On dangerous ground

Published on 20 June 2016, this report from Global Witness considers that 2015 was the worst year on record for violence directed at land and environmental activists. It documents 185 killings across 16 countries, a 59% increase on 2014 and the highest annual toll on record. On average, more than three people were killed every week in 2015. The worst hit countries were Brazil (50 killings), the Philippines (33) and Colombia (26). Mining was the industry most linked to killings of land and environmental activists with 42 deaths in 2015. Agribusiness, hydroelectric dams and logging were also key drivers of violence.

This report sheds light on the acute vulnerability of indigenous people, whose weak land rights and geographic isolation make them particularly exposed to land grabbing for natural resource exploitation. In 2015, almost 40% of victims were indigenous. It is also available in Spanish.