Land defender

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Not to be confused with Land Rover Defender.

A land defender, land protector, or environmental defender is an activist who works to protect the earth's land and the human right to a safe, healthy environment.[1][2] [3] Land defenders are very often members of Indigenous communities who are protecting their land rights and land-based traditions.[1][4] Land defenders reject the term "protester" because they believe it has negative connotations and links to colonialism; they claim that they are performing a sacred duty through non-violent resistance to activities which endanger the land.[5] Land is considered sacred by Indigenous peoples and caring for and protecting land is considered a duty to honour ancestors, to current peoples, and future generations.[6]

Land defenders face severe persecution from powerful political and commercial alliances that profit from resource extraction and development. The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has determined that land defenders are 'among the human rights defenders who are most exposed and at risk.'[1] Global Witness reported 1,922 murders of land defenders in 57 countries between 2002 and 2019, with indigenous people accounting for approximately one third of this total. Documentation of this violence is also incomplete. The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights reported that as many as one hundred land defenders are intimidated, arrested or otherwise harassed for every one that is killed.[1]

Role and activism[]

Land defenders play an active and increasingly visible role in actions intended to protect, honour, and make visible the importance of land. There are strong connections between the water protector movement land defender movement and Indigenous environmental activism.[7][8] Land defenders resist the installation of pipelines, fossil fuel industries,[9] destruction of territory for development such as agriculture or housing, and resource extraction activities such as fracking because these actions can lead to the degradation of land, destruction of forest, and disruption of habitat.[10][11] Land defenders resist activities that harm land, especially across Indigenous territories and their work is tied to human rights.[12] Yazzie points to the resistance tactics of Diné land defenders and their anti-capitalist and anti-development stance on resource extraction as being highly connected to the longstanding traditions of Diné resistance.[13]

Activism can come in the form of the erection of blockades on reserve lands or traditional territories to block corporations from resource extraction activities.[5][14][15] Water and land protectors also erect camps as a way to occupy traditional territories and strengthen cultural ties. Land defenders also work through legal frameworks such as government court systems in effort to keep control of traditional territories.[6][16] Civil disobedience actions taken by land defenders, are frequently criminalized and some have argued subject to heavier policing and violence.[17][18] The role of land defender is a role that is frequently taken up by women, with women being visible at the front of blockades and in resistance protests.[19]

Dangers facing land defenders[]

Land defenders often face perilous conditions in opposition to state powers, resource corporations such as gas or mining corporations, others seeking to develop land or extinguish Indigenous land rights.[20][21] Middeldorp and Le Billon have pointed to the dangers faced by land defenders, particularly in authoritarian regimes. In their 2018 article on the topic the point to the killings of several land defenders in Honduras.[20] May et al connect the suppression of Indigenous land rights and a history of intimidation, violent tactics and murder against land defenders to economic development and "land grabs" in colonial nation states.[22] The Canadian national police force, the RCMP, were prepared to use deadly force against land defenders in a 2019 protest in British Columbia.[23] Dunlop connects acts of violence against land defenders in countries such as Mexico as retaliation for resistance to economic development and resource extraction.[24]

The human rights organization Global Witness reported that 164 land defenders were killed in 2018 in countries such as the Philippines, Brazil, India, and Guatemala.[25] This same report stated a significant number of the people killed, injured, and threatened were Indigenous.[25] Le Billon and Lujala report that at least 1734 environmental and land defenders were killed between 2002 and 2018 and that Indigenous people are most at risk, numbering more than a third of land defenders killed.[26] The UN has reported that many land protectors are labelled as terrorists by state governments in an effort to discredit their claims.[27] Such labelling can create dangerous conditions for those working to protect land rights.[27] Yale Environment 360 reported that at least 212 environmental campaigners and land defenders were murdered in 2019. At least 40% of these individuals are Indigenous.[28] Over half of the murders reported in 2019 took place in Colombia. and the Philippines.[28][29]

Amnesty International has called attention to the dangers facing those seeking to protect the earth, water, and communities, calling Latin America the most dangerous location for land defenders.[30][31] The Environmental Defence Fund has reported that over 1700 defenders have been killed with less than 10% of those responsible brought to justice.[32] The Extinction Rebellion (XR) has worked to bring attention to the situation of land defenders and have honoured those who have been killed[33] and the work of land defenders has been linked to climate justice initiatives such as Climate Strike Canada.[34]

