In 2002, at the request of environmentalists in Siberia, we urged the Russian government to reject a proposal to build an oil pipeline through Tunkinskii National Park to China. We issued an action alert on behalf of Russian environmental organizations and Pacific Environment who were trying to stop construction of an oil pipeline through "Russia's Yellowstone".
On January 25, the Sarayacu community in the Ecuadorian Amazon declared a state of emergency to defend their territories and stop exploration and exploitation of their lands by the Argentina General Fuel Company (CGS). As part of the declaration, the Sarayacu have created 25 Peace and Life Camps, each comprised of 150 members. The action comes in the wake of President Lucio Gutiérrez’s statement last week that CGS oil projects would continue in the area.
The Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe are awaiting the outcomes of negotiations with Peabody Coal Company over use of the Navajo-aquifer in Black Mesa, Arizona. To many of the region’s 30,000 residents who rely on the N-aquifer as their primary water source, Peabody’s operations are environmentally and culturally unacceptable.
Sarayaku President Marlon Santi met with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Washington to discuss a recent battle between the Sarayaku and the Argentine oil company CGC. CGC has announced plans to drill on traditional land against indigenous wishes but with the complete support of the Ecuadorian Government.
The Sarayacu of Ecuador recently met with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (OAS) to present evidence of the Ecuadorian government’s human rights violations. They are accused of not complying with the OAS’s precautionary measures that were enacted to protect the Sarayacu.
ChevronTexaco Oil Company (CGC) will continue seismic operations in Sarayacu territory against the wishes of the Kichwa of Sarayacu. Spokespersons for the Kichwa say that allowing CGC to drill is a violation of their human rights. The Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutierrez supports oil operations on Kichwa land.
During a meeting last week attended by over 400 hundred indigenous Ecuadorians, the Kichwas restated their objection to oil operations on their land. The community will present a new demand to the Ecuadorian Government to maintain the petroleum block on Sarayacu land.
Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. said on August 11 that he has been negotiating with Peabody Western Coal to continue operations on the Black Mesa Coal Mine near Kayenta, Arizona. The Tribe, which is currently involved in a $600 million lawsuit against the mining company, recently passed a resolution backed by tribal grassroots groups to end Peabody’s use of a specific aquifer by the end of 2005. Shirley criticized the resolution, warning that the mine’s closure would cost the tribe $35 million per year and hundreds of jobs for Navajo workers.
At least seven Penan communities in Miri and Limbang have erected blockades across roads used by logging companies. The logging companies have been encroaching on traditional forests, causing pollution and a host of other problems. Several reports were filed in 2002 regarding the deteriorating conditions of the communities as a result of the logging activities. The Reports have been largely ignored by the government, leading the communities to take matters into their own hands.
In an attempt to provide easy access to impartial information about the deforestation of the Amazon, The National Institute of Space Research (INPE) has launched a new website. This site provides information based on the digital records of satellite images, including LANDSAT images and maps of the deforestation. The site allows to spatially localize areas of drastic tree loss; an aide that will permit a more comprehensive analysis of the factors behind deforestation and help develop policies to protect against further forest loss.
At least 70 workers on the Camisea natural gas pipeline in Ayacucho were kidnapped early Monday morning by unidentified assailants and held for a ransom of one million dollars and assorted communications equipment. On Tuesday the army led a raid on the kidnappers, freeing the captives. The whereabouts of the kidnappers are unknown. President Alejandro Toledo said afterward that he believed the kidnappers were remnants of the Maoist Shining Path, whose insurgency led to an extremely violent civil war that killed over 35,000 during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.
