Despite a year marked by rising climate denial and shrinking civic space, Indigenous movements across the Amazon secured a series of significant victories in 2025, according to advocacy group Amazon Watch.
In a year‑in‑review blog, the organisation says that while governments and companies pushed to expand oil, mining and criminal economies, Indigenous peoples advanced “bold, collective visions” for their territories. A key win came in Peru’s Block 64, where sustained resistance from the Chapra, Achuar and Wampis Nations, combined with pressure on international financiers, meant state oil company Petroperú failed to secure a partner for new drilling. The result protected more than 764,000 hectares of ancestral rainforest.
In the United States, Amazon leaders travelled to the California State Senate to highlight the state’s role as the world’s biggest buyer of Amazon‑sourced crude oil. Following that delegation, the Senate passed a resolution calling for greater supply‑chain transparency and a phase‑out of Amazon oil imports, directly linking Californian consumption to impacts on Indigenous territories.
Brazilian movements also notched up a landmark legal victory when a federal court cancelled the mining contract for the Belo Sun gold project on the Xingu River, after challenges over Indigenous rights and environmental impacts. Amazon Watch says the ruling has become a rallying point for communities resisting similar large‑scale mines.
At COP30, held in the Amazon region, Brazil’s federal government announced progress towards recognising ten new Indigenous territories, including the Munduruku people’s Sawré Ba’pim area, covering around 150,000 hectares. The organisation argues these gains show that Indigenous sovereignty and collective action are central not only to protecting the rainforest but to stabilising the global climate.
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