Colombia and Brazil deadliest countries for environmental defenders, report says
Juan López was one of the environmentalists killed in Latin America recent years. The anti-mining activist was shot in Honduras in 2024.
Colombia has again topped the list of countries with the highest number of killings of land and environmental activists, according to an annual report by campaign group Global Witness, external.
Global Witness says that 85% of the documented killings took place in Latin America, making it the deadliest region for every year since the group started publishing its reports in 2012.
Almost half of those killed in the country were members of indigenous groups, while many of the remaining ones were small-scale farmers, Global Witness's report says.
Members of indigenous guards are often targeted by illegal armed groups looking to expand their territory to plant coca - the raw material used to make cocaine - or to engage in illegal mining.
While the possible motive behind his murder is still under investigation and the search for the perpetrator is ongoing, indigenous leaders said that murders, threats and forced disappearances in the area were common as illegal armed groups battled for territory.
As in Colombia, in Brazil most of the cases the group documented were primarily driven by conflict over land, Global Witness's researchers found.
The group warned that while globally the number of documented killings had gone down from 146 in 2024 to 128 in 2025, its numbers were probably an underestimate as many cases went unreported.
Colombia 'deadliest country for environmentalists'Published13 September 2023
Green activists killed 'every two days' in decadePublished29 September 2022
Record number of environmental activists murderedPublished13 September 2021
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- Juan López was one of the environmentalists killed in Latin America recent years. The anti-mining activist was shot in Honduras in 2024.
- Colombia has again topped the list of countries with the highest number of killings of land and environmental activists, according to an annual report by campaign group Global Witness, external.
- Global Witness says that 85% of the documented killings took place in Latin America, making it the deadliest region for every year since the group started publishing its reports in 2012.
- Almost half of those killed in the country were members of indigenous groups, while many of the remaining ones were small-scale farmers, Global Witness's report says.
- Members of indigenous guards are often targeted by illegal armed groups looking to expand their territory to plant coca - the raw material used to make cocaine - or to engage in illegal mining.