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Land defender

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A land defender, environmental defender, or environmental human rights defender is a human rights defender whose actions emphasize protection of water, air, land, land rights, and the right to a healthy environment. Land defenders are very often members of indigenous communities.[1] Land defenders reject the term "protester" because they believe it has links to colonialism and its negative connotations.[2] Land is considered sacred by Indigenous peoples and caring for and protecting land is considered a duty to honour ancestors, to current peoples, and future generations.[3]

Some land and environmental defenders identify as water protectors. This term is sometimes used generally in the same way as land defender,[2] but may also refer to a community role associated with women in some North American indigenous communities.[4] The water protector name, analysis and style of activism became especially prominent during and after the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.[5]

Land defenders and water protectors are in conflict with proponents of resource extraction and face persecution by powerful political and commercial alliances involving governments, local elites, and multinational corporations.[1]

Water protectors

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Main article: Water protector

Some Water Protectors say that the reasons for protection of water are older, more holistic, and integrated into a larger cultural and spiritual whole than in most modern forms of environmental activism which may be more based in seeing water and other extractive resources as commodities.[6] For example, water walker Josephine Mandamin of the Anishinaabe has said that water is associated with Mother Earth and spoke of the responsibility of grandmothers to lead other women in praying for and protecting the water.[7] After a prophecy from an elder, Mandamin led water walks, to pray and raise awareness, from 2000 until her death in 2019. Her peaceful actions inspired many to become water protectors.[8]

Role and activism

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Land defenders play an active and increasingly visible role in actions intended to protect, honour, and make visible the importance of land. There are strong connections between the water protector movement land defender movement and Indigenous environmental activism.[9][10] Land defenders resist the installation of pipelines, fossil fuel industries,[11] destruction of territory for development such as agriculture or housing, and resource extraction activities such as fracking because these actions can lead to the degradation of land, destruction of forest, and disruption of habitat.[12][13] Land defenders resist activities that harm land, especially across Indigenous territories and their work is tied to human rights.[14] Yazzie points to the resistance tactics of Diné land defenders and their anti-capitalist and anti-development stance on resource extraction as being highly connected to the longstanding traditions of Diné resistance.[15]

Activism can come in the form of the erection of blockades on reserve lands or traditional territories to block corporations from resource extraction activities.[2][16][17] Water and land protectors also erect camps as a way to occupy traditional territories and strengthen cultural ties. Land defenders also work through legal frameworks such as government court systems in effort to keep control of traditional territories.[3][18] Civil disobedience actions taken by land defenders, are frequently criminalized and some have argued subject to heavier policing and violence.[19][20] The role of land defender is a role that is frequently taken up by women, with women being visible at the front of blockades and in resistance protests.[21]

Dangers facing land defenders

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Land defenders often face perilous conditions in opposition to state powers, resource corporations such as gas or mining corporations, others seeking to develop land or extinguish Indigenous land rights.[22][23] Middeldorp and Le Billon have pointed to the dangers faced by land defenders, particularly in authoritarian regimes. In their 2018 article on the topic the point to the killings of several land defenders in Honduras.[22] May et al connect the suppression of Indigenous land rights and a history of intimidation, violent tactics and murder against land defenders to economic development and "land grabs" in colonial nation states.[24] The Canadian national police force, the RCMP, were prepared to use deadly force against land defenders in a 2019 protest in British Columbia.[25] Dunlop connects acts of violence against land defenders in countries such as Mexico as retaliation for resistance to economic development and resource extraction.[26]

The human rights organization Global Witness reported that 164 land defenders were killed in 2018 in countries such as the Philippines, Brazil, India, and Guatemala.[1] This same report stated a significant number of the people killed, injured, and threatened were Indigenous.[1] Le Billon and Lujala report that at least 1734 environmental and land defenders were killed between 2002 and 2018 and that Indigenous people are most at risk, numbering more than a third of land defenders killed.[27] The UN has reported that many land protectors are labelled as terrorists by state governments in an effort to discredit their claims.[28] Such labelling can create dangerous conditions for those working to protect land rights.[28] Yale Environment 360 reported that at least 212 environmental campaigners and land defenders were murdered in 2019. At least 40% of these individuals are Indigenous.[29] Over half of the murders reported in 2019 took place in Colombia. and the Philippines.[29][30]

