The Amazon is in crisis. It has been for some time. For nearly a quarter-century, Amazon Watch has sounded the alarm that the forest and its Indigenous inhabitants are at extreme risk, and thus the future of our fragile planet. This has been our purpose as an organization since 1996.

For years, the plight of the Amazon was not known or talked about on a global scale. But in August 2019, all of this changed. Last summer, the world reacted to the news of the fires that swept across the Amazon in a way it never had before.

What began as a movement led by Indigenous peoples of the Amazon has become a movement that is global in force, reach, and scope.

As a result of the support of this renewed movement, Amazon Watch stepped up even more boldly, powerfully, and unapologetically to advance Indigenous rights and solutions and protect the rainforest.

This is not short-term work. This is a long-term struggle with short-term wins. To truly address the ongoing destruction of the Amazon rainforest and the potential ethnocide of Indigenous peoples, we must continue to respond rapidly and also co-create lasting systemic change.

Together, we are exposing the system that ignites the burning season. You help us amplify the truth: the fires that claimed over 11 million hectares of forest in Brazil and Bolivia last year were not seasonal wildfires, but the result of criminal arson inspired by Bolsonaro's rhetoric to plunder the Amazon for profit.

Although Bolsonaro and the ruralists of Brazil stoked the racism against Indigenous peoples that led to over 9,000 fires being deliberately set on their lands, behind them are international financiers, banks, and corporations. That's why we co-lead global campaigns targeting these companies and demanding change. Those who profit from rainforest destruction – the real forces behind the deforestation – will no longer escape the spotlight.

Added to the challenges of fire and destructive climate change practices is the COVID-19 pandemic. This could mean ethnocide for the Amazon's Indigenous peoples, as the global pandemic puts their lives in even more danger as governments refuse to appropriately address the crisis. Amazon Watch, together with our allies, responds urgently to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to support those communities that are being affected most by the virus.

We must remain steadfast in our commitment to supporting Indigenous leaders and communities. We must step up our efforts like never before. Indigenous peoples' survival depends on what we do together now.

Please consider becoming a monthly sustainer today and uphold the backbone of our movement.

For the Amazon,

Leila Salazar-López
Executive Director