A Land defender is an activist individual who works to protect the earth's land. They are also referred to as land protectors or earth defenders. Land defenders are primarily members of Indigenous communities in North America. They do not consider themselves to be simply demonstrators or protesters, but are performing a sacred duty through non-violent resistance to activities which endanger the land. Land defenders reject the term "protestor" because of its links to colonialism and its negative connotations. Land is considered sacred by Indigenous peoples and caring for and protecting land is considered a duty to honour ancestors, to current peoples, and future generations.
Role and activism
Land defenders play an active and increasingly visible role in actions intended to protect, honour, and make visible the importance of land. There are strong connections between the water protector movement land defender movement and Indigenous environmental activism. Land defenders resist the installation of pipelines, fossil fuel industries, destruction of territory for development such as agriculture and resource extraction activities such as fracking because these actions can lead to the degredation of land, destruction of forest, and disruption of habitat. Land defenders resist activities that harm land, especially across Indigenous territories and their work is tied to human rights. Activism can come in the form of the erection of blockades on reserve lands or traditional territories to block corporations from resource extraction activities. Water and land protectors also erect camps as a way to occupy traditional territories and strengthen cultural ties. Land defenders also work through legal frameworks such as government court systems in effort to keep control of traditional territories.
Dangers facing land defenders
Land defenders often face perilous conditions in the face of state powers, resource corporations such as gas or mining corporations, others seeking to develop land or extinguish Indigenous land rights. For example, it was revealed that the Canadian national police force, the RCMP, were prepared to use deadly force against land defenders in a 2019 protest in British Columbia. The human rights organizationGlobal Witness reported that 164 land defenders were killed in 2018 in countries such as the Philippines, Brazil, India, and Guatemala. This same report stated a significant number of the people killed, injured, and threatened were Indigenous. The UN has reported that many land protectors are labelled as terrorists by state governments in an effort to discredit their claims. Such labelling can create dangerous conditions for those working to protect land rights. Amnesty International has called attention to the dangers facing those seeking to protect the earth, water, and communities, calling Latin America the most dangerous location for land defenders. The Environmental Defence Fund has reported that over 1700 defenders have been killed with less than 10% of those responsible brought to justice. The Extinction Rebellion has worked to bring attention to the situation of land defenders and have honoured those who have been killed.
