Latin America is the World's Deadliest Region for Environmental Activists
Latin America is the World's Deadliest Region for Environmental Activists
More environmentalists were murdered in Latin America in 2015 than anywhere else in the world, according to a report by Global Witness
By Pablo Fonseca Q. on June 24, 2016
On September 18, 2015, Guatemalan professor Rigoberto Lima Choc awaited a judge’s decision on an issue he had been the first to uncover: A company was polluting the waters of La Pasión River near his town and Lima Choc had not only documented and reported the problem but had also taken journalists and photographers to witness the fish slaughter.
That day, as he walked down the steps of the courthouse, two men on a motorcycle approached and fired at him. He died on the spot.
As shocking as Lima Choc’s death is, sadly it is not an exception. Through 2015 a worldwide total of 185 murders of this kind were documented by the nongovernmental organization Global Witness. A detailed report on these deaths is published this week.
As the study points out, 2015 had the highest conservation-related mortality rates since 2010, with 185 confirmed cases (143 were reported for 2012 and 130 for 2011). In a previous study with data from 2014 Global Witness had counted 116 deaths, which implies a significant growth from one year to the next.
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http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/latin-america-is-the-world-s-deadliest-region-for-environmental-activists/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+energy-and-sustainability+%28Topic%3A+Energy+%26+Sustainability%29
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