Giant snakes, fish among spectacular species found in Amazon

Spectacular species previously unknown to the outside world are being discovered in the Amazon rainforest at a rate of one every three days, environment group WWF said in a report published Tuesday.

Photo courtesy of Irene Lee/Flickr

20 Pink Dolphins Die of Poisoning in Peruvian Amazon

La Republica said on Saturday that the pink dolphins of the Amazon must have eaten fish poisoned – according to preliminary investigations – with phosphorus or pesticides thrown in the water by unknown persons in order to eliminate them.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Schafer/K.S. Photography

Hoatzin — the strangest bird in the Amazon

The hoatzin hangs around trees near wet areas such as still water, slow-moving creeks, flooded forests, swamps and oxbow lakes.

Photo courtesy of Max Feingold/Flickr

Video: Flying over the vast Amazon rainforest

‘Avatar’ is Real in the Amazon

The story of Chevron in Ecuador is no less dramatic, tragic, or inspiring than the fantasy world of Pandora.

Photo courtesy of AP/20th Century Fox

Avatar in the Amazon

If there were ever a place that came close to the magical world of Pandora in James Cameron’s new film Avatar, it would probably be the Amazon.

Photo courtesy of AP/20th Century Fox

Scientists Identify Ecuador's Yasuni National Park as One of Most Biodiverse Places on Earth

A team of scientists has documented that Yasuní National Park, in the core of the Ecuadorian Amazon, shatters world records for a wide array of plant and animal groups, from amphibians to trees to insects.

Photo courtesy of Karen Yee/Flickr

Ecuadorians Want Chevron Held to Account

Ecuadorian communities are trying to stop Chevron from ducking responsibility for a $27 billion, 17-year environmental lawsuit. The latest installment in the epic legal war involves Chevron's petition for international arbitration under a bilateral investment treaty. Plaintiffs, representing 30,000 residents of the Amazon region, call it Chevron's latest attempt to "short-circuit" litigation.

Photo courtesy of gdiazdeleon/Flickr

New species including 30 varieties of frog are among discoveries in Ecuador's threatened rainforest

A team of scientists working in a ­threatened rainforest in Ecuador have discovered a species of snail sucking snake, 30 varieties of frog, and a gecko so small it can perch on top of a pencil.

Photo courtesy of RAEI

Avatar is real: Pandora is located in Central and South America and Africa

In the next generation, Central and South America will be the next battle fields for rich countries fighting over natural resources which they need to continue growing and keeping up with their consumerists, excessive ways of life. Minerals, oil, drinkable water, natural gas, forest and bio-tech resources are widely available in areas kept in balance by Native peoples for thousands of years.

Photo courtesy of AP/20th Century Fox

A nice photo taken in December showing a Caiman Lizard in the Ecuadorian Amazon

The Caiman lizard can be found in the countries of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Guyana. It spends a lot of time in the water and they inhabit marshes, streams and flooded forests. Caiman lizards often bask on branches overhanging the water.

Photo courtesy of Karen Yee/Flickr

Mystery of Amazon manatee migration solved

The species is only found in the Amazon River basin from the river mouth to the upper reaches of tributaries of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, and Peru.

[Photograph by: Doug Perrine/Naturepl]

Yasuni Park Trust Fund Will Keep Ecuador's Oil Underground

As a result of its unique location, Yasuni contains what are thought to be the greatest variety of tree and insect species anywhere on the planet. In just 2.5 acres, there are as many tree species as in all of the United States and Canada combined.

[Photograph by: Joshua Bousel]

Ecuador sues Chevron to stop arbitration

The Republic of Ecuador has sued the Chevron Corp. as the two battle over liability for pollution in the Amazon rainforest.

[Photograph by: gdiazdeleon]

Amazon rainforest summit fizzles

A summit intended to help save the Amazon rainforest has ended in Brazil without forging a common agenda on deforestation.

[Photograph by: Andre Penner/AP]

Amazon countries to hold climate talks

Leaders from the eight countries straddling the Amazon -- Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela -- have all been invited to Thursday's talks in the Brazilian city of Manaus, in the heart of the Amazon jungle.

[Photograph by: CityFiles/WireImage.com]

Ecuador wants money not to drill in Amazon

Ecuadorian innovative plan to save Rainforest, reduce Greenhouse gas Emissions

The Yasuni-ITT Initiative would protect a large area of pristine Amazon rainforest, by leaving untouched nearly one billion barrels of oil that lies beneath the Yasuni National Park in Ecuador.

[Map by: Schemata-Root.org]

Q&A with filmmaker Joe Berlinger

Joe Berlinger's new documentary, "Crude," is set deep in the Amazon jungle and tells the David-and-Goliath story of one of the world's biggest environmental lawsuits. The 30,000 Ecuadorean plaintiffs claim that Texaco (now part of Chevron) contaminated a Rhode Island-sized zone of the rainforest while drilling for oil, creating a surge of cancer and other health problems among the indigenous people.

[Photograph by: theskepticaloptimist]

The ‘Crude' truth

A group of 30,000 Ecuadoreans is suing Texaco, now part of Chevron, alleging that the oil giant spent three decades systematically poisoning part of the Amazon jungle while drilling for oil, creating a surge of cancer and other health problems among the local population.

[Photograph by: Crude The Movie]