The Guardian ·
People protecting nature and land set up self-defence units amid threat of murder
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.
This was particularly true in Latin America, which accounted for 85% of last year’s deaths of people trying to protect forests, rivers and other ecosystems.
Colombia had the highest toll with 39 killings, followed by Brazil with 26 and Honduras with 12. In Asia, the most dangerous country for defenders was the Philippines, with 12 killings – many during crackdowns by state security forces.
Since Global Witness began compiling statistics in 2012, the overall global tally is now 2,375 deaths and disappearances – on a par with a small-scale war.
On a more positive note, the headline figure has declined over the last two years, from 196 in 2023 and 142 in 2024, though the report authors say this is likely to be an underestimate because data collection is difficult in war zones and authoritarian regimes.
Many countries and companies are also carrying out nonlethal attacks on defenders, including criminalisation and online smear campaigns.
Many defenders are now exposed to more organised crime with less assistance from the international community, partly as a result of cuts by the Trump administration. “The dismantling of USAID, which previously supported initiatives for Indigenous peoples to steward their own land, has had particularly serious implications for defenders,” the report says.
Almost three-quarters of the killings documented in 2025 were of Indigenous people and small-scale farmers targeted for defending their land. With less outside help, an increasing number of these communities are establishing their own territorial defence mechanisms.
The report highlights the example of the Kakataibo Indigenous Guard in the Peruvian Amazon. Six of the community’s leaders have been killed since 2020 amid growing incursions into the forest by criminal groups. Starting in 2022 with a few dozen recruits, the guard now has more than 150 volunteers in its 10 bases.
Segundo Ispón, the commander of the organisation, said the self-defence groups provided a global benefit: “Defending our territory is important to us as a community and as a people, and we’re proud to support the climate that we all depend on. In our culture, the work of defending our resources and territory is taught from an early age. But for this next generation coming up, the work is more dangerous than ever.”
At least a dozen other communities in Peru have organised self-defence units. Similar bodies have existed for some years in Colombia and Brazil. But it is risky. Last year, seven Indigenous guards were murdered. In at least five of these cases, the killings were linked to organised crime.
Many forest communities report the narco-threat is growing closer. In July, Asháninka leaders on the Brazilian border with Peru petitioned the government for help after armed and masked men entered their homes, apparently in search of assassination targets.
In the Ucayali basin on the other side of the border, Global Witness said there was a 600% increase in coca production between 2019 and 2023. This is pushing gangs to expand smuggling networks, including through the opening of illegal roads and trails through the forest. Corruption further adds to the risks facing forest protectors who stand in their way because many local politicians and police are in the pay of the traffickers.
Forest communities want help from governments to ease these pressures but there are concerns the opposite may be happening. Under US leadership, many rightwing governments are pursuing military crackdowns on coca growers and drug traffickers, which is pushing narco-gangs further into remote regions and indigenous territories.
Ricardo Soberón, a former head of Peru’s anti-narcotics office, said many communities were also affected on the border of Peru and Colombia. “We are in a situation where transnational criminal groups have appropriated the daily life of the Huitoto, Quichua, Bora, Secoya Indigenous people, who live along the Putumayo basin,” he said.
Of particular concern, he added, were the threats against local leaders, environmental defenders and human rights activists who call for a more effective state presence. He fears the newly elected rightwing governments in affected countries will make matters worse by militarising the conflict in line with the “America shield” priorities of the Trump administration.
Global Witness has urged the authorities to respect and work with nature and land defenders rather than making their role more difficult.
Toby Hill, the lead author of the report, said: “Defenders are the world’s eyes and ears on the ground. It’s thanks to them that we know when ecosystems are being destroyed, where forests are being cleared or rivers polluted. We can’t forget the thousands of defenders around the world who are working every day to protect their territories and cultures under increasing pressure.”