National corridor project aims to save Chile’s endangered huemul deer
Spanning more than 1,700 miles across Patagonia, the route crosses 17 national parks and protects more than 27 million acres of land.
South America
Ecuador project aims to protect Yasuní park borders & Indigenous peoples
The Yasuní Strip of Diversity and Life was created to protect the area’s Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation and to uphold the rights of Indigenous and farming communities in the region.
Ecuador court upholds ‘rights of nature,’ blocks Intag Valley copper mine
A provincial court recognized that the mining companies violated the communities’ constitutional right to consultation and the rights of nature guaranteed by Ecuador’s Constitution since 2008.
Chile declares some 247,100 acres of whale habitat in Northern Patagonia a marine protected area
The area is frequented not only by blue whales, but also by humpback whales, sei whales, at least two species of dolphin, the South American sea lion, and colonies of penguins.
Colombia and Ecuador create alert system to protect Indigenous Awá from armed groups
Since last August, thousands of Awá have been forcibly displaced or suffered threats, intimidation, torture or forced recruitment by organized crime groups participating in drug trafficking and illegal mining.
Brazil moves to oust illegal miners from Indigenous lands in the Amazon
The invasion of miners has contributed to the spread of malaria among the Yanomami, with devastating consequences
Ecuador establishes new reserve protecting over 3 million acres of forest
The Tarímiat Pujutaí Nuṉka Reserve of Andean and Amazonian forests in the Morona Santiago province of eastern Ecuador, where numerous Shuar and Achuar communities have for years been fending off numerous drivers of deforestation.
Brazil’s President Lula issues six decrees revoking or altering predecessor’s anti-environment-and-Indigenous measures
One of the decrees annuls mining in Indigenous lands and protected areas, another resumes plans to combat deforestation in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes, and a third reinstates the Amazon Fund.
Fish return off coast of Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul after state’s trawling ban
Trawl nets literally sweep the ocean floor, turning a complex ecosystem into a desert.
Indigenous Shuar community in Ecuador wins decades-long battle to protect land
Ecuador’s National System of Protected Areas now includes the 13,583-acre ancestral Tiwi Nunka Forest in the country’s south.