Earth Defenders

Humanity is facing an environmental emergency of unprecedented proportions. Climate change, biodiversity loss, ecosystems degradation and toxic pollution of air, water and soil are dramatic, interconnected processes that are severely impacting the human rights of billions of people.

Take Action

Defenders of Land, Territory, Environment & Climate

Community members who take action to protect water, land, forests and air from the impact of industrial activities are important agents of change and leaders in efforts to tackle climate change. Yet far too often they are under attack, both here in Canada and across our hemisphere.

Indigenous and racialized peoples are at heightened risk as they seek to protect land and water vital to their survival.

The legacy of colonialism, slavery and white supremacy is ever present. Also at heightened risk are women earth defenders who are often at the forefront of community struggles. They face gender-specific violations and abuses, such as sexual violence and threats against their children, because in addition to challenging powerful economic interests, their outspoken efforts may transgress expectations about gender roles.

Take Action
A woman with oil paint over eyes
Indigenous people and climate activists protest in front of the headquarters of the oil company Rapsol against oil contamination and the fossil fuel industry during the World Climate Conference. Photo by Clara Margais/picture alliance via Getty Images.
“How can we turn the tide on the climate crisis if land defenders are systematically attacked? How can we speak of a just transition if we leave behind the communities that have already suffered the worst of climate change? How can we end another year with more deaths than the last?”
297641_ Amnesty Icons - Activism - Quote - PNG

Sandra Ramirez

Environment defender forced to flee Colombia

A group of land defenders gather in the forest in Honduras

Earth Defenders Under Attack in Latin America

People who speak up to defend air, water, land and forests are seeking to protect the rights and well being of their communities. They play a crucial role for the environment and all who depend on it.   

Yet earth defenders are being “rewarded” with a terrifying increase in threats, attacks and killings. 

Indigenous peoples and racial minorities face the greatest danger. Also at heightened risk are women earth defenders because in addition to challenging powerful economic interests, their outspoken efforts may transgress gender norms. Women defenders often face gender-specific rights violations including sexual violence and threats made against their children. 

Research shows Latin America is the most dangerous region in the world to defend land, Indigenous rights and the environment.

In a report entitled They Spoke Truth to Power and Were Murdered in Cold Blood, UN expert Michel Forst says it is the responsibility of governments to protect environmental human rights defenders and address root causes of the violence, including:  

Resource exploitation that fails to address the legitimate concerns and demands of local communities or the right to free, prior and informed consent.    

Failure by companies to respect the rights of earth defenders to express dissent and oppose their activities.  

Failure by States to communicate clearly the human rights obligations of business enterprises and sanction companies associated with threats to defenders.  

Failure to investigate and bring to justice those who threaten or attack earth defenders.

‘Defending the land with our blood’

In its 2017 report Global Witness, called Honduras the “deadliest place to defend the planet” with more killings of land and environment defenders per capita than any other country.  

The 2016 assassination of Lenca Indigenous leader Berta Cáceres, amid efforts to stop construction of a hydroelectric dam project, is emblematic of the deadly violence.   

Berta was awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her advocacy on behalf of communities opposing the damming of the Gualcarque River, considered sacred by the Lenca and vital to their health and well being. In Honduras, Berta got death threats as she continued to voice community opposition to the dam and was gunned down months later.

Photo of a women smiling with candles around it

Since Berta’s assassination, dozens of other Indigenous rights, land and water defenders, have been attacked and killed in Honduras. Smear campaigns of false accusations are common, and often a precursor to physical attacks.   

Lack of justice fuels more threats and attacks. But so too does corruption and flagrant violation of Indigenous rights when it comes to mining, logging and infrastructure projects that impact Indigenous lands and the environment. It is a recipe for more bloodshed.

For a PowerPoint presentation with the photos and words of earth defenders in Honduras, contact campaigner Kathy Price.

Read our report: ‘We Are Defending the Land With Our Blood’.

Read Report

Caught between bullets and neglect

Defenders of land, Indigenous territory and the environment in Mexico face deadly violence. In 2018 alone, at least 21 defenders were killed, compared to just 3 murders in 2016. Together, Mexico and Colombia now account for more than half of the environmental human rights defenders killed around the world.  

The escalation of killings in Mexico can be traced to the growth of organized crime, corruption among state officials, lack of effective investigations to bring the killers to justice, and inadequate protection measures for threatened defenders. Also to blame is the imposition of resource extraction projects without the free, prior and informed consent of affected Indigenous peoples, sowing conflict and violence.

