Amazon Watch, Amazon Aid Foundation, Rainforest Foundation US, COICA, and EMA team up for 'Artists United for Amazonia' Livestream Global Event

Barbra Streisand, Sting, Jane Fonda, Carlos Santana, Dave Matthews, Morgan Freeman, Jane Goodall, Jeff Bridges, Peter Gabriel, and Herbie Hancock to headline global livestream event supporting COVID-19 relief in the Amazon

Artists United for Amazonia is livestream event for the benefit of the Amazon Emergency Fund, an indigenous-led effort providing rapid response grants across the Amazon to address the pandemic

HOLLYWOOD, California, May 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 28, 2020, Sting, Barbra Streisand, Jane Fonda, Morgan Freeman, Carlos Santana, Dave Matthews, Jane Goodall, Jeff Bridges, Peter Gabriel, Herbie Hancock, Trudie Styler, Cara Delevingne, Brazilian Grammy winners Ivan Lins and Luciana Souza, as well as numerous others, will join indigenous leaders, scientists, and a broad coalition of NGOs in hosting Artists United for Amazonia: Protecting the Protectors, a global livestream benefit. The event is being produced by Artists for Amazonia. The two-and-a-half-hour event, to run from 8pm to 10:30pm ET, will be hosted by activist, actress, and "Game of Thrones" and "Avatar" sequel co-star Oona Chaplin, with closing remarks by Barbara Streisand. The livestream will be available via Facebook and artistsforamazonia.org.

The benefit will promote the Amazon Emergency Fund, launched last month by a coalition of indigenous organizations, NGOs, and allies to respond to the urgent needs of indigenous peoples of the Amazon threatened by COVID-19. Funds raised will be used for: immediate testing, prevention and care; food and medical supplies; emergency communications and evacuation; protection and security for indigenous territories; & food sovereignty and community resilience. The Amazon Emergency Fund aims to raise $5 million over the next 60 days for Forest Guardians to protect themselves against the pandemic in all nine Amazonian countries.

Right now, there are over 100,000 known COVID-19 cases and well over 5,000 confirmed deaths across the Amazon. As the novel coronavirus continues to spread, indigenous peoples are increasingly at risk and could face a potential ethnocide. The Achuar indigenous peoples in Ecuador have reported a dozen cases, the Shipibo of Peru have reported 45 deaths, and in Brazil there have been 143 deaths and 1,256 cases. Due to a lack of healthcare resources across the region, cases are likely underreported and illegal deforestation and extraction activities on indigenous lands further heighten the risk of exposure. In April, hundreds of organizations across the globe signed on for a moratorium against incursions into the Amazon and called to end all destructive activity that further degrades and deforests the Amazon. Indigenous peoples are the best stewards and protectors of the Amazon rainforest and so their protection is vital for the health of our planet.