arkana Blog | Five years have passed since the tragic events at Bagua, where 32 people lost their lives at Devil's Curve. Today, President Humala is committing the same potentially fatal mistake as his predecessor, Alan García.
"I like football, and the children in our village play it well," said legendary Kayapó Chief Raoni. "But we also have our own sport, hitting coconuts with our war clubs. If the canopy of the forest disappears, and the sun is hot, and strong winds blow – our lifestyle will also disappear."
Yesterday – on World Environment Day – the Ecuadorian government organized a rally to back its decision to drill Yasuní. Is the administration trying to give the middle finger to environmentalists and to the planet?
Huffington Post | At first glance the inhabitants of Brazil's favelas and the indigenous people of the Amazon may not seem to have a common cause. But both groups face violence with impunity, poverty, land insecurity, and neglect.
Five years ago today the Devil's Curve earned its name, as the highway near Bagua went from peaceful protest site to national tragedy. When the teargas and gunsmoke cleared, 34 people were dead and hundreds more wounded.
Alianza Arkana Blog | In 2013, after decades of protests by the indigenous populations, government testing finally confirmed the devastating contamination of hydrocarbons and other toxic elements in the soil and water of four major river basins.
"The U'wa people are thankful for the solidarity from everyone who made possible this trip in favor of our territorial defense. We hope that, with your help, we will be successful in defending Mother Nature."
Do people give people backpacks full of cold hard cash in exchange for legal testimony? People do. Chevron should know. They did exactly that. But of course you won't be hearing John Watson mention that to the company's shareholders.
Last week over 150 indigenous people began a new peaceful protest of construction of the Belo Monte Dam complex in Brazil and were attacked with tear gas and rubber bullets.
In honor of Indigenous Peoples Day in Brazil last month, a group of high-profile Brazilian artists announced that they were fed up with the mounting attacks against Brazil's indigenous peoples and called on the public to take urgent action in support of indigenous rights.
You gotta give Chevron credit for bringing people together. Communities on five continents came together yesterday to denounce the oil giant's environmental and human rights practices.
"It was the happiest day of my life that I never saw coming. It was a victory and now I know I can smile again to life. On that day nothing else, not even all of what my family had been through, mattered."
As the Brazilian government ramps up reckless plans to build another mega-dam complex – this time on the Amazon's Tapajos River – tensions reached a fever pitch last week with a hate-driven mob raining violence on a peaceful protest gathering of Mundurukú people.
The Zápara were once one of the largest indigenous groups in the Ecuadorian Amazon. But by the 1980s anthropologists deemed them extinct, an entire culture erased in less than a century by disease, violence, persecution and assimilation.
Sarayaku has reported a buildup of military forces and the existence of plans to invade the community. Ecuador's Ministry of Defense denies these claims. In a national TV address over the weekend, President Correa threatened to declare a state of emergency.
Huffington Post | Test results from the Ecuador trial support what the villagers have always alleged: Chevron contaminated their land, using substandard drilling practices to minimize costs and maximize profit. The real news is the cover-up of the mess they left behind.
Now that the idea of the Yasuní-ITT initiative is back in the hands of civil society, it may fall victim to an egregious example of government overreach and voter suppression. That's bad for Ecuador and for the world.
The Planet / Sierra Club | Achuar resistance to oil exploration has achieved some success. Now the Ecuadorian government is attempting to take down indigenous leaders for defending their territory from oil development plans.
After a tense 40-day stand-off over a bombed and paralyzed oil pipeline, the U'wa indigenous people came to an agreement late yesterday with the Colombian government, avoiding the possibility of a forceful incursion into their territory.
EarthRights International | Chevron has finally ended its efforts to obtain information from email accounts belonging to activists, attorneys, journalists and others who have spoken out against the company.
A forcible eviction of the U'wa from their encampment would certainly be a horrific event. The U'wa are pacifists by culture – while they are not willing to kill anyone for their beliefs, they are willing to die for them.
The situation for Colombia's U'wa people is both more hopeful and also more precarious than it has been in years. This could be a watershed moment – either allowing them to achieve several key demands or ending in tragedy.
Chevron is so scared of the truth that even having someone in the room who might talk about their acts is a threat. This is not an isolated incident, but rather a concerted attack on environmental advocacy.
"We refuse to be silent and we are going to mobilize ourselves and once again engage in protest actions against the extraction of oil which will damage our Mother Earth."
Xingu Vivo | Belo Monte has not killed the resistance. Its cement has not blinded all people’s eyes, nor has its money bought all consciences. Its repression has not deadened courage or silenced mouths; its lies have not deafened all ears.
On April 12th, something incredibly inspiring happened in Ecuador. Yasunidos, a civil society collective of environmentalists, artists, activists, and indigenous leaders, delivered nearly 800,000 signatures calling for a national referendum on oil drilling in Yasuní National Park.
Xingu Vivo | Judge José Batista heavily criticized Belo Monte, affirming, "The only concern [in this project] was economic, with a small amount of environmental [concern] and no social concern, especially in regards to indigenous peoples."
Franco Viteri, indigenous leader from the Ecuadorian Amazon, remembers hearing about the death of Chico Mendes. The lasting impression of Chico's example inspired Franco to participate in the Chico Vive! conference.
“The future is in your hands,” said Oscar award winning actor Jared Leto, urging Ecuadorian voters to sign for an oil-free Yasuní. Watch a new video released today featuring celebrity supporters in solidarity with Ecuadorians to defend Yasuní National Park from oil drilling.
Alianza Arkana Blog | Peru was selected to host COP 20, and yet its Minister of Energy and Mines announced a new law that would potentially eliminate submission and approval of Environmental Impact Assessments for oil and gas companies.
In just two years, ClearWater has installed more than 500 family-sized rainwater systems that serve thousands of people in communities who have long suffered an epidemic of cancer, birth defects, and other illnesses.
Ironically, the grave danger from Chevron's farcical RICO ruling is not to the Ecuadorians seeking justice. The real danger is the precedent this sets for our work to hold Chevron and other U.S. corporations accountable.
Einstein once said, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." It is evident that the Brazilian government dismisses such wisdom.
Meet Sônia Bone Guajajara, the national coordinator of Brazil's Association of Indigenous Peoples and tireless spokeswoman for the country's indigenous movement. This week she brings this struggle to a growing European public.
"We are struggling for Yasuni because it is our home. Correa wouldn't like it if oil companies went to his home and tore it down like they come and cut trees and build roads in our rainforest homes," said Alicia Cahuilla, a courageous Waorani warrior from the Ecuadorian Amazon.
