End Amazon Crude

The Amazon is a no-go zone for oil drilling

The western Amazon is one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth. This vital rainforest is under threat from previous and ongoing oil extraction – which pollutes rivers, harms wildlife and human health, and opens the forest to roads, deforestation, and further exploitation.

Amazon Watch works in close partnership with Indigenous peoples to stop oil extraction at the source and reduce global demand for Amazon oil. Together, we are building pressure on governments, corporations, and consumers to phase out Amazon crude and protect the rainforest – before it’s too late.

Campaign goals

• Oil companies cancel their drilling plans in the Amazon
• Financiers and insurers withdraw support for Amazon oil projects
• The State of California – the largest importer of Amazon crude – ends imports altogether
• Indigenous communities in Ecuador and Peru obtain justice for the devastating impacts oil operations in their territories, including those affected by Chevron

Recent highlights

• Safeguarding the Ecuadorian Amazon: Working with Indigenous partners to block the government’s plans to open 14 oil blocks across 2.3 million roadless hectares in southern Ecuador, while amplifying calls for the protection of Yasuní National Park – a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the most biodiverse places on Earth.
• Demanding justice for oil-impacted communities in northern Peru: Amplifying the demands of the Achuar, Chapra, and Wampis peoples that state oil company Petroperú both halt plans to exploit oil block 64 and remediate hundreds of toxic, unaddressed oil spills in their ancestral territories.
• Resisting oil extraction in Colombia: Accompanying Indigenous and campesino communities in the Putumayo region who oppose oil companies in their territories due to environmental harm and human rights violations.
• Urging California to stop importing Amazon crude: Following extensive meetings with California officials, we accompanied a delegation of Ecuadorian Indigenous leaders to the State Capitol, which led to the California State Senate passing a resolution to assess its Amazon crude imports and pursue a phase-out.