Environmental activist Nonhle Mbuthuma.by Busani Bafana (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe)Thursday, September 26, 2024Inter Press Service
BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE, Sep 26 (IPS) – In 2017 South African activist Nonhle Mbutuma led a campaign against powerful oil giant Shell to halt plans to explore the pristine Wild Coast.
Even in the face of death threats, she has not backed down. Co-founder of the Amadiba Crisis Committee and a 2024 Goldman Prize winner, Mbutuma continues to fight for community rights and the environment. Her courage reflects the myriad risks faced by land and environmental conservationists around the world.
The stakes are high. A recent report by Global Witness estimated that 196 land and environmental defenders were killed in 2023 alone, with the highest death toll in Colombia. Indigenous communities in Brazil, Mexico and Honduras are disproportionately targeted for standing up to big corporations that put profits over people and planet.
Many environmental activists have taken on big corporations. Since 2012, 2,106 environmental activists have been murdered around the world.
Environmental defenders are often targets of attack. Photo: Busani Bafana/IPS
Africa is also a dangerous battleground for environmental activists, with 116 murders recorded between 2012 and 2023. Many of these murders involve park rangers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with other incidents occurring in Rwanda, Ghana, Kenya, Chad, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Liberia and South Africa.
But these staggering figures only scratch the surface – many deaths go unreported and huge numbers of environmental defenders go unjustified. Yet despite these overwhelming threats, Mbutuma remains undeterred, risking his life to protect his land and environment from exploitation.
Mbutuma continues to expose the devastating impacts of extractive industries, including deforestation and land grabbing, and he draws attention to the violence and intimidation that indigenous communities and activists face in defense of their land.
“The brutality of these attacks reveals a profound truth: the power of ordinary people when they come together for justice,” Mbutuma said in a foreword to the Global Witness report.
At the root of these killings is the clash between development and sustainability. Activists like Mbutuma are not against development, but advocate for a model that respects both the environment and local communities’ rights over natural resources. Unfortunately, their calls for responsible development are often seen as an obstacle by investors and developers, leading to an increase in land grabbing, extractive projects, and violent retaliation against those who stand in their way.
Africa’s vast natural resource wealth makes it a popular target for multinational corporations and foreign governments. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the continent is home to 30% of the world’s mineral reserves, 8% of its natural gas, and 12% of its oil. It also boasts 40% of the world’s gold and up to 90% of its chromium and platinum, as well as significant reserves of cobalt, diamonds, and uranium. With more than 60% of the world’s arable land in Africa, it’s no wonder that the race to exploit these resources is leading to severe environmental destruction, the displacement of local communities, and increased violence.
A shocking aspect of this violence is the widespread impunity: perpetrators are rarely prosecuted and in many cases the identities of those responsible remain unknown.
“It is rare to know who murders environmental activists,” Laura Frones, lead author and senior adviser for Global Witness’ Land and Environmental Action campaign, told IPS. “If these cases have one thing in common, it’s that they are shrouded in impunity. Cases are often left unsolved and families have to live with the knowledge that the perpetrators will not be punished. Even in the few cases where justice is meted out, it is usually the hired assassins who go to prison and those who ordered and funded the killings who go free.”
Frones also noted that many of these killings go unreported, especially in parts of the world such as Africa where access to information is harder.
“There are many good organizations working hard to improve reporting, but they often operate in difficult conditions: limited spaces for citizens to operate, restricted access to information, and at risk for those who seek to expose attacks on defenders.”
Mining is particularly notorious for its role in this violence: in 2023, the mining sector was linked to the world’s highest number of defense murders, according to Global Witness.
“Our data shows that the mining industry is most frequently implicated in the murder of environmental activists. Egregious practices by mining actors are well documented, and as we move towards an economy less dependent on fossil fuels, demand for critical minerals will only increase. Better practices are urgently needed to prevent a further increase in violence,” Fronés stresses.
As climate change accelerates, competition for land and resources is intensifying, especially in Africa. The continent’s abundant minerals and natural resources are in high demand for projects that are forcing local people off their ancestral lands, raising tensions and leading to further conflict.
Mbutuma’s struggle is just one example of a wider global struggle to protect natural resources.
South Africa in particular has seen a string of tragedies: in 2016, anti-mining activist Sikhosiphi Radebe was assassinated for her opposition to titanium mining in the Xolobeni region. Similarly, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, more than 50 environmental activists were killed between 2015 and 2020, many of them caught up in conflicts over artisanal mining and logging.
Land grabs in Africa are not just for agriculture, but also for “green” projects that claim to combat climate change. For example, large-scale land acquisitions for biofuel plantations and irrigation projects have displaced communities in Kenya and Ethiopia, sparking violence and unrest. In Kenya’s Lake Turkana region, sugarcane plantations and geothermal energy projects have sparked clashes with pastoralist communities, while irrigation projects have displaced indigenous communities in Ethiopia’s Omo Valley.
Despite the growing risks, environmental activists continue to speak out: they are demanding not only environmental protection but also justice.
“Our voices against environmental injustice are silenced by the killings of environmental activists, but this will not erase our work,” said Mbutuma, who called for greater protection and support for environmental activists and anti-land grabbing activists, particularly in Africa.
“Development has always been unfair, which is why it was easy to push environmentalists out, but pushing them out in the name of development won’t solve the problems Africa faces today,” Mbutuma explains, stressing that local communities must have a say in decisions that affect their land and livelihoods.
Mbutuma’s struggle, along with those of countless other activists, highlights the urgent need to reform the way land, minerals and natural resources are used in Africa. “We are fighting for the future of Africa, we are fighting for our children,” said Mbutuma. “The fight for environmental justice is not just about protecting land and biodiversity, it’s about protecting the rights and future of the people who depend on these resources.”
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reserved. Source: Inter Press Service
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Dying for a Cause: Environmentalists on the Frontline, Inter Press Service, Thursday, September 26, 2024 (Published in Global Issues)
…produces this:
Dying for a Cause: Environmentalists on the Frontline, Inter Press Service, Thursday, September 26, 2024 (Published in Global Issues)