My journey over the past four years in this fight against the Belo Monte dam has been intense, but accompanying the Klamath delegation to the Xingu brought hope not only to the local populations of the Xingu, but also to myself!
The Xikrin, Juruna and Arara are not alone in facing threats to their rights and environments. Many more monster dam and mining projects are on the chalkboard for the Amazon.
In a move that would make Montgomery Burns proud, Chevron "apologized" to the community for the massive explosion of their fracking well in rural Pennsylvania by offering each affected family a coupon for a free pizza.
"We want to show solidarity in the struggle to preserve and protect inherited cultures and natural resources from shortsighted projects like the proposed Belo Monte dam."
Justice delayed is justice denied. For the sake of Maria Aguinda and thousands more like her, let us today re-commit to fighting until the people of the Ecuadorian Amazon get the relief they have sought for too long already.
Antonia is a visionary woman who sees what President Rousseff cannot seem to grasp: a sustainable future for Brazil that no longer harms the environment nor people's rights.
Terra Magazine | The resolute action demonstrates that the Mundurukú have not been bowed by intimidation: they are taking matters into their own hands and will continue to do so in defense of their lands, rivers, and future generations.
Cartoons are dangerous. In fact, Chevron wants a US Federal Court to believe cartoons are even more dangerous than dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into the Ecuadorian Amazon and then suing the very people it poisoned.
"The life of our river represents not only the health of our people, but our collective wellbeing. It's not only our future that's at stake but yours, and that of your grandchildren."
Alianza Arkana Blog | Last week Peruvian governmental authorities released test results that prove alarming levels of contamination in Peru's largest national reserve, Pacaya Samiria, part of Kukama Kukamilla indigenous territory.
Donny Rico here to deliver a message to all you long-haired hippie activist types complaining about the environment and human rights. Be warned: things have changed in America and you need to keep your mouths shut.
Until the demand for extreme crude decreases, the conflict between rights and resources will continue, at the expense of indigenous peoples, the forest and our planet.
After attacking some of their closest allies, the Ecuadorian government is now attempting to take down Ecuador's indigenous leaders who are committed to defending their territory from any oil development plans.
We know indigenous peoples are important stewards of the environment. But specifically how do they protect their territory? Watch a presentation by Amazon Watch's Andrew Miller on specific struggles in Peru, Brazil, and Ecuador.
"Last year, because of construction, we noticed mud in the water, and the fish started dying. We asked if anyone from the company could explain these effects but no one ever came to explain anything or to talk about compensation."
"This order will allow us the opportunity to hold Chevron accountable for fleeing the scene of its environmental crimes in Ecuador after a valid judgment was entered against it," said Fajardo, lead lawyer for the communities.
Fearless, strong, and a mother of two, Mayalu's motivation springs from her ancestral roots and the dream that her children and grandchildren will inhabit a healthy Amazon, with its rivers and forests preserved and thriving.
This week members of Brazil's indigenous peoples renewed their unwavering objection to a series of proposed laws and constitutional amendments that aim to erode their land rights.
President Correa has cracked down on indigenous leaders, organizations and NGOs, including Fundación Pachamama whose offices were shut down yesterday.
Alianza Arkana Blog | Peruvian activists recently told Amazon Watch that the question now isn't what areas of this region have been polluted, but instead what areas are actually still clean.
How on Earth could this unlikely and significant victory be so ridiculously, unethically and illegally turned on its head and evolve into the shocking display that just played out in a US Federal Court?
"The message we want the world to know this is that our people are united and we will be even more united to fight for our rights," declared Akay Biorébu, second captain of the Munduruku warriors.
For years, Kichwa leader Patricia Gualinga has been on the front lines of Sarayaku's struggle, a key protagonist in their recent historic victory and an incredible leader of a rapidly-growing movement of women defending the Amazon.
Donald Moncayo is no stranger to the foul smell and noxious contamination in Ecuador, but that wasn't enough to prepare him for the despicable treatment he would receive in a US federal court.
This week the global polemic surrounding Brazil's Belo Monte dam returns to Europe with a high-profile conference in the European Parliament in Brussels followed by major protests and public events in Paris.
Try to imagine an Ecuadorian oil company submerging Alabama in toxic wastewater and then when the people of Alabama successfully sued the company to pay for a cleanup, a random judge in Ecuador declares the verdict invalid.
This week BSR severely tarnished its image by inviting Brazilian mining company Vale to present on a panel entitled, "Voices of Rights Holders in the Extractives Industry." This is like inviting the CIA to a panel on the rights of torture victims.
Amazon Watch is honored to be an NGO partner of the Green Festival in San Francisco this weekend, November 9-10. We invite you to spend the weekend with us for FREE.
Last week a delegation of indigenous leaders traveled from the Ecuadorian Amazon to the IACHR in Washington, DC to help advise the Ecuadorian government on consultation with indigenous peoples.
Having virtually all the money in the world often means you can buy silence, time, and lies. This time Chevron has bought a bag of lies from a thoroughly disreputable source, and they aren't able to hide the price tag.
After losing both his parents and a sister to cancer, Servio Curipoma has become a relentless voice for his community, demanding that Chevron take responsibility for the contamination that wreaked havoc on his family.
Last week a Federal Regional Court suspended the installation license and ruled that BNDES should not transfer further resources to Norte Energia until 40 conditions are met.
As Peru continues to expand oil activities in the Amazon, there's a new oil company with grand ambitions, Calgary-based Gran Tierra. Does Gran Tierra not understand the risks they are running? If so, they are in for a rude shock.
"We've mobilized because we're worried about oil exploration plans, the 11th Round in particular, which affects all of the Amazon. We are here for our lives, yours, the entire world's lives and for those of our future generations."
If you're going o the 24th Annual Bioneers Conference this weekend, be sure to catch up with Amazon Watch and our partners! We'll be speaking on the Main Stage, on panels, and we'll have a lively and informative booth outside.
The oil company has declared that it will fight us "until hell freezes over." Obviously our economic conditions are not the same; they can buy justice, we cannot.
Chevron has taken "blame the victim" to a new extreme in its attempt to avoid the $19 billion guilty verdict handed down by an Ecuadorian court in February 2011.
Together with our partners in Brazil, Canada, the United States, and Europe, we are standing against Canadian mining company Belo Sun's outrageous scheme to reap massive profits from the social and environmental havoc being caused by Belo Monte.
Participating in Brazil's most significant indigenous mobilization in the last 25 years was an extraordinary opportunity to deliver on our commitment to support the struggle of indigenous peoples in the Amazon.