Mexican earth defenders stand in a circle in the forest looking at plans

The situation of Rarámuri Indigenous defenders in the Tarahumara Sierra of the northern state of Chihuahua is emblematic of a national crisis. As documented in our report Caught Between Bullets and Neglect, at least 10 Rarámuri defenders have been killed since 2015. They include Isidro Baldenegro, awarded a prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for his efforts to protect pine and oak forests in the Sierra Madre, and community leader Julián Carrillo who expressed opposition to the environmental impact of a mine concession in the month before he was killed.   

Despite a change in government in December 2018, attacks continue. The February 2019 murder of Samir Flores Soberanes underscores how dangerous the situation remains. Active in the Front of Peoples in Defense of the Earth and Water, Samir had been vocal in his opposition to a thermal-electric plant and pipeline project. 

Read the moving blog: Julián Carrillo defended the forest with his life

Dangerous smear, deadly attacks

Human rights defenders working on issues related to land, Indigenous territory and the environment in Guatemala, including the impacts of mining and hydro-electric dam projects,  face a vicious circle of social stigma and criminalization through the justice system, as well as an increase in killings.   

In 2018, 26 defenders were reported killed, an increase compared to previous years.   

A contributing factor is the disturbing willingness on the part of public officials to discredit human rights defenders in the eyes of the public with false accusations. Public statements labelling environmental human rights defenders as “terrorists”, “opponents of development” and “enemies of the state” create stigma and hostility that encourages physical attacks.   

This has a particular impact on women defenders because of traditional gender roles.  

Meanwhile, misuse of the justice system for baseless legal action continues to intimidate, harass, wear down and unjustly imprison earth defenders. The rights and protection of entire communities is impacted as a result.

5 people stand on a hill at the Site C Dam

Learn More

 

‘They are killing us’

The hashtag used on social media by countless grassroots organizations says it all: #NosEstanMatando. They are killing us.  

Colombia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to defend land, Indigenous territory and the environment – and the danger is growing. Together with Mexico, Colombia accounts for more than half the defenders killed around the world.  

Since the signing of a peace agreement in 2016, Colombia has witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of killings, threats and intimidation of human rights defenders, particularly those involved in conflicts over land and the natural resources found there.   

Indigenous peoples and Afro-descendant communities are a frequent target and the impact is devastating.

Colombia’s Constitutional Court has warned that armed conflict, displacement, and the imposition of resource extraction projects threaten the very survival of more than a third of Colombia’s Indigenous peoples.   

Yet the bloodshed continues, fuelled by knowledge that perpetrators of threats and attacks are rarely prosecuted.

Learn More
Demonstrators in Cali, Colombia, on June 13, 2021. Credit: LUIS ROBAYO/AFP via Getty Images

Learn More

‘They will not stop us’

Defenders of land, Indigenous territory and the environment put their lives on the line in Ecuador.

Throughout 2018, Amnesty International documented a series of attacks and threats perpetrated against women earth defenders of Mujeres Amazónicas, a collective seeking to protect the Amazon region and the health of communities living there from the destructive impacts of extractive industries. Women environment defenders face extraordinary risks not only because they are confronting powerful economic interests but also because their outspoken efforts defy traditional gender roles.

Mujeres Amazónicas and other organizations have raised concerns about intrusions of the state into the territory of the Sápara People for future oil extraction and government bids for oil extraction in the territory of the Kichwa People of Sarayaku without obtaining their free, prior and informed consent.

Women earth defenders have also raised concern about an escalation of sexual violence against Indigenous women that has coincided with expanding resource extraction projects.

Learn More


Download our posters to raise awareness and inspire action in solidarity with the defenders of Mujeres Amazónicas.

Colombia: Protect Those Who Protect Us

Perhaps the greatest priority we all face is protecting the environment on which our shared future depends.

Jani Silva, Danelly Estupiñan, Joel Rodríguez and María Ciro risk their very lives to respond to this challenge with hope and enormous courage.

Colombia has the second highest bio-diversity in the world, with unique ecosystems that include vast tracts of Amazon rainforest, the lungs of the world. Colombia is also the most dangerous country for people who defend land and the environment that is vital to Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant communities – and all of us!