Land defenders who have been killed[]

  • Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores (4 March 1971 – 2 March 2016) Honduran environmental activist, indigenous leader
  • Paulo Paulino Guajajara, Brazil, killed in 2019 an ambush by illegal loggers the Amazon region.[35][36]
  • Chico Mendes, Brazil, Environmentalist and activist.
  • Hernán Bedoya, Afro-Colombian land rights activist.
  • Julián Carrillo, indigenous Rarámuri leader, Mexico, killed 24 October 2018.[37][38][39]
  • Datu Kaylo Bontolan, Manobo tribal chieftain, member of the National Council of Leaders of Katribu, Northern Mindanao, Philippines, killed 7 April 2019.[29][40]
  • Omar Guasiruma, Indigenous leader, Colombia, killed March 2020.[29]
  • Ernesto Guasiruma, Indigenous leader, Colombia, killed March 2020.[29]
  • Simón Pedro Pérez, Indigenous leader, killed July 6th, 2021, Chiapas, Mexico.[41][42]
  • Javiera Rojas, Chilean environmentalist and activist, found dead in November 2021.[43]

See also[]

Further reading[]

  • Amnesty International (2016). "They Will Not Stop Us. Ecuador: Justice and Protection for Amazonian Women, Defenders of the Land, Territory, and Environment" (PDF).