EarthRights International | Chevron's multifaceted crusade against environmental and human rights activists and lawyers provides a deeply problematic blueprint other companies may be tempted to mimic to strike back against critics.
How inspiring it was to hear the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. spoken from the heart of an indigenous warrior as he berated a Brazilian congressman who tried to mislead a crowd.
In response to attacks on indigenous peoples' rights and territories by Congress, Brazil's National Indigenous Association called for widespread protests until October 5th.
This Wednesday Amazon Watch held its 8th Annual Luncheon in San Francisco with a packed house. Many thanks to the hundreds of friends who came to join us in person and even more who tuned in to lend their support online.
The Summit will bring together 100 global women leaders from 35 countries to help further a Women’s Climate Action Agenda to build momentum for substantive action to address the global climate crisis.
As Mayalú begins her first U.S. tour, she hopes that her travels will further hone her leadership skills, experience and knowledge that will allow her to be a better advocate for defending Brazil's indigenous peoples while demonstrating the universal importance of assisting their struggle.
"This wound no longer heals because it is a very deep wound. There is no healing being done for nature, or for our minds. Whoever thinks that Belo Monte is a good project, it is because they do not know this place and have not suffered."
It has been a tumultuous few weeks in Ecuador since President Correa's decision to terminate the historic Yasuní-ITT initiative. Faced with ongoing unrest, he has unleashed a barrage of ads and TV spots aimed at convincing the public to support his plan to drill in the park.
EarthRights International | Despite well-established case law recognizing the right to anonymous speech on the Internet, he held that online speakers forever waive their right to anonymity simply by using an email address.
International Rivers | Police in Brazil have arrested two leaders of a sex trafficking ring that sent adolescent girls and transvestites, some as young as 16, to prostitute themselves to the workers building the Belo Monte Dam.
In the wake of President Correa's decision to terminate the historic Yasuní-ITT initiative the big question has been: Who is to blame for the initiative's failure?
Alianza Arkana Blog | The situation in the Corrientes is not new, and well-documented, as FECONACO noted: "since the 80s, studies in the region have shown the effects of contamination in fish, waters, and even the public health in communities."
In many ways, Yasuní-ITT was doomed from the beginning by the world's greed for oil and Ecuador's economic dependence on that greed. But enough with the political analysis. What is most upsetting to me about ITT's failure are its implications for human life.
How can the Brazilian government justify forcing its native peoples, who were subject to centuries of injustice and genocidal abuse, to continue enduring the brunt of the country's uncontrolled economic expansion against their will?
Since late June protests across Brazil have not stopped. The voices of people calling for Justice Now! and a halt to construction of the Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River continue to be silenced and ignored. It's time that the voices of the Xingu are heard!
By disregarding a series of "conditionalities" upon which the project's environmental license was granted, Norte Energia could be sanctioned, forcing the dam's construction to again grind to a halt.
While the apology and right to no repetition is still pending, the state's transfer of funds is certainly historic in Ecuador – no government has been forced to hand over that kind of money to an indigenous group.
"A project as big as Belo Monte cannot be constructed on a provisional legal basis and by the logic of fait accompli. The Supreme Court is currently shutting up judicial rulings on the basis of a law stemming from dictatorial times."
This is the second time that the government has been forced to extend the deadline for bids, and is just the latest in a series of serious setbacks to the government's attempts to auction off millions of acres of the Amazon.
EarthRights International | According to Judge Kaplan, none of the anonymous accountholders could benefit from First Amendment protections since the accountholders had "not shown that they were U.S. citizens."
In another baldfaced example of bias, Judge Kaplan is letting Chevron maintain "confidential" a series of damning internal videos that prove the company committed a massive fraud in Ecuador by hiding evidence of contamination.
From the Amazon to the Andes, communities are protesting the devastation left by mining and oil projects. Successive governments have readily resorted to repressive measures.
Last month President Correa apologized for an oil spill that wreaked havoc throughout the Amazon Basin. What the media narrative has largely missed is that there is an oil spill nearly every week in Ecuador.
Twelve years ago Amazon Watch's Atossa Soltani and affected communities in Ecuador urged Chevron not to purchase Texaco. Leading the charge to buy Texaco was John Watson, who is now Chevron's CEO.
International Rivers | "The Minister says he wants to consult with indigenous peoples, but that the government's decision to build the dams has already been made. What kind of consultation is that?"
Pachamama Alliance | Oil spills in Ecuador are anything but unusual. May’s spill is just one of many that occur on a regular basis, adding up to an enormous amount of oil spilled over the years.
Recent protests have united a diversity of citizens frustrated by billions invested in World Cup stadiums, while the people suffer. Brazilians say they can't stay quiet anymore. Indigenous peoples of Brazil agree.
Kayapo Project | Facing enormous setbacks to indigenous rights in Brazil, 400 Kayapo leaders and warriors met on the Xingu River to discuss serious threats to indigenous rights that are being considered by the Brazilian government.
Forests News | Researchers and policymakers have a lot to learn in designing and implementing climate change adaptation strategies from smallholder farmers in the Amazon, says Miguel Pinedo-Vásquez.
Last week indigenous groups that occupied Belo Monte traveled to Brasilia to meet with the government. So far the only response they have received says that indigenous peoples have no right to veto the government's plans.
An oil spill from Ecuador's Trans-Andean pipeline last weekend has reached Amazonian tributaries and is wreaking havoc on local communities and ecosystems downstream.
A new document calls for the Brazilian government's official statement declaring whether or not the indigenous group's decision concerning the consultation process, proposed in their meeting with Brazilian ministers, will be respected.
Today – June 5th – is the fourth anniversary of one such "massacre foretold" in Peru. This past week, we worried about a similar scenario at the site of the controversial Belo Monte dam in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon.
From a global watch-list on leaders in mid-career whose leadership is exceptional and inspirational, the Institute selected Atossa as its 5th Annual Hillary Laureate awardee for Leadership in Climate Equity.
The 150 indigenous protestors who have staged a courageous nine-day occupation of the Belo Monte dam's main work camp have traveled to Brasilia today to meet in the Presidential Palace with high officials from the Brazilian government.
I can't think of a better term to describe the world that the Chevron board and CEO are living in than "alternate reality." It certainly must seem that way to Servio Curipoma, who traveled from the Ecuadorian Amazon to confront them.
While hundreds protested outside the 2013 Chevron Annual Shareholder Meeting holding the largest "pink slip" you've even seen, inside John Watson demonstrated that he is completely divorced from reality
A judicial eviction order and threat of violent removal notwithstanding, the Munduruku and other indigenous occupiers of the Belo Monte work camp continue to resist on-site.