Hundreds of defenders have been killed in the last year alone and new assassinations are reported almost daily. Others like Jani, Danelly, Joel and Maria are threatened with death if they continue to speak up. Yet they refuse to be silent.

Their stories, told in their own words in the short videos below, are emblematic of terrifying realities across Colombia. 

In a land of gaping inequality and the enduring legacy of colonization and slavery, Indigenous, black and rural campesino leaders are particularly at risk, especially when defending their right to a healthy environment puts them on a collision course with powerful people seeking to exploit its economic potential or the natural resources found there.

Women environment defenders face the added risk of sexual violence against them or their children because their outspoken efforts challenge traditional gender roles as well as economic interests. 

Defending human rights and the environment in Colombia should not be a death sentence.

Colombia has laws and institutions that were created to guarantee protection for human rights defenders. President Duque and his government have a duty to uphold those guarantees. They are clearly failing in their responsibility as the already terrifying number of murdered defenders continues to grow.

Learn More

Join us! Please sign our action to protect the environment defenders who seek to protect all of us.

Defenders in Colombia have sent out an SOS to the world with the hashtag #NosEstanMatando – #TheyAreKillingUs. They have appealed to us to raise our voices with theirs to call for urgent action to stop the violence, and protect the rights of entire communities at risk, along with their leaders.

Expressions of concern and calls for change from Canada can play an important role, especially given close ties of trade, investment and cooperation between our two countries.

Take Action

Environmental Defenders

Jani Silva

AMAZONIAN ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDER

Jani Silva was born in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. She is a subsistence farmer who has dedicated her life to defending our oxygen and our water.

In 2008, Jani co-founded the Association for the Comprehensive and Sustainable Development of the Amazon Pearl (known as ADISPA), to defend the rights of more than 1,200 other subsistence farmers living in a reserve called the “Perla Amazónica” in a region of incredible biodiversity. 

Jani courageously denounced contamination of land and water by the oil company Amerisur. She also speaks out against illegal armed groups who terrorize her community, seeking to take control of their land to exploit its economic potential.

Because of these efforts, Jani has been threatened with a gun pointed at her head. She has been forced to flee her land and go into hiding, amid plans to kill her. For Jani and the members of ADISPA to be able to keep defending our environment without fear of harm, armed groups must be dismantled and brought to justice. Yet the government has failed to take this action.

Speak up for Jani and other threatened land and environment defenders of ADISPA in the Amazon region.

Take Action

Danelly Estupiñan

AFRO-COLOMBIAN ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDER

Danelly Estupiñan grew up among mangroves and vibrant Afro-Colombian culture. At 15 years-old, she decided to dedicate her life to defending land and natural resources vital to the survival of Afro-descendant communities from companies and armed groups that wanted to take it over. 

Danelly is a defender with a coalition called the Black Communities Process (known as PCN), which coordinates more than 140 organizations working for the rights of black communities. Because of her work, Danelly suffers from constant death threats. Unknown individuals have broken into her home, and due to the constant surveillance and order to kill her, she has had to continuously move homes.

For the threats against Danelly to stop, the Public Prosecutor’s office must urgently proceed to investigate them and bring those responsible to justice. Yet this action has not been taken.

Speak up for Danelly and other threatened Afro-descendent land and environment defenders.

Take Action

María Ciro

CAMPESINA ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDER

María Ciro was raised in a rural campesina community of subsistence farmers whose survival depended on the cultivation of food crops on their land. She has dedicated her life to defending nature as a living being which we rely upon, not an object to be exploited.

María lives in Catatumbo, a region scarred by relentless armed conflict and militarization, despite the signing of a peace agreement with FARC rebels in 2016. She is active with the Catatumbo Social Integration Committee, an organization that defends community land and human rights, in particular the right to food and a healthy environment.

Because of their work, María and other members of her organization have suffered false accusations by authorities that have led to persecution. María and the other defenders need guarantees of respect for their rights and safety to be able to keep protecting the land and a healthy environment. They are still waiting amidst an ever more dangerous reality.

Speak up for María and threatened land and environment defenders in Catatumbo.

Take Action

Joel Chipiaje

SIKUANI INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDER

Joel Chipiaje grew up in harsh conditions, forcibly displaced by violence from the life-sustaining water, food and other natural resources of the ancestral land of his Indigenous community, ASEINPOME. Joel heard stories from his father about how armed groups hunted down and killed his people, forcing the survivors to flee their land in terror.

