Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and environmental defenders are the front line of the fight for our planet. But today, they face the alarming reality of “macro-criminal networks” where political and economic interests team up with criminal groups to seize land and silence resistance.
Protecting the Protectors: A New Roadmap for Collective Defence in Latin America
In our latest report and fanzine, Peace Brigades International (PBI) and the ALLIED Network (Alliance for Land, Indigenous and Environmental Defenders) share the results of a deep-dive investigation into how communities in Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, and the Amazonian tri-border region linking Peru, Brazil, and Colombia are standing up to injustice.
This project seeks to consolidate current knowledge on collective protection and identify specific opportunities that will enable ILEDs in Latin America to strengthen their strategies in this area.
To this end, a participatory assessment was carried out in Latin America aimed at understanding the context faced by ILEDs and the responses developed to address it. The aim was to assess the territorial presence and obtain first-hand information. This also includes three case studies in Colombia, Brazil, and Ecuador.
What is Collective Protection?
It is more than just security—it is a way of life. True protection means:
🍃 Recovering Historical Memory: Remembering the roots of the struggle to stay united.
🍃 Self-Determination: Exercising autonomy over territories through groups like the Indigenous Guard.
🍃 Community Unity: Preventing the “divide and conquer” strategies used by aggressors.
How You Can Use This Research
We haven’t just identified the problems; we’ve gathered knowledge that can help strengthen the protective measures already in place.
➡️ Read the Report: A deep dive into the legal and contextual challenges.
➡️ Explore the Fanzine: A visual, digestible guide to the strategies being used right now.
➡️ Use the Methodology: Four training modules designed to help communities analyse risk and build emergency strategies.
The reports and methodology are the result of months of research, interviews, and visits to communities on the front line of environmental defence across the Americas. They are therefore informed by the voices, stories, and strategies of a range of Indigenous leaders and other environmental defenders. Whilst the research was conducted in Latin America, the findings can be useful to land and environmental defenders worldwide.
Full report (in Spanish)
Executive summary
Fanzine
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Resumo em português
Consultoria sobre proteção colectiva e acompanhamento territorial para pessoas defensoras indígenas de terra e do meio ambiente
Este projeto quer consolidar os conhecimentos tanto da PBI como da Rede ALLIED sobre Proteção Coletiva e identificar oportunidades concretas que lhes permitam às pessoas ILED localizadas na região latino-americana, fortalecer suas estratégias no assunto. Para tanto, foi realizado um diagnóstico participativo na América Latina orientado a compreender o contexto que enfrentam as pessoas ILED e as respostas desenvolvidas para encará-lo. Tomou-se a decisão de realizar uma pesquisa mais profunda no México, na Colômbia, no Equador e na região da tríplice fronteira amazônica localizada entre o Peru, o Brasil e a Colômbia. Com a finalidade de avaliar a presença territorial e obter informação de primeira mão, organizaram-se também três estudos de caso na Colômbia, no Brasil e no Equador.
Resumo executivo
Fanzine
