Threats to Environmental and Indigenous Defenders

Environmental and Indigenous defenders often face intimidation, harassment, and lethal violence while protecting land, territory, and natural resources.

Documented cases and global reporting connect these threats to land disputes, mining and other extractive activity, organized crime, corruption, weak legal protections, and impunity. The subject also includes efforts to improve accountability through investigations, documentation, corporate due diligence, stronger land rights, and frameworks such as the Escazú Agreement. Cases involving defenders in Latin America, the Philippines, Indonesia, and East Africa illustrate how local conflicts can expose individuals and communities to wider patterns of risk.