Latin America home to 90 percent of the deaths of land defenders

Latin America remains the most dangerous region on the planet for the work of environmentalists and land defenders, per the latest report by NGO Global Witness — a renowned global environmental crime watchdog.

The report, released on Wednesday, states that at least 177 defenders ‘lost their lives protecting our planet’ last year, increasing the death toll to over 1,900 this decade. “On average, a defender was killed every other day in 2022,” the document states. 

Around 88 percent of casualties registered in 2022 were reported in Latin America, placing the region in a “particularly concerning” situation. Eleven of the 18 countries featured in the report are in Latin America. All top 4 countries in murders of land defenders are in the region.

The study also discusses ‘an emerging pattern of killings’ in the Amazon rainforest, which comprises nine countries in South America. More than one in five of all the murders recorded globally happened within endangered Amazon areas that struggle in the face of high deforestation rates — boosted by land-grabbing, illegal mining, and other related territorial conflicts.

Indigenous peoples are also particularly threatened; 36 percent of the defenders killed in 2022 belong to indigenous ethnic groups.

The new study also highlights the terrifying situation engulfing Colombia, the biggest violence hotspot, with 60 deaths, nearly twice as many as in 2021. “Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant communities, small-scale farmers have been viciously targeted” in Colombia, according to Global Witness. 

Brazil comes second, with 34 assassinations, including the murders of Brazilian indigenous expert Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips in June 2022. According to Global Witness, Brazilian defenders faced “relentless hostility” under the administration of former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Shortly after the disappearance of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, The Brazilian Report revealed that the former Bolsonaro administration had ignored multiple warnings about the “imminent dangers” of violence at Vale do Javari, a secluded Amazon reserve where the murders were perpetrated.

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