Amazon Watch

Since 1996, Amazon Watch has protected the rainforest and advanced the rights of Indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin.

Amazon Watch partners with Indigenous and environmental organizations in campaigns for human rights, corporate accountability, and the preservation of the Amazon’s ecological systems. Our work focuses on three main and interconnected areas: stopping the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, amplifying Indigenous rights, resistance and solutions, and advancing climate justice. Amazon Watch accompanies Indigenous, forest, and traditional peoples - the best stewards of the rainforest - in halting and holding accountable the major drivers of Amazon destruction, defends the Defenders, and amplifies Indigenous solutions to permanently protect the rainforest.

The Amazon is the world's largest terrestrial carbon sink and plays a critical role in regulating the global climate. Yet this global treasure is at great risk – already more than 20% has been deforested, and new fossil fuel extraction, mining, and large-scale development projects cause even greater deforestation and result in high rates of violence against Indigenous peoples and their territories. The harrowing truth is that the tipping point for the Amazon rainforest is here. Bold and immediate actions are necessary to avert ecosystem collapse and move us from the tipping point a turning point.

To this end, Amazon Watch accompanies Indigenous peoples to provide security to threatened Earth Defenders; provides solidarity funding directly to Indigenous partners for a holistic range of initiatives and immediate needs; amplifies Indigenous resistance and solutions to the public, policymakers, and media; and calls out the corporations, governments, and financial institutions responsible for Amazon destruction, with proven success.

The knowledge, cultures, and traditional practices of our Indigenous partners contribute greatly to sustainable and equitable stewardship of the Amazon and all of Mother Earth. Amazon Watch promotes Indigenous-led solutions, such as green development and autonomous solar power, and expands capacity for Indigenous leaders, especially women, to maintain their autonomy and sovereignty for the stewardship of their ancestral territories.