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d Larsen, Billon, Menton, Aylwin, Balsiger, Boyd, Forst, Lambrick, Santos, Storey, Wilding (29 October 2020). "Understanding and responding to the environmental human rights defenders crisis: The case for conservation action". Conservation Letters.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Ducklow, Zoë (10 January 2019). "Judy Wilson's Message for Canadians: 'The Land Defenders Are Doing This for Everybody'". The Tyee. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Protesters? Or land protectors?". The Indy. 28 October 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  4. ^ IWGIA. "Land defence and defenders".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ a b "Standing Rock activists: Don't call us protesters. We're water protectors". Public Radio International. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Illegal protest or protecting the land? An Indigenous woman gets ready to face a Canadian court - APTN News". aptnnews.ca. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Meet Josephine Mandamin (Anishinaabekwe), The "Water Walker"". Indigenous Rising. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  8. ^ Maial Panhpunu Paiakan Kaiapó (24 October 2020). "Opinion: The devastation of my Amazon homeland has accelerated during the pandemic". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 11 February 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ "Mi'kmaq water protectors blocking fossil fuel infrastructure in Nova Scotia | rabble.ca". rabble.ca. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  10. ^ McKenzie-Sutter, Holly (27 November 2020). "Indigenous land occupants in Caledonia appeal injunction". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 11 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ Kestler-D'Amours, Jillian. "'RCMP off Wet'suwet'en land': Solidarity grows for land defenders". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  12. ^ "Beatings, Imprisonment, Murder: The World's Environmental Defenders Are Being Terrorized". Global Citizen. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  13. ^ Yazzie, Melanie K. (2018). "Decolonizing Development in Diné Bikeyah: Resource Extraction, Anti-Capitalism, and Relational Futures". Environment and Society. 9: 25–39. doi:10.3167/ares.2018.090103. ISSN 2150-6779. JSTOR 26879576.
  14. ^ "Barricades up in Caledonia after attempted arrest of land defender". The Hamilton Spectator. 5 October 2020. ISSN 1189-9417. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  15. ^ "Caledonia land occupation criminal cases move through courts". The Hamilton Spectator. 25 November 2020. ISSN 1189-9417. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  16. ^ "Beatings, Imprisonment, Murder: The World's Environmental Defenders Are Being Terrorized". Global Citizen. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  17. ^ Simpson, Michael; Le Billon, Philippe (1 February 2021). "Reconciling violence: Policing the politics of recognition". Geoforum. 119: 111–121. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2020.12.023. ISSN 0016-7185.
  18. ^ Spiegel, Samuel J. (1 January 2021). "Climate injustice, criminalisation of land protection and anti-colonial solidarity: Courtroom ethnography in an age of fossil fuel violence". Political Geography. 84: 102298. doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2020.102298. ISSN 0962-6298. PMC 7544477. PMID 33052177.
  19. ^ Lange, Shauna M. (2020), "Saving Species, Healthy Humanity: The Key Role of Women in Ecological Integrity", Ecological Integrity in Science and Law, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 85–96, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-46259-8_8, ISBN 978-3-030-46258-1
  20. ^ a b Middeldorp, Nick; Le Billon, Philippe (4 March 2019). "Deadly Environmental Governance: Authoritarianism, Eco-populism, and the Repression of Environmental and Land Defenders". Annals of the American Association of Geographers. 109 (2): 324–337. doi:10.1080/24694452.2018.1530586. ISSN 2469-4452. S2CID 159354399.
  21. ^ "Land Defenders Keep Getting Killed in Colombia". www.vice.com. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  22. ^ May, Roy H. (2018), Rozzi, Ricardo; May, Roy H.; Chapin III, F. Stuart; Massardo, Francisca (eds.), "Land Grabbing and Violence Against Environmentalists", From Biocultural Homogenization to Biocultural Conservation, Ecology and Ethics, Cham: Springer International Publishing, vol. 3, pp. 109–123, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-99513-7_7, ISBN 978-3-319-99512-0, retrieved 11 February 2021
  23. ^ Parrish, Jaskiran Dhillon Will (20 December 2019). "Exclusive: Canada police prepared to shoot Indigenous activists, documents show". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  24. ^ Dunlap, Alexander (15 April 2020). "The Politics of Ecocide, Genocide and Megaprojects: Interrogating Natural Resource Extraction, Identity and the Normalization of Erasure". Journal of Genocide Research: 1–24. doi:10.1080/14623528.2020.1754051. ISSN 1462-3528.
  25. ^ a b "164 land defenders murdered in 2018, Global Witness reports". Climate Home News. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  26. ^ Le Billon, Philippe; Lujala, Päivi (11 November 2020). "Environmental and land defenders: Global patterns and determinants of repression". Global Environmental Change. 65: 102163. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102163. ISSN 0959-3780.
  27. ^ a b Brown, Alleen (30 July 2019). "More Than 160 Environmental Defenders Were Killed in 2018, and Many Others Labeled Terrorists and Criminals". The Intercept. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  28. ^ a b "More Than 200 Environmental Activists and Land Defenders Murdered in 2019". Yale E360. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  29. ^ a b c d "Record 212 land and environment activists killed last year". the Guardian. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  30. ^ "Earth Land and Water Defenders". Amnesty International Canada. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  31. ^ Tabary, Zoe (1 November 2020). "One year on, family of murdered Amazon land defender say nothing has changed". Reuters. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  32. ^ "Murder in the rainforest: 1700+ defenders killed, but their legacy lives on". Environmental Defense Fund. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  33. ^ "Extinction Rebellion honours land defenders killed for protecting the environment". rabble.ca. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  34. ^ News, E. McIntosh |; Politics; September 17th 2020, Ottawa Insider | (17 September 2020). "Climate strikers are trying to trademark Erin O'Toole's 'Take Back Canada' slogan". National Observer. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  35. ^ Paulo, Sam Cowie São (2 November 2019). "Brazilian 'forest guardian' killed by illegal loggers in ambush". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  36. ^ "Brazil Amazon forest defender shot dead by illegal loggers". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  37. ^ "Julián Carrillo defended the forest with his life". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  38. ^ "Mexico's environmental defenders need justice and protection". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  39. ^ "Indigenous rights leader reported slain in northern Mexico". AP NEWS. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  40. ^ "Datu Kaylo Bontolan". HRD Memorial: Celebrating Those Who Were Killed Defending Human Rights. Retrieved 10 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  41. ^ "Indigenous Land Defender Assassinated in Chiapas". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  42. ^ "Mexico rights organizer killed, 3rd activist to die in month". AP NEWS. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  43. ^ "Chilean Activist Javiera Rojas, Who Helped Shut Down Dam Projects, Has Been Killed". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
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