On March 8, 2012 in El Pangui, a small town in the southeastern Amazon region of Ecuador, a group of one thousand Indigenous people began a 400 mile journey north toward the capital of Quito. They walked in protest of mining explorations scheduled to take place on their tribal lands in the Southeastern Amazon. Meeting other Indigenous groups coming from the opposite direction, they reached their destination on March 22, demanding an explanation to the signing of mining exploration contracts signed by the government with Chinese-owned Ecuacorriente.

Ngöbe-Bugle leaders and Panama government officials reached an agreement last week that bans all mining in the Ngöbe-Bugle territory and requires community approval for any hydro-electric projects. The agreements were formed into the Special Law 415 and was debated at the National Assembly and approved during its second reading, yesterday.  

March 8, 2012 – International Woman’s Day – marked the beginning of the two-week march for “Water, Life, and Dignity of Indigenous Peoples” in Ecuador. Led by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), the trip will take protesters 435 miles to Ecuador’s capital, Quito. The route includes a number of places emblematic in the anti-mining struggle, and protesters have managed to gather support from various sectors of society.

Ouch Sam On, a deputy governor of Cambodia's Kampong Thom province, told Prey Lang activists last week that he "would not be responsible if they were shot while protecting Prey Lang Forest," according to our campaign partners at the Prey Lang Network.  The comment was made after Sam On ordered activists to desist their regular patrols through the forest, where they monitor for illegal logging. On their patrols, members of the Prey Lang Network regularly burn any wood they find that has been illegally cut down by loggers.

We’d like to thank all those who took action against the approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline bill in the US Senate last week.  Activists across the country called, tweeted, and facebooked their senators encouraging them to vote against a transportation bill that included approval for the construction of the tarsands pipeline.  We especially applaud the courage of the Lakota community on Pine Ridge Reservation for their heroic efforts to block the tran