Only two days after the reoccupation of the Belo Monte Dam began, the fate of 170 indigenous people is at stake. Yesterday, the Federal Court in Altamira ordered them to leave by 4 pm today or they would be removed by Federal Police.
Xingu Alive Forever Movement | This is the second occupation of Belo Monte's construction site in less than a month. The protestors guarantee that they will maintain their occupation until their demands are met.
Two years ago Ecuadorian farmer Servio Curipoma left his rainforest home and traveled thousands of miles to bring his story to the US. This month he returns to demand that Chevron's CEO resign.
Dearest Daughter, from Dad in the Amazon – Yesterday I left the Amazon jungle after an amazing week there. Prior to leaving however, I shared with my Achuar indigenous friends a dream I had about you.
"As we entered peacefully, we decided to leave peacefully. We show that we are not bandits and that we respect the court's decision. We hope that our attitude shows us to be open to a dialogue."
Dearest Daughter, from Dad in the Amazon – This is my first international trip away from you since your birth eight months ago, and I already miss you tremendously. I want to explain to you the importance of this trip.
Yesterday Brazil and the world witnessed a historic moment of unity and struggle for the Amazon and its people. Some 200 indigenous peoples, riverine communities and fishermen continue to stop work on the Belo Monte dam.
Last week two key leaders in the ongoing struggle against Belo Monte denounced European corporate backing of the dam before Green Party members of the European Parliament in Brussels.
Watch this powerful new documentary that takes the name of the Damocracy movement formed following the Rio+20 Earth Summit to counter the permanent destruction of cultural and natural heritage being caused by large-scale dams.
ClearWater is a community-based project that is providing clean water drinking systems to hundreds of affected families among the indigenous nationalities in this oil-affected region.
In a bit of an Earth Day reprieve, Ecuador has extended the deadline for companies to offer bids for the 16 oil blocks up for sale in the country's southeastern Amazon rainforests.
Actress and aboriginal activist Michelle Thrush demanded to know why the Ecuadorian government is "auctioning off over three million hectares of indigenous land in the Amazon without the consent of the people who live there."
"Our territories belong to our ancestors, they belong to our grandparents, first they will have to kill us to operate in our territory," explained delegates from the community of Amazanga.
"I would like to thank our allies in Canada for their solidarity in this struggle. Thanks to the many actions taken we have achieved a great victory: a large and powerful corporation, Talisman, has been forced to leave our ancestral territory."
VICE | In the trial of the killers of Brazilian environmental activist couple Zé Claudio and Maria do Espirito Santo, Marabá’s justice system has once again given the green light to those who think murder is the best way to solve a problem.
At one point or another every social justice activist wakes up wondering if we stand a chance against the massive forces acting against us. This week, my faith in justice was given a boost when we won a major victory against Chevron.
Almost four years ago gunshots in the Peruvian Amazon were heard around the world. Last month, the state prosecutor asked for the most severe charges against 54 indigenous leaders, including life sentences. These charges are an underhanded political tactic to criminalize social protest and intimidate grassroots leaders.
Stop Belo Monte | This 17-year-old girl with long hair, exuberant and full of energy, did not try to hide her anger about what happened to her family. She told me that she was now dedicating her time to studies and fighting against the Belo Monte dam.
Alianza Arkana Blog | "We are still drinking contaminated water every day... We think that with the declaration of emergency the government will be forced to worry about us and can solve our problem sooner."
I just stumbled upon this poem that 13-year-old Luciano read to me by candlelight from his family's modest home on the banks of the mighty Xingu River, deep in the Brazilian Amazon, and I had to share it with you in honor of World Water Day.
Carwil Without Borders | Bolivian indigenous leaders addressed the IACHR in the culmination of a weeklong trip in what is now the third year of the high-profile campaign to prevent the Bolivian government from building a highway through TIPNIS lands.
Stop Belo Monte | While Amazon Watch team is on the ground in Brazil heading out to another occupation in efforts to stop the Belo Monte Dam, heavy rains continue to fall in the Xingu region. The water started rising earlier this week and now Altamira is totally flooded.
A new report from Analytica Investments warns that the XI Oil Round in Ecuador would threaten "a biodiversity every bit as varied as that of the fabled Yasuní National Park to the North" where one hectare holds more tree species than exist in all of North America.
Stop Belo Monte | We ended an emotional day feeling positive and coming to the conclusion that the Gods of the Xingu are on our side. This fight is long and we are faced with many challenges, but our hearts remain full of love for the Xingu and its people.
Stop Belo Monte | Karol and her family had built a life on what has now become the Pimental Worksite of the Belo Monte Dam. They were expelled from their land and as Karol and her sister say, "they never received even a kilo of salt in compensation."
ScottWallace.com | The victims had sustained previous encounters with the elusive Taromenane, who reportedly conveyed their growing irritation over an influx of outsiders and increased industrial activity in the zone.
Stop Belo Monte | "The mothers of Altamira are losing their kids to prostitution and drugs. Belo Monte did not bring jobs as promised, only violence," said protestor Maria Dulce Gonçalves.
So much attention has focused on the protection of Yasuní National Park, and yet meanwhile an area of unspoiled and highly biodiverse rainforest many times larger is greatly threatened by the XI Oil Round.
President Correa is no stranger to hyperbole, but in this he is right on the mark: "It's the end of sovereignty, the end of our independence; we have become colonies with these rulings from international courts."
As Ecuadorian ministers met with European oil executives and investors, French activists took to the streets to call attention to the disaster oil drilling represents for the forest and seven threatened indigenous communities.
Stop Belo Monte | Today we thought it would be just another day of long meetings; however, we were in for a shocking surprise. Who could have imagined that among the people sitting in our circle was a traitor?
Today is International Mother Language Day, a day promoted by UNESCO to recognize the intrinsic value in the diversity of languages across the world and the importance of their conservation for the good of humanity.
The Cleanest Line | On February 17, 2013, this coming Sunday, our friends at Sierra Club and 350.org along with more than 120 partner organizations are planning what could be the largest climate rally in U.S. history. Here's how you can get involved.
"We've seen the impact of oil extraction in Ecuador and the impact of oil refining here in Houston. We know that it only brings contamination, poverty, and cultural destruction. We will defend our sacred lands and culture as we have for millennia."
Despite the recent alarming shortages, the Brazilian government denies the need to implement electricity conservation measures – an option deemed "ridiculous" by President Dilma Rousseff.
