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
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.
Bringing Down a Decree: Inside the Indigenous Victory on the Tapajós River
On January 30, I witnessed the inauguration of the Munduruku people’s Pariri Association headquarters at the Praia do Mangue Indigenous Reserve.
Indigenous Women Occupy Federal Agency to Demand Suspension of Belo Sun Mining’s License
More than 140 Indigenous people have occupied the Brazilian federal Indigenous agency FUNAI’s regional office to demand the suspension of Belo Sun’s mining license for its “Volta Grande” gold mine on the banks of the Xingu River.
‘The river won’: how campaigners in Brazilian Amazon stopped privatisation of waterway
The Guardian | "A victory for life.” That was the triumphal message from Indigenous campaigners in the Brazilian Amazon this week after they staved off a threat to the Tapajós River by occupying a grain terminal operated by Cargill, the biggest privately owned company in the United States.
Brazil Court Revives Belo Sun’s Controversial Amazon Gold Mine
“We are already suffering the impacts of the Belo Monte dam.. If another project of this scale comes, the Volta Grande will not withstand it.”
Indigenous Resistance Forces Brazil To Revoke Amazon Waterway Decree
“This proves that life – the river – has no price. It cannot be sold, it is not negotiable. That’s why we will never back down.”
