Indigenous peoples of Peru's Amazon are responding to the recent spate of oil spills along the Northwestern Peru Pipeline. Primarily, they are pressing the Peruvian government – which runs Petroperu oil company responsible for the pipeline – to urgently attend to the affected communities, to remediate the contaminated rainforest, and...
History is repeating itself in the northern Peruvian Amazon, where three oil spills have been reported along the Northern Peruvian Pipeline since January 25th.
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...
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.
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.
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...
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.
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...
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.
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 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:
VICE News | Another twist has emerged in a decades-long legal battle pitting residents of Ecuador's Amazon forest and their controversial trial attorney against one of the world's largest energy companies. Environmental advocates released a video today that they describe as evidence of attempts by Chevron to skirt Ecuadoran law and cover up contamination of...
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.
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.
"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...
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...
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.
This groundbreaking documentary is about the Kichwa indigenous people of Sarayaku, Ecuador and their successful international legal battle to prevent oil exploration on their land without their consent.
Rio+20 was recently held in Rio de Janeiro, yet Brazil's current energy polices have created glaring setbacks for the rights of indigenous peoples, the environment and Brazilian democracy.
Indian Country Today | The Kichwa people of Sarayaku won two major victories this year: in April, for the first time in their history, the government acknowledged responsibility for illegally licensing an oil company to do business on indigenous territory without the community's consent; and in July the ICHR ruled that the government must consult with indigenous...
A new short film about the struggle to defend the Xingu River and its people from the Belo Monte Dam and the Brazilian government's development plans for the Amazon.
United Nations | To meet growing demand, Brazil is harnessing hydroelectric energy and building dams, some among the largest in the world. But not everyone is happy about it.
While Brazil prepares to host the Rio +20 Earth Summit and present itself as a leading model for sustainable development, it is undertaking measures that will put the Amazon in jeopardy.
ABC KGO-TV | An international coalition protested outside the Chevron shareholders' meeting Wednesday in San Ramon, claiming the company is engaging in risky and dangerous operations overseas.
Amazon Defense Coalition | Over almost three decades of oil drilling in Ecuador's Amazon, Chevron dumped billions of gallons of toxic waste into waterways relied on by local inhabitants for their drinking water.
Al Jazeera | With an estimated cost of at least $14 billion, Brazil's Belo Monte Dam is leaving a large footprint - one that looks like it will stamp out local residents.
A priest who has worked with the Achuar and the Shuar-Wampisa people for ten years says that Talisman Energy's operations are causing conflict and risking lives.