Chevron has found an obscure private arbitration panel, acting under the mantle of the U.S.-Ecuador Bilateral Investment Treaty, in an attempt to circumvent justice in Ecuador and threaten that country into interfering in the Lago Agrio case.
I am writing on behalf of the magical and mystical Amazon rainforest and the traditional populations that inhabit its sacred places. Last year you followed our battles and supported us, and your actions made a difference.
Indigenous leaders from the Ecuadorian Amazon have traveled to Houston to challenge the Ecuadorian government face-to-face during its XI Round oil concession promotional activities.
A Pública | "It's going to start", warned a friend who worked on the dam's construction. "The Madeira River is dangerous, it demands respect. The engineers say that they have all the technology, but nothing controls the reaction of this river."
Last week the world lost a great friend. Becky was taken away far too soon, and she was far too young with far too much to accomplish to be removed from our world. And yet in her brief and wonderful life, she achieved so much.
When a giant corporation like Chevron bothers to subpoena a small nonprofit like Amazon Watch, we know our actions are hitting hard. At that moment, I knew we had been doing something right.
I'm writing with a soulful message from the EDM (electronic dance music) community, straight from the hearts of two ambassadors that have long supported our work – Janine and Ken Jordan.
Last month the sixth Pan Amazon Social Forum brought together hundreds of community leaders, academics, and NGO representatives from across the Amazon to discuss and debate common challenges and forge collaborative solutions.
In recognition of the International Day of Human Rights, people all over the world participated in an "International Day of Action for Justice Now" to stop the Belo Monte Dam in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon.
Right now we are witnessing a critical moment in Brazil's history. Brazil's current energy polices have created glaring setbacks for the rights of indigenous peoples, the environment and Brazilian democracy. It's time to take action for justice.
It's been a huge year here at Amazon Watch. As we look towards 2013 we know that we can only do so thanks to the strong foundation you provide. Your activism, your partnership, all those petitions and all your financial support.
The Ecuadorian government's plans to auction off nearly ten million acres of rainforest wilderness in the south-central Amazon – home to seven indigenous nationalities – was met by fierce opposition.
Conflicts have erupted on the brink of the VIII Forum on Indigenous people and the electric sector. In three regions, indigenous peoples have found themselves face-to-face with what "development" really means for them.
The internet exploded Wednesday with news that an Argentinian judge ordered seizure of Chevron's in-country assets in what could be the first of many rulings enforcing a $19 billion judgment from an Ecuadorian court.
It's been another rough week for Chevron, which got a rude awaking Wednesday morning with news that Ecuadorian indigenous and farmer communities will seek to freeze some $2 billion of the company's assets in Argentina.
Alianza Arkana Blog | Even as indigenous people struggle to cope with current levels of contamination and illness caused by years of oil production in the Amazon, the governments of Peru and Ecuador are preparing to sell off even more.
After 35 days of protests and 11 days of occupation, the indigenous peoples and traditional groups occupying the Belo Monte construction site have left, with their heads held high. Most of them were heard for the very first time; and that fact alone was already a sign of victory.
We are honored and excited to invite you to a series of events featuring leaders from the Kichwa community of Sarayaku, who have come to share news of their victory for indigenous self-determination against destructive development.
With my heart racing and under a light rain, I climb up the Pimental cofferdam, together with the indigenous warriors who are writing their own history here. Within minutes the raised earthen dam bed is taken by people who have lived here much longer than we can imagine.
ConocoPhillips announced today that they are pulling out of Oil Bocks 123 and 129 in the Peruvian Amazon. The announcement comes just weeks after Talisman Energy announced their withdrawal from the country.
A flock of vultures have landed on the banks of the mighty Xingu River, and they've come to stay. International mining executives anxiously await the river's death to begin extracting the rich seams of gold that line its banks.
While repo men have yet to descend upon the company's headquarters and start hauling out the furniture, one has to ask: Is the company really ready for a global game of cat and mouse? What were once major assets in 120 countries are now liabilities, hidden in plain sight.
Normally, when an executive makes a major mistake that threatens shareholder value and the financial health of the company, they get fired. But at Chevron if you make an $18 billion mistake, you get a promotion. What?
If Chevron is brazen and arrogant enough to deceive regulators in 2012, in the state with arguably the toughest environmental standards in the US, then imagine what it was doing in the remote Ecuadorian rainforest from 1964-1990.
A group of about 50 fishermen prevented a ferry from transporting machines and workers to a coffer dam being built for the Belo Monte Dam complex and set up a protest camp near the construction site.
Chevron has never quite learned Lincoln's old adage, and after being found liable for the largest environmental judgment in history – $19 billion – it's fooling fewer and fewer people hardly any of the time these days.
"We have fought long and hard against Talisman's drilling in our territory because of the negative environmental and social impacts we have seen from oil drilling around the world," said Peas Peas Ayui, President of the National Achuar Federation.
Send an email now calling on Chief Justice Ayres Britto to respect the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Xingu and to maintain the suspension of the Belo Monte Dam.
The Shipibo are demanding a solution to the ongoing contamination and related health problems caused by oil drilling by Maple Energy in Ucayali province in the Peruvian Amazon.
Send an email now calling on Chief Justice Ayres Britto to respect the rights of the indigenous peoples of the Xingu and to continue the suspension of the Belo Monte Dam.
On the heels of their victory before the Inter-American Human Rights Court of the Organization of American States (OAS), the Kichwa of Sarayaku held a major celebration over the weekend on their rainforest lands.
I don't want to be pessimistic, but I'm a Brazilian lawyer, and I have lost faith in our justice system. We should all hope that this decision will endure, but be prepared that at any minute, it can again be overturned.
In case anyone didn't get the message that Chevron has a reckless attitude with regard to environmental safety and responsibility, the explosion and fire Monday night at its refinery in Richmond has provided a smoky, toxic answer.
After observing the Achuar's peaceful and pure way of living off the land and how they care for the rainforest, I am deeply moved and inspired to help however I can in their fight to get Talisman to leave the Amazon and their lives in peace. Please join me in this fight.
Initially, my plan wasn't to disrupt the meeting, but I couldn't bite my tongue as claims were made about Brazil achieving "zero deforestation" with a great sustainable development plan. So I stood up and told the truth.
After almost a decade of litigation, the international justice system has ruled in favor of an indigenous nation whose territory, life and culture were threatened by an oil project imposed on them by the state.
Brazil's indigenous and environmental agencies are deciding whether to authorize the irrevocable diversion of the Xingu River. Join thousands of others in sending a message to FUNAI and IBAMA today.