Amnesty International has called attention to the dangers facing those seeking to protect the earth, water, and communities, calling Latin America the most dangerous location for land defenders.[31][32] The Environmental Defence Fund has reported that over 1700 defenders have been killed with less than 10% of those responsible brought to justice.[33] The Extinction Rebellion (XR) has worked to bring attention to the situation of land defenders and have honoured those who have been killed[34] and the work of land defenders has been linked to climate justice initiatives such as Climate Strike Canada.[35]

Land defenders who have been killed

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  • Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores (4 March 1971 – 2 March 2016) Honduran environmental activist, indigenous leader
  • Paulo Paulino Guajajara, Brazil, killed in 2019 an ambush by illegal loggers the Amazon region.[36][37]
  • Chico Mendes, Brazil, Environmentalist and activist.
  • Hernán Bedoya, Afro-Colombian land rights activist.
  • Julián Carrillo, indigenous Rarámuri leader, Mexico, killed 24 October 2018.[38][39][40]
  • Datu Kaylo Bontolan, Manobo tribal chieftain, member of the National Council of Leaders of Katribu, Northern Mindanao, Philippines, killed 7 April 2019.[30][41]
  • Omar Guasiruma, Indigenous leader, Columbia, killed March 2020.[30]
  • Ernesto Guasiruma, Indigenous leader, Columbia, killed March 2020.[30]
  • Simón Pedro Pérez, Indigenous leader, killed July 6th, 2021, Chiapas, Mexico.[42][43]

Actions

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Land defenders have been involved in actions against construction of multiple pipelines, as well as other projects by the fossil fuel industries, and resource extraction activities such as fracking that can lead to the contamination of water.[44]

Actions have involved traditional direct actions like blockades on reserve lands and traditional territories to block corporations from engaging in resource extraction.[45] Water and land protectors have also created resistance camps as a way to re-occupy and refuse to give away their traditional territories. Usually part of these encampments, when led by Indigenous people, is a strengthening of cultural ties and traditions, with inclusion of activities like language revitalization.[46] [47]

The Dakota Access Pipeline

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Main article: Dakota Access Pipeline protests

Alton Gas

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In May 2018 Mi'kmaq peoples in Nova Scotia blocked the Alton Gas company from extracting water from the Shubenacadie River for a natural gas project; the project was disrupting the natural balance between freshwater and seawater in the tidal region, and threatening the drinking water, fish and other water life of the region.[44]

Muskrat Falls

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Action has also been taken across Canada, including Muskrat Falls hydro dam project in Labrador.[48][49]

Trans Mountain Pipeline

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In Burnaby Mountain, thousands have staged demonstrations opposing the Trans Mountain pipeline.[50][51]

Wet'suwet'en resistance camps

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The Wet’suwet’en peoples have ongoing of resistance camps, including Unist’ot’en Camp and action against the construction of a Coastal GasLink pipeline and the heavily militarized RCMP, in Northern British Columbia.[52]

Enbridge Line 3 resistance camps

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The Stop Line 3 protests are an ongoing series of demonstrations in the U.S. state of Minnesota against the expansion of Enbridge's Line 3 oil pipeline along a new route. Over 800 water protectors were arrested between August 2020 and September 2021.[53]

L'eau Est La Vie camp (Bayou Bridge Pipeline)

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Water protectors at L'eau Est La Vie (water is life) camp resisted the Bayou Bridge Pipeline from 2017 until its completion in 2019 through direct action and legal battles causing significant delays and added cost to the project.

See also

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Further reading

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  • Amnesty International (2016). "They Will Not Stop Us. Ecuador: Justice and Protection for Amazonian Women, Defenders of the Land, Territory, and Environment" (PDF).

