MAAP Reports on Dangers Faced by Environmental Defenders

August 27, 2024

Our MAAP program specializes in reporting on the most urgent deforestation threats facing the Amazon and producing big-picture analyses of key Amazon-wide issues. However, In our latest report, MAAP #218, we present a unique view into the complicated but critical issue of the deaths of environmental defenders in various parts of Peru’s Amazon, orchestrated by invaders seeking to exploit its resources.

Between 2010 and 2022, an estimated 29 Peruvian environmentalists and Indigenous leaders were killed while defending various parts of Peru’s Amazon from invaders seeking to exploit its resources. More importantly, the frequency of these murders has increased in recent years, with nearly half (14 out of 29) occurring since 2020.

To provide a better understanding of the context of their deaths, this report examines the relationship between the location of these killings and deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon. From this, our MAAP team’s findings indicate that these murders are connected to five major issues in the Peruvian Amazon: Illegal gold mining, Illegal logging, Illicit crops (coca), Land trafficking, and Protesting.

The Base Map to the right shows the location of the 29 documented environmental defenders killed in Peru between 2010-2022, and indicates the environmental issue related to each death as the suspected or confirmed motive for the crime. It is important to note that many of the murders occurred in geographic clusters that coincide with the major environmental conflict of that specific area. For example, gold mining is a major cause of conflict in the southern Peruvian Amazon, while illegal logging and illicit crops are more common threats in the central Peruvian Amazon.

The report then focuses on three of the major threats related to the murders — Illegal gold mining, Illegal logging, and Illicit crops — with more in-depth descriptions and key case studies, and reviews the current regulatory basis related to environmental defender deaths in Peru.

Read the full report here.