We just received an urgent cry for help from over 1000 families in the Amazon.
Canadian mining giant Belo Sun is trying to forcefully evict them to make way for the largest open-pit gold mine in Brazil – right in the heart of the Amazon.
Naturally, the families refuse to leave their rightful home, which is making it impossible for the destructive project to move ahead.
And now Belo Sun is suing them to force them off their land…forever.
They urgently need to raise funds to pay a lawyer to fight back in court to save their home, and the forest – can you chip in to help?
The Xingu River is a vital water source for the world’s largest rainforest, sustaining the delicate ecosystem and providing life to thousands of traditional farmers, 25,000 Indigenous peoples from 18 Indigenous groups who call the area home.
If completed, this monstrous project on the river's banks would destroy nearly 6,000 acres to make way for two vast open-pit mines, a tailings dam to store chemical waste, a storage facility for explosives, and a landfill – not to mention the roads and lodging necessary to support such a massive operation.
A mine of this size would cause catastrophic damage to the river and the forest that surrounds it, leaving behind billions of gallons of toxic waste like cyanide that could contaminate the delicate ecosystem already on the brink of collapse.The people of Xingu have risked everything by refusing to leave their homes and make way for the mine.
But now that Belo Sun has dragged 60 families who are bravely refusing to leave their lands to court -- they won’t be able to keep up the fight…without our support. Can you help them save their piece of the Amazon?
Together, we’ve stood with local and Indigenous communities from across Brazil time and time again, exposing companies' attempts to exploit their lands, raising money to support communities doing vital work to protect the forest, and demanding Brazil’s government stop the destruction.
Now, let’s stand with the communities of the Xingu River by answering their call for help as they risk everything to save the Amazon and their home.
Thanks for all that you do, Allison and the Ekō team