Amazon Watch is a non-governmental organization founded in 1996. Their mission is to protect the Amazon rain forest and the indigenous people. There work is centrally located around the Amazon River in the counties of Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru. Economic globalization is causing problems for the indigenous people and environment of the Amazon. Amazon Watch plan on preventing problems by spreading awareness, persuading companies into not developing the land and supporting the indigenous people and partnering with local organizations.
Texaco, which is now considered Chevron, started drilling for oil in the northern part of Ecuador. This location is a very remote part of the Amazon rain forest and home to many groups of indigenous people. This was the first time someone drilled for oil in this area and there was not any rules on …show more content…
Texaco didn’t fellow any of the modern drilling processes because they wanted to save money (A Rainforest Chernobyl, (n.d.). This lead to the creation of 916 open-air toxic waste pits on the Amazon rain forest floor, 18 billion gallons of waste water, and released many contaminants. This effected the indigenous people negatively because many of the waste pits were on their territory. The waste pits contaminated their water supply and caused the death of the fish, which was their main source of food. The people also developed rashes as they bathed in the contaminated water. Texaco left Ecuador in 1992 but left the majority of the waste they created. In 2002, Amazon Watch created a campaign to support people who were affected by the pollution that Texaco caused. Amazon Watch’s campaign demanded Chevron to clean up the environment, pay the indigenous people for healthcare and poor environmental impacts they caused and provide portable