Following a coup in 2009, Honduras has consistently been one of the most dangerous places in the world to be an environmental defender. According to Global Witness research, 109 people have been killed since 2012 – for standing up to the exploitation of the country’s natural resources and protecting their land. 

Guapinol is a semi-rural community in the lush, mineral-rich Bajo Agua region in northern Honduras. People there depend on the natural environment for their livelihoods – especially the Guapinol river, which is their sole source of drinking water. 

The State of Honduras, through its Institute of Geology and Mines, entered into contracts allowing an open pit mine in a national park. The mining operation polluted local water supplies and caused other environmental damage.

A peaceful protest camp set up to oppose the open pit mine was stormed by armed security guards employed by the mining company. The protesters arrested are in jail awaiting trial on charges linked to their opposition to the mine. 

The episode features Juan Antonio Lopez, a member of the Municipal Committee for the Defence of the Common and Public Assets of Tocoa, Juana Zúniga, also a member of the committee, Edy Tabora, a lawyer defending some of the protestors, Rachel Cox, campaigner at Global Witness, and Father Melo, a priest and human rights defender in Guapinol.

Defenders of the Earth captures the gripping and inspiring stories of activists around the world who are taking on powerful interests to protect our planet. Our presenter is Vanessa Nakate, climate justice activist from Uganda. Our episodes profile activists in Russia, Liberia, Honduras, and the Philippines. 

As climate activist and journalist Bill McKibben wrote in Last Line of Defence, a report from Global Witness released in September 2021, land and environmental defenders ”are at risk, in the end, not just because of another local person who pulls the trigger or plunges the blade; they’re at risk because they find themselves living on or near something that some corporation is demanding.”

In 2020, 227 activists were murdered for taking a stand to defend human rights, their land, and our environment. Over a third of the attacks were reportedly linked to resource exploitation — logging, mining, and large-scale agribusiness — and hydroelectric dams and other infrastructure. And that number is likely to be higher due to poor reporting. 

Defenders of the Earth is produced by Global Witness and Whistledown Productions. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.