Environmental killings are murders, assassinations, or other unlawful killings which are linked to environmental issues such as illegal logging, mining, land grabbing, pollution etc. Victims have included not only environmental and land rights activists, but also members of indigenous communities and journalists who have reported on these issues.[1][2][3]

Statements

In 2003, the Environmental Justice Foundation reported that in at least 11 countries people had been murdered for opposing shrimp farming and its associated environmental impacts.[4]

According to Global Witness, the number of environmental killings worldwide reached 147 in 2012, and the total number of such murders between 2002 and 2013 exceeds 908.[1] In only six of these cases were the killers tried, convicted and punished. The report blames this level of impunity, together with the lack of attention to the issue, for the rise in the numbers of deaths.

In March 2014, when the United Nations Independent Expert on human rights and the environment, John Knox, presented his first detailed report to the UN Human Rights Council on the human rights obligations relating to environmental protection he stated: “Environmental human rights defenders deserve no less protection than other human rights defenders.”[5][6]

List of killings

Following is a list of the victims of environmental killings by date:

20th century

DateActivist nameCountryCause
July 8, 1905Guy BradleyUnited StatesBirds protection[7]
November 3, 1942 Ernest Gibbins Uganda Entomologist killed by tribesmen
July 31, 1977Vital MichalonFrancekilled by police in a demonstration against the fast breeder nuclear reactor at Malville
June 3, 1979Gladys del EstalSpainAnti-nuclear ecologist activist killed by a Civil Guardsman during a demonstration against a nuclear power plant and an aircraft firing range.
July 21, 1980Wilson PinheiroBrazilPreservation of the Amazon rainforest
May 13, 1985 John Africa, Rhonda Africa, Theresa Africa, Frank Africa, Conrad Africa, Tree Africa, Delisha Africa, Netta Africa, Little Phil Africa, Tomaso Africa, and Raymond Africa Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Police bombing of MOVE (racial and environmental justice) organization headquarters
July 10, 1985Fernando PereiraNew ZealandProtest against nuclear testing
c. December 26, 1985Dian FosseyRwandaMountain gorilla conservationist
April 6, 1987Vicente CañasBrazilProtection of Enawene Nawe people land
December 22, 1988Chico MendesBrazilPreservation of the Amazon rainforest
August 20, 1989 George Adamson Kenya Conservationist most recognized for his work on lions
1 September 1990Seub NakhasathienThailandSuicide to signify the importance of the environment
February 6, 1995Jeannette KawasHondurasProtests again palm plantations and dams
November 10, 1995Ken Saro-WiwaNigerianonviolent campaign against environmental degradation caused by crude oil extraction

21st century

In the 21st century, more than 1000 environmental activists have been killed.[citation needed] Every year, more than 100 environmental activists are murdered throughout the world.[8] 116 environmental activists were assassinated in 2014.[9] More than two environmentalists were assassinated every week in 2014 and three every week in 2015.[10][11] 185 environmental activists were assassinated in 2015.[12] More than 200 environmental activists were assassinated worldwide between 2016 and 2018.[13] In 2019 and 2020 the number was 212[14][15] and 227[16][17] respectively.

