Aimee Gabay

Copper rush pushes Vale to ramp up mining near Amazonian protected areas The metal needed in electric cars and solar panels comes with a high cost for Amazonian communities.

Mining giant Vale has obtained a preliminary license for its Bacaba project, the first step toward doubling its copper production in the Brazilian Amazon over the next decade.

@schroder.bsky.social for @mongabay.com

news.mongabay.com/2025/10/copp...

While this has led to some positive results in the form of security and conservation work, now in 2025, the Wampís still find themselves vying for control over their land.

The chief hurdle is that the state has not recognized the autonomous nation.

For decades, they resisted the expansion of oil drilling and other extractive projects in their Amazonian territory, to little avail.

By declaring themselves autonomous, they sought to change this.

The making of an autonomous Indigenous nation in Peru’s Amazon In 2015, leaders of the Wampís did what no other Indigenous peoples have done in Peru’s modern history: They declared themselves an autonomous nation to gain greater control over their territory. For ...

In 2015, the Wampís of northern Peru did what no other Indigenous people had done in the country’s modern history: They declared themselves an autonomous nation to gain greater control over their territory.

To understand why, see 🧵:

news.mongabay.com/2025/09/the-...

Indigenous alliance unveils Brazil’s first Native-led emissions strategy Brazil’s largest Indigenous organization has launched the country’s first Native-led strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions, ahead of International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on Aug. 9. T...

Brazil’s largest #Indigenous organization has launched the country’s first Native-led strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions,

This comes as the world marks International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on Aug. 9, as @aimeegabay.bsky.social reports:

Mounting corporate pressure on Honduras threatens community rights Honduras is currently facing a total of $19.4 billion in lawsuits from corporations, an amount equivalent to roughly 53% of the country’s GDP in 2024, according to new data by the Institute for Policy...

NEW: A shadowy legal tool called ISDS is allowing foreign corporations to sue Honduras — one of the region's poorest countries — for a total of $19.4 billion, roughly 53% of the country’s 2024 GDP.

The public good must be put over this corporate greed. @aimeegabay.bsky.social in @mongabay.com:

In Latin America, energy transition stirs a rise in human rights lawsuits A new report by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) finds that more than half of the 95 legal cases initiated around the world since 2009 by those impacted by the energy transition wer...

In Latin America, energy transition stirs a rise in human rights lawsuits.

Almost half of the 95 lawsuits were filed by Indigenous peoples and 76% of those filed in Latin America and the Caribbean concerned mining for transition minerals.

For @mongabay.com: news.mongabay.com/2025/07/in-l...

As drought parches Mexico, a Yaqui water defender fights for a sacred river YAQUI VALLEY, Mexico — On Sept. 11, 2014, Mario Luna Romero was arrested by state judicial police in Obregón, a city on the periphery of his tribe’s territory in Sonora, and transported to a maximum-s...

The first story for the series is a profile on Yaqui water defender Mario Luna Romero, who has received constant threats to his life for his work. He was arrested in 2014 and spent a year and 11 days in a maximum-security prison.

Full story for @mongabay.com here: news.mongabay.com/2024/07/as-d...

Super excited to share that my series on the Yaqui tribe and their struggle for water in Mexico has won an award at the Indigenous Media Awards. It was in the ‘Best Coverage of Indigenous Communities’ category 🥺

Bolivia expels members of fake nation Kailasa over Indigenous land lease scandal The United States of Kailasa maintains that it is a real nation. With this title, over the last three years, they have traveled to different countries in South America to look for productive lands whe...

The self-proclaimed nation, the United States of Kailasa, operates from different parts of the world and offered high sums of money to Indigenous leaders in exchange for lands to exploit or conserve for carbon credit projects, say legal experts. @mongabay.com: news.mongabay.com/2025/05/boli...

Bibles, bullets and beef: Amazon cowboy culture at odds with Brazil’s climate goals As the first climate summit in the Amazon approaches, a gulf is opening between what the area’s farming lobby wants, and what the world needs

Bibles, bullets and beef: Amazon cowboy culture at odds with Brazil’s climate goals

My long read on the struggle of frontiersmen and women to adjust to a decaying environment - and how this feeds into the rise of the far right.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Still no trial over Argentina cyanide mine spill, 7 years after officials were charged This is the first of a three-part series on underreported issues involving Canadian mining companies and Indigenous peoples or local communities. Read part two here. Seven years after an environmental...

Seven years after four officials were charged with negligence that resulted in a toxic cyanide spill at Canadian miner Barrick Gold’s Veladero gold mine in Argentina, the case has still not gone to trial.

New for @mongabay.bsky.social: news.mongabay.com/2025/04/stil...

Indigenous aguaje tree climbers bring down profits in Peru’s Amazon — sustainably The large leaves of the aguaje, a tropical palm tree that grows in the peatlands and other seasonal wetland areas in tropical South America, form a rounded crown on its head from which its…

The aguaje, a tropical palm tree that grows in peatlands and other wetland areas in tropical South America, produces oval-shaped fruits that can be consumed raw or processed to make beverages, soap, oils and other products.

But climate change and the lack of a secure market remain a challenge.

