Environmental Defenders

The latest report from Global Witness confirms the rising trend in killings of environmental defenders, with Mexico becoming the most dangerous country in a very dangerous region which now accounts for over 75% of lethal attacks in the world.

The women of Tz’ununya’ Collective have struggled for eight years to defend and conserve Lake Atitlán by pushing for local authorities to stop the deterioration of the lake.

At least 58 indigenous people were killed in the Brazilian, Colombian, Ecuadorean and Peruvian Amazon between 2016 and 2021. In this article, Mongabay outlines the patterns, the involvement of state actors and the cloud of impunity surrounding these crimes

Murders of indigenous leaders in Peru continue, despite government promises to improve protections. Those who seek to defend their land and protect the local environment are targeted by illegal loggers, miners and drug traffickers.

Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira were murdered in a remote area of the Amazon – almost certainly by or on the orders of those who run the illegal trade in fish, timber, drugs and minerals. President Bolsonaro has fuelled lawlessness by his rhetoric.

Honduran environmental defender Berta Cáceres was brutally murdered in 2016 because of her opposition to the construction of the Agua Zarca dam, which threatened indigenous Lenca communities. This podcast series examines her life and death.

An attempted assassination, criminalization, and violent eviction in 2014 didn't stop the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya in Guatemala, which won legal action suspending harmful mining activities.

Indigenous people along Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast face constant danger as they seek to defend their autonomous territories against invasion by colonos and government claims that these are 'empty lands' available for development.

In Guatemala, environmental defenders are criminalised, evicted, beaten, imprisoned and sometimes killed. It is one of the most dangerous places in the world for those who seek to defend their communities, lands and environment.

A classic David-and-Goliath story, MAXIMA follows the efforts of an indigenous Peruvian farmer and activist, Máxima Acuña, in her battle to protect her land, water and dignity.