DateActivist nameCountryCause
September 17, 2003Jane TipsonSaint LuciaConservationist and animal rights activism.
12 February 2005Dorothy StangBrazilPreservation of the Amazon rainforest
13 January 2006 Joan Root Kenya Anti-poaching task force
2010Leonard CoPhilippinesBotanist and plant taxonomist shot by the military during a biodiversity project in a forest.
January 24, 2011Gerry OrtegaPhilippinesCrocodile farming, anti-corruption, sustainable ecotourism, and anti-mining advocate.
May 24, 2011José Cláudio Ribeiro da SilvaBrazilPreservation of the Amazon rainforest
16 August 2011Shehla MasoodIndiaRTI and environmental activism
26 April 2012Chut WuttyCambodiaCritic of the military's alleged role in illegal logging
11 September 2012Hang Serei OdomCambodiaReports about illegal logging industry
13 March 2013Perween RahmanPakistanReports about illegal logging industry
May 31, 2013Jairo Mora SandovalCosta RicaProtection of leatherback turtle nests
April 9, 2015 Gregory "Gibby" Leonard Gibbard Zimbabwe Protection of African painted dogs[18]
25 August 2015Raimundo Santos Rodrigues (and his wife)BrazilEnvironmental rights defender.[19][20][21]
11 November 2015Lkhagvasumberel (Sumbee) TumursukhMongoliaSnow leopard conservationist
13 October 2016[22]Luiz Alberto AraújoBrazilSecretary for the environment on Altamira city council
3 March 2016Berta CáceresHondurasProtests against the construction of Agua Zarca Dam.
16 August 2017 Wayne Lotter Tanzania Wildlife conservationist
4 February 2018 Esmond Bradley Martin Kenya Elephants and ivory trade
2 November 2019Paulo Paolino GuajajaraBrazilAmazon Protector
January 2020Homero Gómez GonzálezMexicoEnvironmental activist, agricultural engineer, and politician. El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Preserve
October 2020Fikile NtshangaseSouth AfricaEnvironmental activist involved in a legal dispute over the extension of an opencast mine operated by Tendele Coal near Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park, the oldest nature reserve in Africa.
26 July 2022 Anton Mzimba South Africa Timbavati Private Nature Reserve ranger
18 January 2023Manuel Esteban Paez TeránUnited StatesEnvironmental activist involved in Stop Cop City social movement to prevent construction of the Cop City by the Atlanta Police Foundation and the City of Atlanta.
29 September 2023Quinto Inuma AlvaradoPeruTribal leader who opposed illegal logging in his community[23]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Global Witness. 2014. Deadly Environment. The dramatic rise of killings of environmental and land defenders 1.1.2012-31.12.2013. Global Witness, London., retrieved 16 July 2014
  2. ↑ Revkin, A. When Journalists Are Dying to Expose Environmental Plunder. New York Times.17 September 2012, retrieved 16 April 2014
  3. ↑ Reporters Without Borders. 2009. The Dangers for Journalists Who Report Environmental Issues. Paris. September 2009 Archived 2010-03-31 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 16 April 2014
  4. ↑ EJF.2003. Smash & Grab: Conflict, Corruption and Human Rights Abuses in the Shrimp Farming Industry. Environmental Justice Foundation, London, UK, retrieved 16 April 2014
  5. ↑ United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 2014. UN expert urges States to take into account human rights obligations in their environmental policies. 11 March 2014., retrieved 16 April 2014
  6. ↑ "Environmental human rights defenders: emerging challenges and solutions - Universal Rights Group". Universal Rights Group. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
  7. ↑ Then and Now | Wise International
  8. ↑ "Environmental activist murders set record as 2015 became deadliest year". TheGuardian.com. 20 June 2016.
  9. ↑ "Map: 116 environmental activists were killed in just one year". Grist.org. 5 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
  10. ↑ Stout, David (20 April 2015). "Environmental Activists Killed in Record Numbers in 2014". Time. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
  11. ↑ "Killings of land and environmental defenders in 2015 | Global Witness". Global Witness. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
  12. ↑ Holmes, Oliver; correspondent, South-east Asia (20 June 2016). "Environmental activist murders set record as 2015 became deadliest year". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-09-25. {{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  13. ↑ "Cambodian forest defenders killed after confronting illegal loggers". The Guardian. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  14. ↑ "Defending Tomorrow". Global Witness. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  15. ↑ "A Record Number of Environmental Activists Were Killed In 2019". Time. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  16. ↑ "The industries causing the climate crisis and attacks against defenders". Global Witness. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  17. ↑ "Record number of environmental activists murdered". BBC News. 2021-09-13. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  18. ↑ Moyana, Fairness (2015-04-09). "Conservationist Gibbard murdered". herald. Retrieved 2025-05-29.
  19. ↑ "Why are Brazil's environmentalists being murdered?". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
  20. ↑ "Killings of environmental activists jumped by 20 percent last year". News.mongabay.com. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 2016-09-25.
  21. ↑ "Case History: Raimundo dos Santos Rodrigues | Front Line Defenders". Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  22. ↑ Sandy, Matt (24 October 2016). "Murder of Brazil official marks new low in war on Amazon environmentalists". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  23. ↑ Davey, Ed; Pereda Zavaleta, David (30 November 2023). "Peruvian rainforest defender from embattled Kichwa tribe shot dead in river attack". Associated Press. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_environmental_killings