News of Note 10/31/25: Full Protections Needed for 196+ Uncontacted Peoples, Rise of Violence in Nicaragua, Historic Indigenous Biodiversity Meeting
Top Stories
Uncontacted Indigenous groups could vanish within a decade without stronger protections, experts say (Associated Press)
“A new report by Survival International, a London-based Indigenous rights organization, attempts one of the broadest tallies yet, identifying at least 196 uncontacted Indigenous groups in 10 countries, primarily in the South American nations sharing the Amazon rainforest. Released Sunday, the report estimates that nearly 65% face threats from logging, about 40% from mining and around 20% from agribusiness. [...] Survival’s research shows that more than 95% of the world’s uncontacted peoples live in the Amazon, with smaller populations in South and Southeast Asia and the Pacific. These communities live by hunting, fishing and small-scale cultivation, maintaining languages and traditions that predate modern nation-states.”
Related:
Critical minerals ‘surround’ 45 isolated indigenous peoples in the Amazon (Repórter Brasil)
Brothers in the forest' - the fight to protect an isolated Amazon tribe (BBC)
Report urges full protection of world’s 196 uncontacted Indigenous peoples (Mongabay)
IACHR publishes report on violence against Indigenous peoples and people of African descent on Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights)
”In response to these acts of cruelty and the growing intensity of the violence, the IACHR and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have granted protective measures to more than 15 communities that have been targets of violent aggression, as well as to Indigenous rights defenders, arbitrarily detained forest rangers, community leaders, journalists, and media workers at risk. The granting of these measures, which the State has failed to comply with, is testimony to the gravity and urgency of the situation, which is ongoing.”
A Historic Step for Indigenous Peoples: The First Meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Article 8(j) (Cultural Survival)
”“In Panama City, the global community gathers for a truly historic event: the first meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Article 8(j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, taking place from October 27 to 30, 2025. For Indigenous Peoples, this meeting is not just another gathering in a long process of international negotiations; it is the outcome of more than a quarter-century of work to secure recognition, respect, and participation in the convention.””
Spotlight
“We are more than 30 communities that have lived around the salt flats for thousands of years, according to anthropological studies. We are very concerned about the arrival of mining companies seeking to extract brine water for lithium (a critical mineral) because we fear what might happen to our way of life if we run out of this essential resource: water. [...] In recent decades, we have already noticed that water is running out, and this trend will continue. So, if companies take away water, what are we going to live on? Attacks on our ancestral culture are direct attacks on human rights, and these companies are doing this to save the world from the impacts of climate change by using the minerals for renewable technologies. But we want to be included among those who will be saved — not sacrificed to save others.” –Clemente Flores, Voices from the land: Lithium mining may threaten a precious resource — water (commentary), Mongabay
More News
Why aren’t we listening to Indigenous people about the climate crisis? (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism)
Malaysia Looks to Aotearoa for Indigenous Rights Reform (Asia Media Centre via IC Magazine)
Impunity and Indigeneity: Renewed Violence and Denial in Bangladesh’s Hill Tracts (Cultural Survival)
Brazil’s oil drive in run up to Cop30 slammed by indigenous activist (The Independent)
Brazil Has 391 Ethnic Groups and Nearly 1.7 Million Indigenous People, National Demographic Survey Shows (Folha de S.Paulo)
How the rise of green tech is feeding another environmental crisis (BBC)
US critical minerals deal [with Australia] will leave many Aboriginal people behind (National Indigenous Times)
Alberta First Nations denounce plans to ‘treat and release’ oil sands tailings (Ricochet)
KPMG finds businesses wary of project delays without proper Indigenous consultation (The Canadian Press)
In a Warming Arctic, a Fight Brews Over the Fabled Northwest Passage (The New York Times)
Trump administration guts community finance fund, a move that threatens tribal economies (ICT News)
Trump officials say Alaska is ‘open for business.’ So far, no one’s buying. (Grist)
The rise of Indigenous capital and self-determination: global forum charts new economic frontier (National Indigenous Times)