The indigenous-led occupation of the main Belo Monte dam construction site is a key battleground for the future of the entire Amazon rainforest. It is powerful to be here on the ground supporting indigenous peoples in amplifying their voices.
Today was marked by the arrival of nearly 30 Parakana leaders. In all, 17 indigenous villages from six different ethnicities are currently represented at the occupation demanding that construction of the Belo Monte dam stop.
The meeting with Norte Energia failed to reach any agreement. The Xikrin, the Arara and the Juruna of the Big Bend are still occupying the site, and we are calling for support to allow us to bring more of our people to join the occupation.
The indigenous occupation of the Belo Monte construction site entered its ninth day today. More indigenous people are reportedly joining the occupation each day, demanding that the construction stop.
Imagine that your livelihood, community, and entire culture are facing imminent destruction from the Belo Monte dam. International bodies have repeatedly sounded the alarm, yet the project advances with the force of a thousand bulldozers. What do you do?
In the final days of the Rio+20 Earth Summit, several hundred indigenous people affected by the Belo Monte Dam began an occupation of the construction site. The occupation is gaining strength as more inhabitants join the blockade.
Alianza Arkana Blog | After more than a week of peaceful protests, indigenous Quechua residents of the Pastaza River basin finally pushed the Peruvian government to launch a high-level investigation of foreign oil company operations.
Nearly 1500 people used Rio's Flamengo Beach as a canvas. Their bodies formed the lines of an enormous image promoting the importance of free-running rivers, truly clean energy sources like solar power and including indigenous knowledge as part of the solution to climate issues.
Seeing the majestic Xingu River being dammed is heartbreaking; this morning, there was hope. Today's daring grassroots action was one of the most inspirational acts of resistance I have witnessed in 15 years as Executive Director.
Jungle Dispatch | The Brazilian government is moving ahead with construction of the third-largest dam in the world and one of the Amazon's most controversial "development" projects – the Belo Monte Dam.
While world leaders gear up for the Rio+20 Earth Summit, the Brazilian government's push to build the Belo Monte dam illustrates a frightening hypocrisy between a truly "green" economy and the human and environmental costs of schemes that destroy the Amazon and its peoples.
After months of suspense, the Ecuadorian rainforest communities have finally opened up the first front in what is likely to be a worldwide legal battle to force Chevron to pay its $18 billion ruling for environmental devastation in the Amazon.
Three years ago yesterday, Peruvian police opened fire on a group of protesters near the town of Bagua in northern Peru. The violent clashes that ensued left 34 dead and over 200 injured in the worst violence in recent history.
Witness.org | In every corner of the world, we see unfathomably huge hydroelectric dams that destroy entire ecosystems and indigenous livelihoods. Despite the many alternatives to these projects, the mega-dams of the 20th century are only growing bigger and more popular in the 21st.
Alianza Arkana Blog | Leading the pack was a small boy with a handwritten sign, "Don't you drink water from the Nanay? Join the fight." And behind him thousands of people from Iquitos and the region of Loreto, chanting and marching along the main streets of Iquitos.
At its Annual General Meeting, Chevron executives gave a good show – and a chillingly hard line. CEO John Watson insisted that all was well, the company was raking in money and there was nothing to worry about.
Tomorrow Chevron will be practicing the elaborate rite of corporate public relations known as the Annual General Meeting for shareholders with plenty of image-buffing and apple-polishing for top executives and the board of directors, plus praise for the company's obscene profits.
Every day Chevron tries desperately to greenwash its image. But the millions of dollars blown on ad campaigns and PR firms do nothing to alleviate environmental damage and human suffering caused by their operations.
Alianza Arkana Blog | From the Andes to the Amazon, indigenous and mestizo groups across Peru plan to mobilize on May 31 to resist industrial development projects that they say would destroy vital natural water sources and threaten community survival.
I can still hear their voices inside my head reminding me that I have the duty to pass their message on so that these people will not be forgotten and destroyed by our carelessness and misconception of "development."
President Dilma has just 9 days left to veto this hatchet job before it becomes law. With the world watching, which side of history will she choose to be on? Will her legacy be Amazon ruin? Or, will she act on behalf of future generations?
Sarayaku in Ecuador is one of the more unique places in the Amazon. The community has beaten back oil drilling plans on their lands for over a decade, and their plan de vida for future development and land management is visionary.
Apparently believing that no outright whopper can't be repeated again and again, Chevron has issued a report bragging about the company's "commitment to respecting global human rights." It's a glossy, 50-page masterpiece of corporate greenwashing.
Indigenous groups in Colombia continue to face unjust violence, colonization, dispossession of lands, displacement due to armed conflict and climate change, stunted recovery and development due to ethnic discrimination, forced assimilation, and cultural degradation.
CEO John Manzoni's mouth was frozen in an outraged pout, as if he were undergoing some unspeakably undignified surgery. His meeting with the face-painted Achuar leaders was not going well at all.
The Achuar people live on both sides of the Peru-Ecuador border in the Amazon rainforest. Since 2004, Calgary-based Talisman Energy has been drilling exploratory wells in a remote watershed in the heart of Achuar territory – despite strong opposition from the people who live there.
Whereas oil companies want to operate with impunity in indigenous territories, we help courageous communities bring their demands directly to their corporate headquarters. This time, it's Talisman Energy, which has long held designs on the oil within Achuar lands.
Greenpeace | Following years of intense pressure from the agribusiness sector, Brazil's parliament yesterday afternoon approved sweeping reforms to the country's forest protection law that spell destruction for the Amazon rainforest.
SF Gate | Chevron was found guilty for environmental crimes in Ecuador in February of 2011 and fined upwards of $18 billion. Since that historic decision, Chevron’s litigation prospects have dimmed considerably.
"My people have elected me to travel to Canada to tell the world about how Talisman's oil drilling puts our lives in danger."
Chevron revealed that CEO John Watson was paid about $25 million in 2011, up 52 percent from 2010. Last year was, of course, the year in which the company was ordered to pay $18 billion for oil spills in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Meet Chumpi, a young indigenous Achuar boy from Chicherta Village in the remote headwaters of an Amazon tributary deep in the Peruvian rainforest.
It's amazing how the universal language of music connects people from different believes, cultures, genders, and colors on one cause – in this case, against the Belo Monte dam.
Jungle Dispatch | The years have passed slowly. When Emergildo was a child he saw the Texaco helicopters hovering above the forest canopy and thought they were "metal birds." Then he saw the rivers run black.
