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Environmental activism may be crucial for the future of our planet, but it's also an especially deadly business.
In 2015 alone, more than three people were killed each week while protecting their land, forests and water sources from political and economic interests. Now, a new interactive online tool from global human rights organization Amnesty International is helping to shed light on this "invisible crisis."
SEE ALSO:The social strategy that is super-sizing the climate movementLaunched on Dec. 10 to coincide with Human Rights Day, the new Speak Out for Defenders website visualizes the wave of recent and ongoing attacks against environmental activists across the Americas. By clicking each marker on the map, you can read nearly 50 stories of communities and individual activists who have been "harassed, threatened, attacked, unfairly jailed and even killed as punishment for their work to protect the environment."
Amnesty hopes the new platform will increase the visibility of the problem, and offer essential information and resources for those who want to campaign on the activists' behalf.
To create the platform, Amnesty teamed up with Virk, a company that builds civic technology tools to compile and visualize geographic data, with the goal of leading users to real-life social action.
For example, when you hover your cursor over Honduras on the map, you'll find the story of Ana Mirian Romero. She is a member of the Independent Lenca Indigenous Movement of La Paz (MILPAH), which fights for its community's rights to land and water. Military, police and armed civilians broke into Romero's home in October 2015 to find her husband, also a member of MILPAH, and when they did not find him, they attacked her while she was 24 weeks pregnant. She needed medical treatment after the raid.
You're able to click for more information about her case, and also hit a button that says, "Take Action," which leads you to a comprehensive page on how to support Amnesty International's efforts to protect activists like Romero.
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"More than ever before, environmental activists are the targets of a ruthless campaign aimed at stopping them from protecting vital natural resources," Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, said in a statement. "The cases featured in our new platform show only the tip of the iceberg."
"Environmental activists are the targets of a ruthless campaign aimed at stopping them from protecting vital natural resources."
Latin America is currently the most dangerous place to be an environmental activist, with 122 of last year's reported 185 killings of defenders taking place in the region. A September report from Amnesty International, titled We Are Defending the Land With Our Blood, found that Honduras and Guatemala are the deadliest countries due to public vilification and "the misuse of the justice system to criminalize the defense of human rights." These factors, the organization argues, are "encouraging threats, attacks and assaults against [activists]."
Groups especially at risk include Indigenous communities, which are "seeking to have their territorial and other rights respected, protected and guaranteed."
"The culture, way of life and worldview of these communities is intimately linked to the territory," the report said.
Indigenous communities around the world have long been fighting to protect their lands from governments and destructive industries. But their efforts may especially resonate right now with the wider public, especially in the U.S., because of recent news.
In North Dakota, Native American water protectors — what the demonstrators call themselves — have been fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline for months. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and its allies have argued that the project will pollute their water sources and desecrate sacred sites. Such situations illustrate that climate justice and Indigenous rights are closely related.
But just because important efforts and tragedies can get mainstream media attention and increase awareness, that doesn't guarantee solutions and safety of those involved.
Perhaps one of the most high-profile murders of an environmental activist occurred earlier this year. Berta Cáceres, an award-winning Honduran Indigenous activist known for successfully leading a grassroots campaign against a proposed dam on the Río Gualcarque, was killed on March 3. She had previously been vocal for years about receiving death threats because of her work.
Her murder sparked international outrage and brought attention to the high rates of environmentalist deaths in the country and around the world. But even as investigations into her death continue, various organizations, like Amnesty and UK-based watchdog Global Witness, call for continued vigilance as "the rising tide of violence... escapes international attention."
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"We need to make the continuous attacks against territory, land and environmental rights defenders in the region more visible," the Speak Out for Defenders about page reads. "We also need to hear their voices and stories about the impact these attacks have on their lives.
"These defenders are not just facts and figures."
You can learn more about the platform here.
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