Colombia tops list as deadliest country for environmental defenders

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Fourteen years ago, Felipe Henao, 28, embarked on a crusade against deforestation and extensive cattle ranching in his hometown of Guaviare, nestled in the Colombian Amazon forest.

Henao, who is widely known as Pipe Q-ida on social media, has endured kidnapping, threats, extortion and displacement for his environmental activism.

"I grew up in a territory rife with violence, and I have learned to coexist with death as a constant companion," Henao told Anadolu.

This reality is particularly true in Colombia. In a grim revelation, the South American nation has been dubbed the most dangerous country for environmental leaders and defenders. A recent report from the human rights organization Global Witness highlighted a disturbing surge in violence targeting those committed to safeguarding the planet.

The statistics are chilling. In Colombia, the number of environmentalists murdered doubled in a single year, according to the report, which documented 60 assassinations in 2022—an average of more than one killing per week. The figure is nearly double that of 2021, when 33 environmental defenders lost their lives in the country. Since 2012, more than 320 defenders have fallen victim to violence in Colombia.

The situation of environmental leaders is similarly dire in several other countries within the region. Latin America witnessed an alarming trend in 2022, with nearly 90% of all homicides targeting environmental activists. Following Colombia, Brazil ranks second with 34 murders, and Mexico follows closely behind with 31.

Environmental expert Maria Paula Quiceno underscored the challenges faced by environmental activists, attributing the threats to extractive business models employed by industries such as oil, mining and large-scale agriculture, combined with the damaging influence of drug trafficking.

"Environmental leaders are increasingly finding themselves marginalized as territories are seized for large-scale industrial projects, displacing communities who have long inhabited these lands and stripping them of their ownership," she said.

And those who try to defend their land face threats, or in many cases, death.

In 2019, the United Nations formally adopted a resolution that recognized the role of environmental defenders in protecting the planet, and a study has shown that in 11% of environmental conflicts, defenders contributed to halting environmentally destructive projects.

“Yet in Colombia, the silencing and violence directed towards these leaders have become tragically normalized, and the assassination and disappearance of environmental defenders has been normalized too,” said Quiceno.

Henao hails from the municipality of Calamar in Guaviare but was displaced at a young age by guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who forcibly seized his family's land. In 2009, his family decided to return to Calamar, where he founded the municipality's first radio station. In 2011, he launched Telecalamar, a television channel dedicated to promoting conservation, environmental awareness and social messages. This marked the beginning of his troubles.

He began receiving threats, and by 2016, criminal guerrilla groups had threatened him to such an extent that he had to discontinue his projects. In 2016, FARC members ordered him to shut down his TV channel. This prompted him to become an environmental YouTuber.

"They forced me to close the radio and the TV channel, but they could not silence me on social media," he said.

Despite the ongoing threats from dissident guerrilla members, Henao says he refuses to be silenced. He relocated to San Jose del Guaviare, a bigger and safer city, where he now lives under the protection of two bodyguards and a bulletproof vest. Rebels have restricted his movements within a portion of Guaviare, a neglected region historically controlled by drug cartels.

“I will not be silenced,” he said. “ I am surviving rather than serving my community, and that is a sad reality in a country where we have been promised protection.”

Last year, then-President Ivan Duque, who was harshly criticized for his inaction in addressing threats to environmental activists, was replaced by leftist President Gustavo Petro. For the first time in the nation's history, Petro's political agenda included "the need to protect defenders," placing environmental issues at the forefront. However, Henao said that little has changed under this new government.

“I feel that this government has provided us with even less assistance than the Duque administration," he said.

But Quiceno argued that one year is not enough for a government to "make visible” a problem that has remained hidden for far too long. She acknowledged that under this administration, there has been an effort to engage with the marginalized regions of the country, where human rights and environmental defenders suffer the consequences of raising their voices.

Henao pointed out that “it is ironic” that even though the objective of the environmental activists “has the potential to benefit everyone, many wish to eradicate us.”​​​​​​​