In the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, Indigenous and riverine communities are celebrating a landmark victory.

Last week, a federal court voided Belo Sun’s contract granting the Canadian company land rights in the region, in a major setback to its plans to carve Brazil’s largest open-pit gold mine into the banks of the Xingu River.

This pivotal decision reinvigorates the more than decade-long struggle led by frontline communities against the proposed mega-mine, which threatens to cause irreversible harm to a territory already devastated by the Belo Monte mega-dam.

Since 2012, Amazon Watch has fought alongside our partners in the region to shut down the company’s plans and to protect this sacred ecosystem and the communities who steward it.