Indigenous rights, not mining rights
The Amazon rainforest sits atop vast reserves of critical minerals – from copper to rare earth elements – drawing intense interest from the global mining industry. Yet, mining is a deadly threat to the forest and its Indigenous peoples, contaminating water sources, driving deforestation, and fueling human rights abuses. This crisis is escalating, driven by the global transition to “green” energy technologies and soaring gold prices.
Amazon Watch stands with Indigenous peoples calling for the Amazon to be a no-go zone for mining. We combine grassroots support for Indigenous resistance with high-level advocacy targeting corporate, financial, and political actors around the world. These efforts aim to break the grip of extractivism that endangers the Amazon and build a future grounded in Indigenous rights and climate justice.
Campaign goals
- Large-scale mining projects and illegal gold mining are halted on Indigenous territories
- Investors and banks are pressured to stop funding destructive mining projects
- Companies and governments are held accountable for human rights abuses and environmental harm
Recent highlights
- Challenging Belo Sun’s mega-mine in Brazil: With local communities, working to halt Canadian company Belo Sun’s plans to build one of Brazil’s largest open-pit gold mines in the Volta Grande do Xingu, a region already devastated by the Belo Monte dam and critical to both biodiversity and Indigenous survival.
- Stopping open-pit mining in Mocoa, Colombia: Supporting Indigenous and urban communities in Putumayo working to halt plans for open-pit copper mining in the upper Mocoa River basin, which threaten to destabilize a vulnerable ecosystem that includes protected forest reserve land and overlaps multiple Indigenous territories.
- Confronting Solaris Resources in Ecuador: Working alongside Indigenous Shuar Arutam communities to challenge Canadian mining company Solaris Resources, whose operations threaten ancestral territories and fragile ecosystems in the Cordillera del Cóndor region, while pressuring financiers to divest and respect Indigenous opposition.
Latest campaign news and updates
Standing With the Kakataibo
Resilience amid Peru’s crisis of corruption and organized crime
The Kakataibo have made it clear to us: they will not give up. Their fight to reclaim and defend their ancestral lands has lasted more than two decades, and this is simply another chapter in a long struggle for survival and justice.
Defending the Amazon Against Illegal Economies
The Wampís Nation’s fight to defend their territory against an invasion of illegal mining
The Wampís’ fight is not just local, it’s global. Defending the Amazon means defending the planet.
Defending Mocoa in Southern Colombia
Art, culture, and children’s resistance against Giant Copper mining threat
“Mocoa is the most conserved territory, where the mountains hold the winds of the ancestors, which descend to embrace the Amazon.”
Indigenous Groups Criticize Ecuador’s $47 Billion Oil Expansion Plan in Amazon
Associated Press | “The Amazon is not for sale. We will defend our territories because we have not been consulted – this is our home."
“Mining Mafia” Scandal Threatens Brazil’s COP30 Credibility as Police Uncover Massive Fraud
On the eve of the COP30 climate summit, a corruption scandal in Brazil exposes how mining operates outside the law, putting communities and the climate at risk
"These false authorizations not only legalize the advance of destruction, but also put our water, our health, and our food security at risk."
Interview With Chief Raoni: “Congressmen Only Think About Destruction, Not About Future Generations”
Indigenous leader says he is skeptical about the practical effects of COP30 and laments that, under the Lula administration, projects such as Marco Temporal and the Destruction Bill are moving forward
O Globo | On the eve of COP30, Raoni is also skeptical about the environmental meeting to be held in Belém.
Amazon Watch Welcomes Historic Conviction of Former Brazilian President Bolsonaro for Coup Plot
"His arrest offers a welcome reprieve for the Amazon and its peoples by weakening the chance that his destructive agenda will return to the region,”
An Important People-Powered Win in Brazil, but the Fight Isn’t Over
A partial veto protects key environmental safeguards, but dangerous loopholes still put the Amazon at risk
With COP30 in Belém just months away, Brazil had a chance to send the world a bold message about its commitment to climate justice. Instead, it delivered a mixed one.
Brazil’s Partial Veto of “Devastation Bill” Stops Some Setbacks, but Critical Loopholes Remain
Amazon Watch warns that preserved provisions still threaten Indigenous land rights and environmental protections ahead of COP30
“This soy doesn’t feed our people. We don’t eat soy – it’s for export and corporate profit. Meanwhile, pesticides contaminate our water, our soil, and even the rain. It’s poisoning all of us, not just Indigenous peoples."
