Violence targeting Indigenous people surges 61 percent in Brazil

Land invasions in Brazilian Indigenous territories rose 137 percent last, a rights group reported. Violence against Indigenous people in Brazil surged by more than 60 percent last year, a rights group has said, as land invasions of Indigenous territories increased and the government failed to provide protection. In its annual report, released on Thursday, on violence against

Record number of environmental activists murdered

A record number of activists working to protect the environment and land rights were murdered last year, according to a report by a campaign group. 227 people were killed around the world in 2020, the highest number recorded for a second consecutive year, the report from Global Witness said. Almost a third of the murders

Nature congress calls for protecting 30% of Earth, 80% of Amazon

The world’s most influential conservation congress passed resolutions Friday calling for 80 percent of the Amazon and 30 percent of Earth’s surface — land and sea — to be designated “protected areas” to halt and reverse the loss of wildlife. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which is meeting in Marseille, does

Only 1% of British Columbia’s old growth forests remain, researchers find – Mongabay

Anti-logging protest becomes Canada’s biggest ever act of civil disobedience

At least 866 arrested since April, as police condemned for violence against protesters defending Vancouver Island’s ancient forests A string of protests against old-growth logging in western Canada have become the biggest act of civil disobedience in the country’s history, with the arrest of least 866 people since April. The bitter fight over the future of Vancouver

Indigenous protest as Brazil high court hears land case

Thousands of indigenous protesters gathered in the Brazilian capital, bearing bows and arrows and traditional headdresses, as the Supreme Court prepared to take up a case Wednesday that could eliminate reservations on their ancestral lands. In what organizers say is the biggest indigenous protest ever in Brazil, an estimated 6,000 demonstrators prepared to march to

Police deploy pepper spray, 2 injured, as tensions escalate at Fairy Creek blockade

Opponents of old-growth logging on Vancouver Island are alleging RCMP used excessive force amid rising tensions near the disputed Fairy Creek watershed. The RCMP says one protester and one police officer were injured on Saturday while arrests were being made on a road leading into the area. A total of 33 people were arrested on Saturday. “Early

Brazil forest fire season begins with concerns of mass destruction

The season of Brazilian forest fires has begun, and early data plus severe drought is sparking concern that nationwide destruction in 2021 will stay at the high levels recorded in the past two years, despite efforts to tamp down the blazes. The government space agency that uses satellites to monitor fires reported more area burned in the

Photo of massive tree being hauled down Vancouver Island highway sparks global outrage

B.C. Ministry of Forests confirms tree was cut in 2020 and is being transported for processing B.C. officials have confirmed that a massive spruce log photographed as it was hauled down a highway this week was cut on north Vancouver Island in 2020, months before new rules were introduced to protect giant trees. A photo of the

Arrests on Vancouver Island over old-growth logging blockades tally 33 on Saturday

Longtime activist Tzeporah Berman one of those arrested Saturday as RCMP continue enforcing court order More than 30 activists were arrested on Southern Vancouver Island on Saturday, including a prominent environmentalist, as RCMP continue to enforce a court order to allow logging in the area. This week B.C. RCMP began enforcing a court injunction that orders the removal