In this issue of the Newsletter, Overbrook grantee Amazon Watch reports on its work with the Indigenous Lands Protection Project in the Southern Ecuadorian Amazon area as well as their efforts with stockholders and directors by Challenging ConocoPhillips and Bringing Indigenous Voices to the North and Directing Financial Resources to the South. Specifically: Making the Connections - Oil and Debt in Ecuador. At the local level Amazon Watch contributes to Advancing the Community-Based Participatory Mapping Project - the mapping of oil extraction.

National Public Radio is well known but did you know that NPR reports on the environment around the world? One of their recent programs detailed the work of environmental corridors and their relationship to "hot spots." What's a "hot spot"? Read more about this phenomenon, pollution in urban areas, and global warming all in this article about the environment as covered by NPR.

The Forest Stewardship Council and the World Wild Life Fund report on its work in transforming the markets into responsible users of forest products. The control of wood in the forestry supply chain is a first in a series of forums sponsored by this Overbrook grantee.

The Institute for Reproductive Health Access played a vital role in the recent Supreme Court case involving access to second trimester abortions, Gonzales v. Carhart. The Institute collected over 150 stories from women across the nation who shared their second trimester abortion experiences. The collected stories were used in an Amicus Brief drafted and filed by attorneys at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP in support of the parties challenging the so-called federal "partial-birth abortion" ban. The brief reveals the very personal, usually tragic, circumstances that lead a woman to need an abortion late in a pregnancy. Through these brave women, many of whom have shared their stories in the media, this Overbrook grantee was able to help the Court and the general public understand the human side of this unfortunate debate.

Disappeared in America is a new, regular feature produced by New American Media. Its work profiles immigrants who have been detained or deported and whose cases illustrate unjust or inhumane features of the Department of Homeland Security's immigration and detention system. As part of its work, there is a map of the "Disappeared" - click here to see the map and here is a link to the press release - click here.