Environmental Defenders

Indigenous leader Auricélia Arapiun describes the occupation of the Cargill terminal, in Pará, which forced the government to concede after 33 days, repealing the controversial decree 12.600, which provided concessions to developers hoping to turn the Tapajós, Madeira and Tocantins tributaries of the Amazon into waterways for the export of soya and the other fruits of extraction.

Indigenous activist Haizel explains to LAB contributor Isàlia McIntyre how strengthening Maya identity supports resistance to megaprojects harming communities across the Yucután.

COP30 in Belém raised hopes that the Amazon would finally move to the centre of global climate action. While governments agreed to expand adaptation finance and launch new forest-protection initiatives, binding commitments on deforestation, fossil fuels and Indigenous land rights remained absent. As Brazil hosted the climate summit in the heart of the rainforest, the gap between diplomatic ambition and enforceable protection became stark.

As an offshore oil prospecting ship arrives in Montevideo, Mike Gatehouse interviewed Vito Mata who has been closely involved in campaigns of protest that aim to halt seismic exploration and subsequent drilling and production. Uruguay’s ocean, fisheries and coastal communities are under threat.

Colombia is at a crucial point as major projects led by Gustavo Petro’s government have hinged the country’s future on the promises of the energy transition. But this transition will not benefit people in Colombia by default. We hear from environmental defenders working across the coal corridor to protect their territories and ensure no one is left behind as mines close and renewable energy projects begin. 

In Oaxaca, southern Mexico, communities are organizing to resist the large-scale private extraction of sand and gravel from the Río Grande, which is wiping...

Amid industrial pressure and legal rollbacks, a grassroots women's network fights for ancestral marine rights and cultural survival in Chile. ‘If they take the sea...

In March 2025, the rivers of Esmeraldas, an Ecuadorian province that for decades has suffered from the social and environmental impacts of the petrochemical industry, were heavily polluted by a 25,000-barrel crude oil spill. Afro-descendant communities, environmental defenders organized in solidarity networks, and local universities continue agitating the murky waters of a disaster the country would prefer had sunk into oblivion.

Bolivia’s Madidi National Park is considered to be the most biodiverse place on planet earth. The Uchupiamonas people, who call the park home, are in a constant battle against forces eager to exploit the protected area for its wildlife, hydroelectric potential, hardwoods, and gold. In the short film Voices for Madidi - Voces por el Madidi, we hear from environmental defenders on the frontlines. The director tells us more.

In the Bolivian highlands, the Indigenous community of Cala Cala is waging a battle to defend the headwaters of its river from mining. What...