HAVANA TIMES – In 2017, South African activist Nonhle Mbuthuma took a stand against the powerful oil giant Shell, halting their plans to explore the pristine Wild Coast.
Despite facing death threats, she refused to back down. As a co-founder of the Amadiba Crisis Committee and a 2024 Goldman Prize winner, Mbuthuma continues to fight for her community’s rights and the environment. Her bravery reflects the countless risks land and environmental defenders face across the globe.
The stakes are high. According to a recent report by Global Witness, 196 land and environmental defenders were murdered in 2023 alone, with Colombia suffering the highest number of deaths. Indigenous communities in Brazil, Mexico, and Honduras have been disproportionately targeted, standing up to powerful companies that prioritize profits over people and the planet.
Many people defending the environment have stood up to powerful companies. Since 2012, a staggering 2,106 defenders have been killed worldwide.
Africa, too, is a dangerous battleground for environmental defenders, with 116 murders recorded between 2012 and 2023. Many of these deaths involved park rangers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and others occurred in Rwanda, Ghana, Kenya, Chad, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Liberia, and South Africa.
However, the alarming numbers only scratch the surface. Many deaths go unreported, leaving a vast number of environmental defenders without justice. Yet, despite these overwhelming threats, Mbuthuma has been undeterred, risking her life to protect the land and the environment from exploitation.
Mbuthuma continues to expose the devastating impact of extractive industries, including deforestation and land grabbing. She has called attention to the violence and intimidation that indigenous communities and activists face for defending their land.
“The brutality of these attacks reveals something profound: the power that ordinary people wield when they unite for justice,” Mbuthuma noted in a foreword to the Global Witness report.
At the core of these killings is a clash between development and sustainability. Activists like Mbuthuma are not opposed to development but advocate for a model that respects both the environment and the rights of local communities to their natural resources.
Unfortunately, their calls for respons