This is part five of a series on the operation to evict illegal gold miners from Munduruku Indigenous territories. Read part one, part two, part three, and part four. “We’re…
Tropical forests help regulate the global climate, host irreplaceable biodiversity and provide fresh water resources. Plus forests in general are the source of livelihoods for more than a billion people — so our…
In the late 1990s, academics developed a variant of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) methodology known as a strategic environmental assessment (SEA). Originally conceived as a super-EIA, the scope of…
On May 19, the head of IBAMA, Brazil’s federal environmental agency, overrode the technical opinion of the agency’s licensing department and issued a decision allowing proposed oil drilling in the…
Before 1988, Brazil had no contingency plans for unexpected encounters with Indigenous peoples living in isolation. If government officials, developers or explorers accidentally stumbled upon a camp, the protocol was…
Some of the most conflictive issues in the Pan Amazon revolve around construction of major infrastructure, industrial development, and mining. In the 1970s, when the Tranzamazônica (BR-230) was being built…
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva lives in a “disinformation space,” to use the term coined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to describe U.S. President Donald Trump. Lula is…
Grassroots organizations are settling new areas in the Brazilian Amazon amid disappointment that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been slow to jump-start the stalled land reform agenda.
Deep in the rainforest, the monkeys are yodeling. Their wild calls echo across the foliage, sending signals of sex and survival. For decades, scientists have studied why they make these…
Researchers are analyzing the bug oil’s bioactive properties, aiming to validate its safety and expand its promising applications in medicine, cosmetics and biotechnology.
This is the last of three interviews with Indigenous representatives at the United Nations about the latest issues in their country's Amazon forests. Read the interview about the Peruvian Amazon…
This story is published through the Indigenous News Alliance. For the last week, Indigenous leaders from around the world have converged in New York for the United Nations Permanent Forum on…
Administrative law is based on legislation that creates, organizes and defines the responsibilities of government agencies. As such, the regulatory apparatus of the modern state is the product of laws…
This is the second of three interviews with Indigenous representatives at the United Nations about the latest issues in their country's Amazon forests. Read the interview about the Peruvian Amazon…
A new report adds to the already overwhelming case that protected areas and Indigenous territories in the Amazon Rainforest serve as a critical carbon sink. The report, based on satellite…
This story is published through the Indigenous News Alliance. At the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues — the world’s largest convening of Indigenous peoples — Indigenous leaders from…
Historically, most countries regulated their biological resources via the agriculture ministry, using laws specific for managing forests, wildlife and fish. Many were inspired by commitments made via United Nations treaties,…
Mongabay followed the steps of Adriano Aguiar de Castro, who, according to authorities, jumped from one gold laundering scheme to another and now is also involved with gold smuggling into Venezuela.
"Everyone does it." That’s how the representative of a sawmill described the practice of selling fake documents to illegal timber from the Brazilian Amazon as legitimate, a fraud known as…
One unusual characteristic of Latin American nations is their proclivity to adopt new constitutions that reflect periodic swings in political philosophies. These documents are notable for their length and the…
Brazil’s plans to build ports and roads to help move grains, beef and iron ore from the rainforest echo a development vision that dates back to the military dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s.
In the last decade, the Pan Amazon has seen a substantial increase in the presence of Chinese companies, either as direct investors or as contractors building infrastructure for governments financed…
"They're curious about us, and we're curious about them." That’s how Daniel Cangussu describes the recent interaction with a small Indigenous group that had just contacted non-Indigenous society in the…
This is part two of a series on the operation to evict illegal gold miners from Munduruku Indigenous territories. Read part one, part three, part four and part five. Residents…
The largest and most infamous corruption scandal of the last decade began with a criminal investigation into the operations of Brazil’s largest corporation: Petrobras. The scandal got its name because…
A wide range of sustainability, health and environmental programs in the Amazon Rainforest are at stake after the U.S. government announced a 90-day pause on all foreign aid funding, including…
For Indigenous peoples and local communities across Central and South America, financial opportunities from voluntary carbon markets come with both benefits and risks. Working with the Rainforest Foundation Norway and…
The Amazon is renowned for its cultural diversity, particularly the ethnic diversity of its Indigenous nations, but also the cultural traditions of numerous other distinctive groups that have migrated into…
The Pan Amazon has a legacy of both violent and non-violent protest that dates from the onset of European colonization, through the Brazilian Empire and the Andean Republics of the…
Unprecedented images of uncontacted Indigenous people in Brazil’s Massaco Indigenous Territory, in the Amazon region, have prompted a push for greater enforcement to protect the land of these vulnerable populations.
As forests continue to be cleared and forested landscapes degraded by human activity, their loss can significantly affect the trees left standing, potentially changing the structure of forests, a recent…
In the quiet Swiss town of Davos, Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain unfolds as young Hans Castorp’s brief visit to a sanatorium turns into a seven-year exploration of ideas, intrigue,…