"This is a march of solidarity with the Brazilian social movements, human rights advocates, environmental activists, indigenous peoples, and peasant movements. And also in protest against the government's environmental policy."
Are those of us concerned about the growing and dire threats to the Amazon and its peoples fantasizing about the president's dismal socio-environmental policies? She seems to think so.
Jungle Dispatch | Under the spirited and watchful eye of los afectados por Texaco, more than 200,000 pages of court filings and evidence from the historic Aguinda v Chevron case was transferred to Ecuador's National Court of Justice in Quito.
Endeavors to demarcate the ancestral indigenous lands known as Kapot Nhinore started 13 years ago, but the process has been foiled by unfulfilled promises, leading to a protracted struggle.
Mongabay.com | The amazing part of the Corrientes story is not the damage that has been done but that the people have fought back, learnt about what is happening, and are finally forcing the oil companies to clean up their act.
Timed to arrive with World Water Day, the 15-day march was the first major indigenous mobilization in recent years and an indictment of President Rafael Correa's environmental and social policies.
Chevron is still pursuing its desperate fight to stonewall the process of justice in Ecuador, but in Brazil the company has found that escaping a similar pollution scandal is not so easy.
For over a month Chief Raoni and the Kayapo have suffered threats and intimidation at the hands of cattle ranchers, illegal settlers and hired gunman who are determined to push them off their lands.
Jungle Dispatch | There was a Texaco oil spill in Rumipamba back in 1976. 35 years later, the Quichua convinced the state oil company to give them jobs, a pump, and some overalls and boots to clean up the decades-old spill. For booms, the Quichua use sticks from the forest.
The Understory | That's the tagline for a new documentary being made about the Yasuni national forest in Ecuador, which has been called "Earth's Eden" because of its stunning beauty and incredible biodiversity, and which the oil industry has been all to eager to despoil.
Jungle Dispatch | Donald Moncayo has acted as the "fixer" for hundreds of journalists over the last decade on what has become known as "the toxic tour." He has been described in hundreds of articles, and he could possibly be the most photographed man in the northeastern Ecuadorian Amazon.
Alianza Arkana Blog | Leaders of the Awajún people of the Peruvian Amazon publically outed the Spanish oil company Repsol for conducting so-called "clandestine workshops" inside Awajún territory to win hearts and minds.
Roberto brings an analysis of why AIDESEP's community-based proposals will protect more forest (and reduce more carbon emissions), and Daysi speaks to the need for expanded indigenous land tenure as an integral part of any conservation effort.
Jungle Dispatch | I accompanied Emergildo Criollo from his home in Lago Agrio to a press conference in Quito. His voice trembles for a second, and then he says with strength: "I am Emergildo Criollo of the Cofán people, and I am proud to be here today."
The Chevron case marked an important turning point yesterday when an Ecuadorian appeals court issued its final ruling, ratifying its historic $18 billion judgment against the oil company.
This is why we do what we do. Not only because it is the right thing to do, but because we committed to these people and to the Amazon. It's because standing in solidarity means much more than a simple expression.
Alianza Arkana Blog | Still recovering from a recent spate of devastating oil spills on the Chambira and Marañon rivers, leaders from Amazon communities in Northern Peru are decrying yet another PlusPetrol spill on the Rio Corrientes.
Claudia Cobaría of the U'wa relates the threats of oil and gas extraction to Mount Cocuy, "the lungs of water." "The snowcapped mountain is a source of life, the connection we U'wa have with the ocean and the rest of the planet."
An intimate look into the life and culture of the Xikrín Kayapo in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon just kilometers away from where the government is plowing forward to build the Belo Monte Dam that could devastate their way of life.
Cacique Raoni pediu apoio para pressionar o governo brasileiro para proteger as terras de seu povo contra criminosos armados enviados para intimidá-los.
Alianza Arkana Blog | Lending their bodies and voices to a chorus of songs and chants, hundreds of Peruvians marched through the streets of Iquitos to protest destructive oil drilling along the tributaries of the Amazon River.
Chief Raoni has called for support to pressure the Brazilian government to protect his people's lands against armed thugs sent by ranchers and illegal settlers to intimidate them and encroach upon their lands.
After losing court rulings in Ecuador and the United States in recent weeks, Chevron is now betting everything on an obscure private arbitration panel acting under the mantle of the U.S.-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement.
The ruling sets right a "grave injustice against the Ecuadorians," and "rebukes Chevron's abusive legal tactics ... to malign the very people who suffer as a result of the company's deliberate poisoning of their homeland."
The Chevron Pit | How many lawyers does it take to lose three court decisions in a row? According to a Chevron declaration: About 500.
In our tradition of going after corporate crooks we invite you to help denounce Vale, the largest iron-ore mining company in the world and a prime force behind the disastrous Belo Monte Dam.
The Understory | Chevron's spokespeople have never been afraid to make absurd excuses for why their company puts profits over people. Now that Chevron has been found guilty again, we wonder what new ridiculous excuse it will dream up.
"You must pay for the crime that you committed in Ecuador. You must pay for the social, cultural, and environmental damage that you caused. And this will allow us to begin repairing that damage."
The ruling brings justice one significant step closer for the Amazonian communities who have suffered for decades from Chevron's callousness.
The Huffington Post | With Chevron running out of legal options to avoid its $18 billion liability in Ecuador, the company may be taking corporate malfeasance and greenwashing to a whole new level.
We are delighted to share a message from TV personality Layla Kayleigh who has teamed with Amazon Watch for a special campaign for "Stand for the Amazon Day" on December 28th.
Another global climate conference has come and gone, another heartbreaking missed opportunity for humanity to actually do something about impending climate chaos.
The struggle to protect the Xingu River and its people has gained critical support and momentum thanks to the Drop of Water Movement.
According to the urgent testimony of two Catholic priests, an already tense situation in Achuar territory has taken a turn for the worse over recent months, heightening the risk of imminent bloodshed between neighboring families.
From the streets of Quito to Ecuador's Congressional chamber, Rukullacta goes public in rejecting Ivanhoe’s project, finding inspiration in an ancient Amazonian leader.
This holiday season, give ethically-sourced, gourmet superfoods and Essential Living Foods will give 25% of your purchase directly to Amazon Watch.
TreeHugger | There's a war of sorts underway in the Brazilian Amazon, and the stakes are high. Filmaker André D’Elia is hoping his documentary Belo Monte - Announcement of a War will help his side.
"Talisman thinks you can find strategies to divide us or convince us that you should operate in our lands, but we will not let a single company operate in our territory."