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Larsen, Billon, Menton, Aylwin, Balsiger, Boyd, Forst, Lambrick, Santos, Storey, Wilding (October 29, 2020). "Understanding and responding to the environmental human rights defenders crisis: The case for conservation action". Conservation Letters.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Cite error: The named reference ":0" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c "Standing Rock activists: Don't call us protesters. We're water protectors". Public Radio International. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Illegal protest or protecting the land? An Indigenous woman gets ready to face a Canadian court - APTN News". aptnnews.ca. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  4. ^ Dennis, Mary Kate and Bell, Finn (October 2020). "Indigenous Women, Water Protectors, and Reciprocal Responsibilities". Social Work. 65.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ LeQuesne, Theo (2019-04-03). "Petro-hegemony and the matrix of resistance: What can Standing Rock's Water Protectors teach us about organizing for climate justice in the United States?". Environmental Sociology. 5 (2): 188–206. doi:10.1080/23251042.2018.1541953.
  6. ^ "Grandmother Josephine Mandamin, a 69 Year Old Who Walked Around the Great Lakes, Talks About the Water Docs International Festival - Shedoesthecity". Shedoesthecity. 2013-03-22. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  7. ^ "Meet Josephine Mandamin (Anishinaabekwe), The "Water Walker" | Mother Earth Water Walk". www.motherearthwaterwalk.com. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  8. ^ "Anishinabek Nation mourns the loss of Grandmother Water Walker Josephine Mandamin". Manitoulin Expositor. 2019-02-22. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  9. ^ "Meet Josephine Mandamin (Anishinaabekwe), The "Water Walker"". Indigenous Rising. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  10. ^ Maial Panhpunu Paiakan Kaiapó (October 24, 2020). "Opinion: The devastation of my Amazon homeland has accelerated during the pandemic". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2021-02-11.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ "Mi'kmaq water protectors blocking fossil fuel infrastructure in Nova Scotia | rabble.ca". rabble.ca. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  12. ^ McKenzie-Sutter, Holly (November 27, 2020). "Indigenous land occupants in Caledonia appeal injunction". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2021-02-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ Kestler-D'Amours, Jillian. "'RCMP off Wet'suwet'en land': Solidarity grows for land defenders". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  14. ^ "Beatings, Imprisonment, Murder: The World's Environmental Defenders Are Being Terrorized". Global Citizen. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  15. ^ Yazzie, Melanie K. (2018). "Decolonizing Development in Diné Bikeyah: Resource Extraction, Anti-Capitalism, and Relational Futures". Environment and Society. 9: 25–39. doi:10.3167/ares.2018.090103. ISSN 2150-6779. JSTOR 26879576.
  16. ^ "Barricades up in Caledonia after attempted arrest of land defender". The Hamilton Spectator. 2020-10-05. ISSN 1189-9417. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  17. ^ "Caledonia land occupation criminal cases move through courts". The Hamilton Spectator. 2020-11-25. ISSN 1189-9417. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  18. ^ "Beatings, Imprisonment, Murder: The World's Environmental Defenders Are Being Terrorized". Global Citizen. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  19. ^ Simpson, Michael; Le Billon, Philippe (2021-02-01). "Reconciling violence: Policing the politics of recognition". Geoforum. 119: 111–121. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2020.12.023. ISSN 0016-7185.
  20. ^ Spiegel, Samuel J. (2021-01-01). "Climate injustice, criminalisation of land protection and anti-colonial solidarity: Courtroom ethnography in an age of fossil fuel violence". Political Geography. 84: 102298. doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2020.102298. ISSN 0962-6298. PMC 7544477. PMID 33052177.
  21. ^ Lange, Shauna M. (2020), "Saving Species, Healthy Humanity: The Key Role of Women in Ecological Integrity", Ecological Integrity in Science and Law, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 85–96, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-46259-8_8, ISBN 978-3-030-46258-1
  22. ^ a b Middeldorp, Nick; Le Billon, Philippe (2019-03-04). "Deadly Environmental Governance: Authoritarianism, Eco-populism, and the Repression of Environmental and Land Defenders". Annals of the American Association of Geographers. 109 (2): 324–337. doi:10.1080/24694452.2018.1530586. ISSN 2469-4452. S2CID 159354399.
  23. ^ "Land Defenders Keep Getting Killed in Colombia". www.vice.com. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  24. ^ May, Roy H. (2018), Rozzi, Ricardo; May, Roy H.; Chapin III, F. Stuart; Massardo, Francisca (eds.), "Land Grabbing and Violence Against Environmentalists", From Biocultural Homogenization to Biocultural Conservation, Ecology and Ethics, vol. 3, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 109–123, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-99513-7_7, ISBN 978-3-319-99512-0, retrieved 2021-02-11
