Land defenders killed every 3 days in 2025; communities form self-defence units

Global Witness reports 124 killings of nature and land defenders in 2025, a rate of one every three days, with 85% of deaths in Latin America. Organized crime and professional killers implicated in over a third of cases, as narco-trafficking overlaps with environmental crime. Communities are forming self-defence units in response, indicating escalating violence and a shift toward armed resistance.