The Kichwa community of Sarayacu located in the Pastaza province in the Amazonian region of Ecuador has a population of about a thousand people. Its name means “River of Corn”. The Sarayacu maintain their traditional lifestyles and culture, but the threats to that continuity have never been greater.

The International Red Cross says that over 665,000 people across 17 of Mongolia’s 21 provinces are struggling to survive this winter, and the cold is expected to kill millions of livestock. This is the fourth year that extreme winter conditions called “dzud” (a winter disaster that follows widespread drought in the summer and is specific to Mongolia) will devastate animals and herders of this region. At least 24,000 animals have perished since the beginning of this year, and the three preceding dzuds have already killed over six million livestock.

The latest loan approved by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to the Bolivian company Transredes, which is partially controlled by U.S.-based corporations Enron and Shell, suggests that if a business’ practices are deemed too shady for the United States, publicly administered overseas lending institutions have no qualms about using U.S. taxpayer money to export those methods to lesser developed countries.Transredes is jointly administered by Shell and Enron, which together have a 25% share in the company.

The Sarayacu people of Ecuador are facing new challenges in their struggle against the oil development activities of ChevronTexaco on their ancestral lands. They have been fighting to protect their at-risk environmental and social heritage from the degradation of oil development since 1989. ChevronTexaco's latest action is the creation of a new camp on Sarayacu territory; it claims that the camp is protected with landmines. It is unclear whether they have actually deployed land mines, or whether it is a bluff to keep the Sarayacu from trying to stop this latest encroachment.

Mongolians living in Great Britain have collected material aid totaling $3,200 (U.S.) to help Mongolia’s traditional herding communities face the long and harsh winter. Severe winter conditions in several areas of Mongolia have caused a significant livestock losses; their herds are the primary source of livelihood for traditional herding groups.

Four hundred leaders, elders, and delegates of the organizations FINAE (Federación Interprovincial de la Nacionalidad Achuar del Ecuador), FIPSE (Federación Independiente del Pueblo Shuar del Ecuador) and FICSH (Federación Interprovincial de Centros Shuar) resolved to maintain their opposition to extractive industries, specifically to the oil contract in Block 24 in the southeast Ecuadorian Amazon. The constituent communities are composed almost entirely of the Shuar and Achuar peoples.

Protestors from two Kayan longhouses, Long Laput and Sungai Dua, formed blockades of the only two logging access roads in the area on July 19. The Kayan are protesting the actions of two companies, Rimbunan Hijau and Shin Yang (Forestry) Plantation, which they claim are conducting logging and nursery activities in the communal customary lands of the two longhouses. The Sungai Dua Headman stated that the companies were conducting their operations near the Kayan water catchment areas and had already encroached on the buffer zone surrounding local bird nest caves.

Following efforts to stop logging in customary Penan areas, including a blockade that began in March, 47 Penan chiefs have signed a memorandum to be submitted to Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud and Datuk Seri Abang Johari Tun Openg, the State Minister in charge of Penan Affairs. The memo, which is the result of a five-day long meeting in the remote village of Long Sayan, also addresses healthcare, education and communal land rights.

Borneo’s indigenous people have erected new blockades against logging and sand mining activities on their native lands. Since March 27, 2002 many Sarawak indigenous groups, including the Penan, Kayan, and Kenyah, have erected barricades to prevent the movement of logging and mining vehicles. It is the first time that these indigenous communities have come together drawing national and worldwide attention to their plight.

The indigenous peoples on the island of Borneo are protesting against logging and sand mining activities on their native lands. Since March 27, 2002 many Sarawak indigenous communities, including the Penan, Kayan, and Kenyah, have put up blockades to stop the movement of logging and mining vehicles.