  25. ^ Parrish, Jaskiran Dhillon Will (20 December 2019). "Exclusive: Canada police prepared to shoot Indigenous activists, documents show". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  26. ^ Dunlap, Alexander (2020-04-15). "The Politics of Ecocide, Genocide and Megaprojects: Interrogating Natural Resource Extraction, Identity and the Normalization of Erasure". Journal of Genocide Research: 1–24. doi:10.1080/14623528.2020.1754051. ISSN 1462-3528.
  27. ^ Le Billon, Philippe; Lujala, Päivi (2020-11-11). "Environmental and land defenders: Global patterns and determinants of repression". Global Environmental Change. 65: 102163. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102163. ISSN 0959-3780.
  28. ^ a b Brown, Alleen (30 July 2019). "More Than 160 Environmental Defenders Were Killed in 2018, and Many Others Labeled Terrorists and Criminals". The Intercept. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  29. ^ a b "More Than 200 Environmental Activists and Land Defenders Murdered in 2019". Yale E360. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  30. ^ a b c d "Record 212 land and environment activists killed last year". the Guardian. 2020-07-29. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  31. ^ "Earth Land and Water Defenders". Amnesty International Canada. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  32. ^ Tabary, Zoe (2020-11-01). "One year on, family of murdered Amazon land defender say nothing has changed". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  33. ^ "Murder in the rainforest: 1700+ defenders killed, but their legacy lives on". Environmental Defense Fund. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  34. ^ "Extinction Rebellion honours land defenders killed for protecting the environment". rabble.ca. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  35. ^ News, E. McIntosh |; Politics; September 17th 2020, Ottawa Insider | (2020-09-17). "Climate strikers are trying to trademark Erin O'Toole's 'Take Back Canada' slogan". National Observer. Retrieved 2021-02-11. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  36. ^ Paulo, Sam Cowie São (2 November 2019). "Brazilian 'forest guardian' killed by illegal loggers in ambush". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  37. ^ "Brazil Amazon forest defender shot dead by illegal loggers". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  38. ^ "Julián Carrillo defended the forest with his life". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  39. ^ "Mexico's environmental defenders need justice and protection". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  40. ^ "Indigenous rights leader reported slain in northern Mexico". AP NEWS. 2018-10-25. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  41. ^ "Datu Kaylo Bontolan". HRD Memorial: Celebrating Those Who Were Killed Defending Human Rights. Retrieved 2021-07-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  42. ^ "Indigenous Land Defender Assassinated in Chiapas". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 2021-07-08.
  43. ^ "Mexico rights organizer killed, 3rd activist to die in month". AP NEWS. 2021-07-06. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  44. ^ a b "Mi'kmaq water protectors blocking fossil fuel infrastructure in Nova Scotia | rabble.ca". rabble.ca. 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  45. ^ Cite error: The named reference Protectors was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  46. ^ Rowe, James K (2017-10-09). "Lessons From the Frontlines of Anti-Colonial Pipeline Resistance" (PDF). escholarship.org. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  47. ^ "The Water Protector Movement". Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  48. ^ "3 Labrador water protectors in St. John's jail over Muskrat Falls protest". aptnnews.ca. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  49. ^ "Muskrat Falls Ecological Grief: Resistance became a "profound, unstoppable force," says researcher". aptnnews.ca. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  50. ^ "Camp Cloud eviction deadline comes and goes as assistant fire chief pledges support for water protectors". aptnnews.ca. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  51. ^ López, Edwin (2019-01-18). "Race, Culture, and Resistance at Standing Rock: an Analysis of Racialized Dispossession and Indigenous Resistance". Perspectives on Global Development and Technology. 18 (1–2): 113–133. doi:10.1163/15691497-12341508. ISSN 1569-1500.
  52. ^ Wong, Rita (8 January 2019). "We can all learn from Wet'suwet'en laws". National Observer. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  53. ^ Frassier, Ella (August 28, 2021). "Over 800 Water Protectors Have Been Arrested Since Line 3 Pipeline Was Approved". Truthout.
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