People protecting nature and land set up self-defence units amid threat of murder

AI Summary

Environmental and land defenders are being killed at a rate of one every three days, with 85% of deaths occurring in Latin America. Many communities have formed self-defense groups to protect themselves from organized crime and illegal activity intrusions.

Defenders of forests and rivers killed at rate of one every three days in 2025, with 85% of deaths in Latin America Nature and land defenders were murdered at the rate of one every three days last year, prompting many communities to set up self-defence units, according to the latest annual death toll by the independent watchdog Global Witness. Organised crime groups or professional killers were implicated in more than a third of the 124 killings of defenders in 2025 as narco-trafficking activities overlapped with intrusions into indigenous territories and environmental crime, such as illegal logging and wildcat gold mining. Continue reading...