By: Staff Writer
September 22, 2026
A new report from environmental non-governmental organisation Global Witness revealed that Latin America accounts for 85 percent of the world’s total in fatal attacks against environmentalists.
Colombia was in first place with a total of 39 killings, with Honduras sharing third place with the Philippines with 12 and Guatemala in fifth place with eight. Nicaragua had a total of three environmentalists murdered in 2025.
Small-scale farmers, Indigenous people and Afro-descendant defenders make up over three-quarters of killings in 2025.
Most of the killings were part of land disputes and in many cases they were carried out by hitmen or members of organised crime gangs, the report states.
Colombia has accounted for the highest number of murders of environmental activists for the past four years.
Almost half of those killed in the country were members of indigenous groups, while many of the remaining ones were small-scale farmers, the report says.
Many indigenous groups in Colombia have created their own protection networks in the form of indigenous guards, which patrol their territory but are unarmed.
To show how endemic the problem has become, Honduran authorities have arrested three people in May, 2026, including a powerful politician, accused of plotting the 2024 assassination of an environmental leader, an incident that became a symbol of government corruption.
Adan Funez, former mayor of the city of Tocoa, was captured at his home on Tuesday on suspicion of masterminding the killing of Juan Lopez, following years of accusations by religious and environmental leaders.
Environmental defenders play a crucial role in protecting the environment and defending key forests, habitats and ecosystems. Indigenous people alone steward around 20 percent of the Earth’s land, which contains 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity. Of all defenders murdered last year, 43 percent were Indigenous people and 12 percent were women.
Weak legal protections, high levels of corruption, and intense conflicts over land and resource exploitation make the region one of the most dangerous to operate in for environmental defenders. Widespread organized crime exacerbates violence against defenders in the region, the report said, as it fosters “a climate of corruption and impunity.” Overall, over a third of all 2025 killings globally involved suspected links to organized crime and hitmen, making them by far the most frequently implicated perpetrators.