Indigenous aguaje tree climbers bring down profits in Peru’s Amazon — sustainably The large leaves of the aguaje, a tropical palm tree that grows in the peatlands and other seasonal wetland areas in tropical South America, form a rounded crown on its head from which its oval-shaped...

🔗 The full story for @mongabay.bsky.social: news.mongabay.com/2025/04/indi...

My latest story looks into one alternative income option that has taken hold in communities. This involves the sustainable harvesting and selling of Amazonian fruit. I focus specifically on the potential of the aguaje, a tropical palm tree that grows in tropical South America.

In some cases, communities have become dependent on mining projects because of a lack of alternative income options. They may be cut off from markets or at the mercy of shrinking rivers during severe drought.

A little 🧵: Most of the stories I have written over the years are about extractive projects in the Amazon. Many highlight the concerns of affected community members, such as contamination in rivers they depend on or a lack of consultation about a project that impacts their agricultural lands.

What pushes Indigenous Munduruku people to mine their land in Brazil’s Amazon? This is part three of a series on the operation to evict illegal gold miners from the Munduruku Indigenous Territory. Read part one here and part two here. Part four and five are coming soon.…

The involvement of Munduruku people in illegal mining inside the Munduruku Indigenous Territory made Brazil’s efforts to stop it more complicated, federal officials said.

Munduruku sources say that deception, abandonment by the state & lack of alternative income are what push some people to mine.

What pushes Indigenous Munduruku people to mine their land in Brazil’s Amazon? This is part three of a series on the operation to evict illegal gold miners from the Munduruku Indigenous Territory. Read part one here and part two here. Part four and five are coming soon. Indigeno...

What pushes Indigenous Munduruku people to mine their land in Brazil’s Amazon?

I asked Munduruku people to share how illegal miners lure in their relatives and the conditions that led to dependency for some.

3rd of a series for @mongabay.bsky.social:
news.mongabay.com/2025/04/what...

Residents say the contamination has killed so much livestock that one community had to open a cemetery specifically for animals.

For several months a year, due to flooding by the nearby dam, homes and pastures are inundated with contaminated water, forcing residents to migrate to higher ground.

Drowned lands and poisoned waters threaten Peru’s campesinos and their livestock Ever since the Upamayo Dam on Peru’s Lake Chinchaycocha was built in 1932, floods have become a frequent occurrence in the area for several months a year. From January to May, entire homes and pasture...

I spent the last few weeks interviewing members of campesino communities who live around Lake Chinchaycocha in Peru, a critical water source that has been contaminated for decades by mining pollution and domestic waste.

Full story @mongabay.bsky.social: news.mongabay.com/2025/03/drow...

A Mongabay estimate found that, based on a company map of the port and 2020 data of the ecosystem, it could impact 341.59 hectares (844 acres) of mangroves.

The Alcântara Port Terminal will be constructed within the Reentrâncias Maranhenses environmental protection area (APA), a Ramsar site. It is connected to four other important wetland sites nearby, which together form one of the largest continuous area of mangroves in the world.

Planned port project threatens protected Amazonian mangrove biodiversity and local livelihoods Along the Amazonian coastline in Brazil’s northeastern state of Maranhão, plans are underway for a port project that will cover part of an important Ramsar wetland that connects to a vast area of mang...

A proposed port terminal within a protected mangrove area on Brazil’s Amazon coast will impact the area’s wetlands and cause a disturbance to breeding bird colonies and marine species.

🔗 New for @mongabay.bsky.social: news.mongabay.com/2025/03/plan...

Officials share strategies to stop spread of illegal miners from Munduruku land This is part two of a series on the operation to evict illegal gold miners from the Munduruku Indigenous Territory. Read part one here. Part three, four and five are coming soon. Residents and officia...

🔗 Full report for @mongabay.bsky.social: news.mongabay.com/2025/03/offi...

Officials share strategies to stop spread of illegal miners from Munduruku land This is part two of a series on the operation to evict illegal gold miners from the Munduruku Indigenous Territory. Read part one here. Part three, four and five are coming soon. Residents and officia...

🔗 Full report for @mongabay.bsky.social: news.mongabay.com/2025/03/offi...

As the operation to evict miners from the Munduruku Indigenous Territory enters phase two, I asked researchers and federal officials to share plans and strategies to prevent illegal miners from returning.

Photos by Marizilda Cruppe / Greenpeace.

Photos by Marizilda Cruppe / Greenpeace.

Munduruku organizations told Mongabay the operation has not been completely effective, as there are still some invaders and machinery in certain areas of the territory.

A large concern among the local communities is that the miners will return once security forces withdraw.

Brazil’s crackdown on illegal mining in Indigenous territory sees success, but fears remain This is part one of a series on the operation to evict illegal gold miners from the Munduruku Indigenous Territory. Part two, three, four and five are coming soon. In Brazil’s Amazon, an operation to ...

Brazil’s crackdown on illegal mining in the Munduruku Indigenous Territory has, so far, led to a reduction in mining activities, but fears remain.

My latest for @mongabay.bsky.social. Stay tuned for part two, three, four and five coming soon.

news.mongabay.com/2025/03/braz...