In the spirit of giving thanks, we made this short video to thank you for your love and support of Amazon Watch's work to defend the Amazon and advance the rights of indigenous peoples.
International Rivers | Odebrecht is withdrawing from a commitment to develop a dam on the Tambo River in the Peruvian Amazon. It is a good day for Ashaninka communities in the Amazon.
Achuar leader Peas Peas Ayui has traveled from the Amazon to Canada to protect his people’s ancestral territory and culture from Calgary-based Talisman Energy’s operations.
The jury is no longer out: Chevron is a criminal – an unrepentant recidivist – not a leader. So why was it invited to speak at this year's BSR conference?
In a direct action of unprecedented scale and impact, occupiers shut down construction of the Belo Monte Dam, sending a strong signal of resistance to a belligerent federal government.
Cofán elder Marina Aguinda Lucitante shares a song to mark the 18th anniversary of the monumental legal struggle against Chevron for massive environmental crimes in the Amazon rainforest.
Yesterday, President Evo Morales cancelled a planned road project that would have cut through the heart of the TIPNIS indigenous reserve in the Bolivian Amazon.
Earth Island Journal | If you've heard of the Belo Monte Dam, you've probably seen a picture of Sheyla Juruna, Indigenous woman warrior from the Xingu River Basin of the Brazilian Amazon.
Back in 2003, I read a National Geographic article that dealt with an expedition, deep into the farthest reaches of the Amazon, to look for but explicitly not contact an indigenous tribe.
Today, I want to tell you about the work Amazon Watch is doing to steer Bolivia and the REDD movement in a wiser, more humane and more effective direction.
An important example of Amazonian indigenous leadership with respect to the environment is its contribution to the Rights of Nature movement.
In honor of Indigenous Peoples Day, I'd like to tell you about the real rainforest guardians – the indigenous peoples who call the Amazon their home.
Is it ironic or supremely appropriate that this Columbus Day the U.S. Congress will vote on a free trade agreement that has been called "a serious threat against the indigenous peoples that inhabit Colombian territory"?
Sunday Night Show | When I first visited the area contaminated by Chevron in the Ecuadorian Amazon in my role as Amazon Watch Ambassador, I was not prepared to witness such destruction and contamination of the entire forest ecosystem.
Amazon Watch recommends The Unconquered, a new book by Scott Wallace that tells the extraordinary tale of a journey deep into the Amazon to track one of the planet's last uncontacted indigenous tribes.
Over 3,000 people have already sent letters of concern to the Bolivian authorities over repression carried out by the police against TIPNIS protesters while they were marching to La Paz.
With passion in her voice and love in her heart, Sheyla Juruna expressed the urgency to stop the Belo Monte Dam for the future of her children, our children and all future generations.
A protest march by Bolivian indigenous peoples turned violent on Sunday as 500 Bolivian police tear-gassed, fired upon with rubber bullets, and beat protesters.
ChevronInEcuador.com | Today, DiNapoli escalated his public effort to demand Chevron seek an equitable settlement with the Amazonian communities over the oil giant's devastation of their rainforest lands.
Tomorrow Amazon Watch will be holding a fundraising luncheon celebrating its 15 years as a leader of innovative engagement in the Amazon rainforest environmental movement.
Sheyla traveled from the heart of the Amazon to share what's happening in Altamira, the city that will be partially flooded if the Belo Monte Dam is built.
On September 6th, Peru's president signed landmark legislation that requires the government to consult with indigenous peoples on issues that affect their lives, territories and rights.
ChevronInEcuador.com | Yesterday, a three-judge panel from the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals dealt a stunning blow to Chevron's abusive and deceitful efforts to evade accountability for its oil disaster in Ecuador.
Time is ticking for Yasuni in Ecuador, one of the most bio-diverse forests on the planet. Only a small percentage of the funds have been raised, and Correa has set a December deadline.
ChevronInEcuador.com | Explosive emails from an American con-man who partnered with a Chevron contractor in an attempt to entrap a judge may finally blow the whole affair wide open.
The company has refused to provide health care for people suffering from the spill or to even support the costs of studies to measure the levels of contamination and health problems.
Brazilian officials fear for the survival of an isolated Amazon group after a remote guard post on the Peru-Brazil border was overrun by heavily armed suspected drug traffickers.
ChevronInEcuador.com | Yesterday, hell did not freeze over. Pigs (or if you're Italian, donkeys) were not seen flying through the air on gossamer wings.
Peru's Ombudsman has reiterated the urgent need for the approval of the Consultation Law in Peru, highlighting the shared responsibilities of the legislative and executive branches to promote and prioritize its approval.
After volunteering to help the clean up after Hurricane Katrina, Amazon Watch supporter Edward Montgomery and four friends swam across the UK Channel to raise awareness and funds for the work of Amazon Watch.
Though the name "Cachuela Esperanza" may include the word "hope" translated, this proposed megaproject will most likely mean disaster for the natural environment and indigenous population living near the Madera River Basin.
Almir Narayamoga Surui, tribal chief of the Surui people and internationally-recognized indigenous rights defender, is once again at high risk as he works to defend his ancestral territory in Brazil's Amazon rainforest.
Amazon Watch and many others protested in front of the White House today. Let your elected officials know that you're a part of a large citizen movement opposing this harmful trade agreement!
Last decade, the Ecuadorian government made the mistake of trying to force oil exploration on the Kichwa, without any prior consultation. In this case, however, they didn't anticipate the community's fierce and dogged resistance.
Alianza Arkana Blog | Following an historic unification of tribes and federations from across the Peruvian Amazon, at least 200 members of a dozen different indigenous federations marched through Iquitos shouting "down with the oil companies!"
Alianza Arkana Blog | Indignation as well as a newfound sense of solidarity grew as representatives took turns explaining the conflicts and contamination brought to their rainforest communities by companies exploring or drilling for oil.
In a packed press room in Ecuador's National Congress building yesterday, leaders of Sarayaku brought their calls for justice to the country's capital en route to the Inter-American Court on Human Rights.
In 2007, President Correa presented the Yasuní ITT Initiative to the UN, declaring a willingness to forego oil exploitation in order to preserve the Amazon. It is a bold and unprecedented plan but, unfortunately, its future is looking bleak.
Protesters with green and yellow signs in Portuguese and English saying, "Brazil: Respect Indigenous Rights, Stop Belo Monte" marched through the streets to the Brazilian Embassy.
In response to the attacks on the Brazilian Amazon and human rights in the last few weeks, Brazilians are taking it to the streets and protesting.
