{"id":17587,"date":"2018-03-23T14:21:29","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T13:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecobnb.com\/blog\/?p=17587"},"modified":"2018-03-23T14:21:29","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T13:21:29","slug":"defenders-of-the-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecobnb.com\/blog\/2018\/03\/defenders-of-the-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"Defenders of the Earth: when saving the Planet could cost you your life"},"content":{"rendered":"

It almost sounds like a movie title, but nothing has ever been so real. The Defenders of the Earth<\/strong> do exist and each year many of them are eliminated without leaving any trace, without papers talking about it, without having the time to realise it.<\/p>\n

Defenders of the Earth<\/em> is a Global Witness<\/strong><\/em>‘ report, which is focused on the killings of these so called defenders of the environment and lands during the year 2016. You might not believe this, but it is actually true: all around the world, more and more people are being killed\u00a0because of their will to protect their land<\/strong>, their home, their fields from the monsters of the mining industry, but also from multinationals<\/strong>, logging\u00a0<\/strong>practices and last but not least,\u00a0 intensive farming.<\/p>\n

\"Defenders
Photo by Kees Streefkerk via Unsplash<\/div><\/div>\n

Defenders of the Earth: more than 200 deaths in 2016<\/h2>\n

The average person, especially in Europe, doesn’t often get the chance to come into contact with these statistics on the defenders of the Earth. In fact, the places involved are not exactly under the great eye of social media and television. Brazil<\/strong>, Nicaragua<\/strong>, Colombia<\/strong>, Guatemala<\/strong>, Philippines<\/strong>, Democratic Republic of the Congo<\/strong>, Uganda<\/strong> or Zimbabwe<\/strong> are highly unknown realities, of which people would rather not talk about. However, the data speak for themselves: almost 4 people per week<\/strong> in 2016 have been killed for having claimed their rights to protect the planet.<\/p>\n

2016<\/strong> was indeed the year with the highest death rate<\/strong> ever recorded: almost 200 activists and environmentalists lost their life in 24 different countries<\/strong>. This means that the field is not that limited. Not to mention the fact that many deaths are not even reported to the police.<\/p>\n

Sharing this information is the Global Witness<\/strong><\/em>, who got all these data in writing in their report<\/a>\u00a0and told the story of a battle, which is far away from being over. This kind of criminal acts<\/strong> are helped by the fact that governments and companies do not safeguard the “defenders of the Earth” as much as they should do, making them even more vulnerable<\/strong> to attacks and repressions and channeling them into a never-ending tunnel of legal practices, from which it is quite difficult to come out as a winner.<\/p>\n

The environment is the new battlefield<\/h2>\n
\"Construction
Construction area for a factory, photo by Mariusz Prusaczyk via Unsplash<\/div><\/div>\n

The great hunt for natural resources<\/strong> is what is really pulling the strings. When interests don’t coincide, the ones who suffer the most are always the people who try to defend their lands and identities at all costs, those people who don’t want to give up their resources to industries, keeping that natural and cultural heritage intact, without transforming it into a new mine or farming sector.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, offenders are rarely reported and prosecuted, it is therefore quite diffcult to establish who the murderer actually is\u00a0and most of all, who ordered the hit. Nevertheless, in 2016, Global Witness has identified some suspects<\/strong>, among whom are paramilitaries, police and security private guards, but also hunters, hitmen and indrustry representatives.<\/p>\n

\"Defenders
Photo by Avel Chuklanov via Unsplash<\/div><\/div>\n

For You and for Us, Defenders of the Earth<\/h2>\n

Imagine being part of a community who wants to have the right<\/strong>\u00a0to take decisions<\/strong> regarding their own land. Imagine being\u00a0in the middle of a peaceful protest<\/strong> to protect the place you live in. Imagine you’re fighting to preserve the well-being<\/strong> of the Planet<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Now imagine that for these reasons, you’ll be denied your right to live<\/strong>.\u00a0It doesn’t take a scientist to understand that something terrible is happening and\u00a0this something\u00a0must be stopped right now. It didn’t only happen in 2016, but\u00a0in 2017<\/strong> as well, with a total of 197 defenders’\u00a0deaths<\/strong> registered by the Global Witness, in conjunction with The Guardian.<\/p>\n

“We’re paying with the risk of extinction” affirms a woman from Colombia in the video Guardians of the forest<\/em>, posted by the Global Witness. People who live and feed on what they grow, are in danger of disappearing along with their own land.<\/p>\n