Brazil’s supreme court reactivates $620 million fund to protect the Amazon
Initially launched in 2008 by the Brazilian government, in recent years the Fund has been effectively frozen by the country’s far-right president Jair Bolsanaro.
South America
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.
Colombia launches $245-million initiative to create and maintain protected areas
Heritage Colombia is a $245-million initiative to support the creation, expansion and improvement of 32 million hectares (nearly 80 million acres) of protected land and marine areas in the country over the next decade.
Swiss refineries pledge to stop Brazilian Indigenous illegal gold imports
With Switzerland as one of the leading buyers of Brazilian gold, this stands as a powerful rebuke of this destructive practice.
Brazil’s High Court first to declare Paris Agreement a human rights treaty
As a result of the ruling, if Brazil’s Congress passes a law that conflicts with the Paris Agreement, the Paris Agreement should take precedence.
Colombia launches largest ocean reef restoration project in the Americas
The project aims to grow one million fragments of coral and restore 200 hectares of reefs by 2023.
Colombia elects first Black woman vice president, Francia Marquez
Marquez is a celebrated environmental activist whose opposition to gold mining in her home municipality of Suarez saw her receive the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018.
Indigenous group and locals in Colombia sign agreement to protect sustainable livelihoods and culture
A coexistence agreement signed between the Nukak and local campesinos is bringing the Indigenous community closer to returning to their territory.
Ecuador becomes first Latin American country committed to Fisheries Transparency Initiative standards
Ecuador now must grant public access to information related to the management of the country’s marine resources to journalists, civil society groups and others.