In 2015, Joel and 42 brave Sikuani-Kubeo Indigenous families decided to return to their ancestral land in Meta, a territory known as the agricultural breadbasket of Colombia. The families are now seeking formal recognition that the land is theirs. Meanwhile, they do all they can to protect it.

Because of these efforts, Joel and the ASEINPOME Indigenous community have received threats from people who want to take over the land. They have even burnt down houses in the community. Protection for Joel and his community – and the natural resources they seek to conserve – requires the Colombian government to grant them title to their ancestral lands and to prosecute those who threaten them. This has yet to happen, while persecution continues.

Speak up for Joel and threatened Indigenous land and environment defenders.

Take Action

Hydropower and the Defence of Rights at Risk

In many countries, affected communities and their leaders are risking their lives and liberty to challenge big dam projects that damage the environment and result in human rights violations or abuses. 

Rapid transition to renewable energy is of vital importance to avoid reaching levels of global warming which would be catastrophic for human rights protection. But this transition must not be carried out to the detriment of communities and individuals who are already marginalized or disadvantaged.

Large hydropower projects have serious negative ecological and climate consequences, such as major greenhouse gas emissions from large dam reservoirs along with serious impacts on biodiversity and food sources for local communities.

Human rights abuses linked to the construction of hydroelectric dams, especially large projects, are well documented. According to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, the hydropower sector is the renewable energy sub-sector with the largest number of allegations of human rights abuses.

A notorious recent example is the construction of the Agua Zarca dam in Honduras Opposition from affected Lenca Indigenous communities has been met with unlawful arrests, criminalization of human rights defenders and the killing of community leaders, including Berta Cáceres, co-founder and coordinator of the Civic Council of Indigenous and Popular Organizations of Honduras (COPINH).

Amnesty International has documented attacks on human rights defenders and other human rights violations associated with hydropower projects in other countries too, including the Site C and Muskrat Falls dams in Canada, the Hidroituango dam in Colombia, and the Oxec I and II dams in Guatemala.

Amnesty International calls on authorities and investors for rigorous due diligence before authorizing or investing in large hydropower projects, including thorough, independent environment and human rights impact assessments to ensure the projects and related mitigation measures will not lead to human rights abuses. No project should go ahead without meaningful consultation and the free, prior and informed consent – according to their customs and traditions – of affected Indigenous Peoples.

Learn More

Take Action

Mining and the Defence of Rights at Risk

Amidst an ever more dangerous climate emergency, communities and their leaders continue to face smear campaigns, criminalization and physical attacks as they courageously defend land, air and water threatened by the imposition of mining projects without consultation or consent.

A recent emblematic example is the unjust jailing of 8 defenders of the Guapinol River, a vital source of water to farming communities in northern Honduras. The defenders and their families also faced threats and attacks as they sought to stop contamination from a mine project awarded a permit after controversial rezoning of a protected area.

One of the key measures that governments must take to tackle the climate crisis is to urgently drive the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources and green technologies. Central to this shift is a massive increase in the use of rechargeable batteries which are already widely used to power phones, laptops, cameras, power tools, and even vehicles like cars and buses.

But this shift, which is already underway and gathering speed, carries its own risks of environmental harm and the abuse of human rights. The risks are especially imposed on people and communities already made vulnerable by structural inequalities, poverty, and discrimination. For decades, communities have sounded the alarm about longstanding human rights abuses and harms they have experienced from multinational mining companies, from threats and attacks to criminalization and murder. We must not allow investment in energy transition minerals to follow the same dangerous path.

Amnesty International has documented serious human rights abuses in countries with lucrative energy transition mineral deposits, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Argentina, and Canada. Communities are forcibly evicted to make way for expanding mines, young children are forced to dig for minerals, food security is threatened or lost, and low wages and dangerous conditions are the norm. Water resources and fragile ecosystems are also put at risk, even though they are of critical importance to peoples’ livelihoods, cultures, right to self-determination, and even their lives.

Amnesty International envisions an energy future in which minerals are sourced with the consent of all affected Indigenous Peoples, governments invest in mineral recycling on a massive scale to minimize sourcing new mineral deposits, and our seas are protected from deep sea mining. Where harms occur, Amnesty International calls on governments to provide effective and timely remedy that puts people and the planet before corporate profit.

Learn More

Will you be a champion for human rights?

Donate now
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.