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Land and Environmental Defenders

Many indigenous and traditional farming (or campesino) communities are struggling to protect the land on which their livelihoods depend. Often living in conditions of extreme poverty, they rely on their land for food, shelter, and cultural identity.
 In some cases, pollution from mining threatens to seep into the land and water. In others, communities have been forced from their land for development projects or monoculture plantations, condemning them to internal displacement and landlessness. Others campaign for sustainable land use, seeking to halt patterns of destruction for the benefit of future generations.

Defenders of land rights, culture, and natural resources can find themselves facing powerful interests and brutal opposition. Some have approached PBI for protection after they have been attacked or their colleagues assassinated. Many others have been subjected to criminal prosecutions based on spurious charges.

PBI's 2017 Annual Review

May 24, 2018

In 2017, PBI’s community of activists provided effective protection and support to more than one thousand women, men and LGBTI defenders, despite the challenging context and huge risk those working to change the world continued to face. Click on the report below to read more about our work in 2017 and some of the ways we made space for peace and supported (women) human rights defenders in 2017. 

Justice for Berta Cáceres!

March 2, 2018

More than 60 international organizations, backed by members of European Parliament, demand justice in the case of Berta Cáceres, echoing the requests of COPINH (Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras) for guarantees of non-repetion and defense of human rights in the reigion.

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