Increasing numbers of murdered environmentalists reveals shocking extent of competition for access to natural resources

[Emily]

Murder of environmentalists appears on the rise

June 20, 2012 8:57 PM

AP) BANGKOK - The eulogies called Chut Wutty one of the few remaining activists in Cambodia brave enough to fight massive illegal deforestation by the powerful. The environmental watchdog was shot by a military policeman in April as he probed logging operations in one of the country's last great forests.

Nisio Gomes was the chief of a Brazilian tribe struggling to protect its land from ranchers. Masked men gunned him down in November; his body, quickly dragged into a pickup, has not been seen since.

Around the world, sticking up for the environment can be deadly, and it appears to be getting deadlier....

Survey finds sharp rise in killings over land and forests as Rio talks open

19th June 2012

New figures collected by Global Witness on the killings of activists, journalists and community members who were defending rights to land and forests show the true, shocking extent of competition for access to natural resources. The briefing, A Hidden Crisis?, finds that over 711 people appear to have been killed in the last decade ? more than one a week. In 2011 the toll was 106 people, almost doubling over the past three years...