Indigenous land rights are climate justice
Indigenous peoples steward more than 400 million hectares of the Amazon – lands that are scientifically proven to be the best protected from deforestation. Yet, one-third of these territories lack legal recognition, leaving them vulnerable to invasion, exploitation, and environmental destruction.
Amazon Watch works in direct partnership with Indigenous peoples to uphold and advance land rights as a cornerstone of climate justice. We provide legal and technical support, amplify Indigenous voices through media and advocacy, and back community-led resistance to extractive industries, agribusiness, and organized crime. Land rights are not only a matter of justice – they are essential to protecting the Amazon and safeguarding the planet’s future.
Campaign goals
- Legal recognition and protection of Indigenous land rights are secured through titling, demarcation, and territorial governance
- Frontline communities are strengthened to resist destructive forces and assert their rights
- Indigenous demands for land and territorial defense are amplified; their voices are centered in national and global decision making spaces
Recent highlights
- Supporting land demarcation in Brazil: Providing legal and technical assistance to Indigenous partners like the Munduruku people, while amplifying the national Indigenous movement’s demands for full demarcation in the face of hostile political forces.
- Defending land rights and FPIC in Ecuador: Although Ecuador’s constitution recognizes Indigenous land rights, the state claims subsurface oil and mineral rights. We are supporting Indigenous nations such as the Shuar Arutam People in asserting their right to free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) over extractive projects on their territories.
- Advancing Indigenous autonomy in Peru: Accompanying Indigenous movements pursuing the consolidation of autonomous territorial governments, while advocating for protections for Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact (PIACI).
- Campaigning against disastrous megaprojects: Campaigning against the Ferrogrão, a proposed 933 km railway aimed at increasing grain exports from Mato Grosso State to Amazon River ports. The project, which is strongly opposed by Indigenous peoples, would drive deforestation and accelerate agribusiness expansion across Brazil’s rainforest frontier.
Latest campaign news and updates
Brazil’s Supreme Court Approves Reduction of Amazonian Park, Paving the Way for Megarailroad
Despite the ruling, the Ferrogrão “grain railway,” backed by U.S.-based Cargill, remains stalled without an environmental license and continues to face major legal and regulatory challenges
Brazil’s Supreme Court upheld a law reducing the size of the Jamanxim National Park, allowing the Ferrogrão railway project to move closer to environmental licensing.
Brazilian Court Mounts Pressure on Canadian Mining Companies Operating in the Amazon
Court of Appeals rulings reinforce Indigenous claims concerning lack of consultations while prohibiting government agencies from representing Canadian interests in legal proceedings
“Waking up to this news brought us extreme happiness. Every victory, small or large, strengthens our work even more."
Hope and Action To Phase Out Fossil Fuels
Traveling back to Bogotá from the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia, I struggled to name a feeling I had never experienced after a climate conference: hope!
A New Gold Rush Threatens the Amazon
Whenever gold returns to the center of global geopolitics, the Amazon comes back into the crosshairs. The war between the United States and Iran has put the metal back on the radar of markets, investors, and the extractive industry.
Indigenous Leaders Bring Amazon Crime Crisis to the UN
As militarized responses fail, Indigenous territorial governance proves vital
An urgent message is traveling from the Amazon to the United Nations. This week, Amazon Watch will accompany a delegation of Indigenous leaders from Peru and Ecuador to New York for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII).
In a Major March, Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples Demand Land Demarcation and the Cancellation of Ferrogrão
More than 7,000 Indigenous people marched through the streets of Brasília yesterday under the banner “Demarcate, Lula! A sovereign Brazil is one with demarcated and protected Indigenous lands.”
Major Indigenous Protest in Brazil Targets Belo Sun Gold Mine Project
Thousands of Indigenous people marched in Brazil’s capital yesterday, during the second day of the 2026 Free Land Camp (ATL), the country’s largest Indigenous mobilization, to denounce land rights violations driven by large-scale mining, agribusiness, and logging projects.
This Month Governments Meet to Plan a Fossil Fuel Phaseout. The Amazon Must Be Heard
Indigenous peoples have demanded for decades that governments come together and commit to getting off fossil fuels. The First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, taking place later this month in Santa Marta, Colombia, is a manifestation of that demand.
Middle Xingu Indigenous Women Mark One Month of Mobilization Against Belo Sun’s Advance in the Amazon
One month into their occupation of the Altamira headquarters of Brazil’s National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (FUNAI), Indigenous women from the Middle Xingu region led a peaceful action.
