A land defender, land protector, or environmental defender is an activist who works to protect ecosystems and the human right to a safe, healthy environment.[1][2][3] Often, defenders are members of Indigenous communities who are protecting property rights of ancestral lands in the face of expropriation, pollution, depletion, or destruction.[1][4]
Land and its resources may be considered sacred by Indigenous peoples, and caring for land is considered a duty that honors ancestors, current peoples, and future generations.[5]
Land defenders face severe persecution from powerful political and corporate alliances that profit from resource extraction. which in turn may cause pollution. The United Nations Human Rights Council determined that land defenders are "among the human rights defenders who are most exposed and at risk."[1]
- ^ a b c Larsen, Billon, Menton, Aylwin, Balsiger, Boyd, Forst, Lambrick, Santos, Storey, Wilding (2021). "Understanding and responding to the environmental human rights defenders crisis: The case for conservation action". Conservation Letters. 14 (3). doi:10.1111/conl.12777. S2CID 229390470.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Ducklow, Zoë (10 January 2019). "Judy Wilson's Message for Canadians: 'The Land Defenders Are Doing This for Everybody'". The Tyee. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
- ^ "Protesters? Or land protectors?". The Indy. 28 October 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
- ^ "Land defence and defenders". iwgia.org.
- ^ Moore, Angel (18 September 2018). "Illegal protest or protecting the land? An Indigenous woman gets ready to face a Canadian court - APTN News". Aptn News. Retrieved 12 January 2019.