Notable deaths in conservation in 2020

It is impossible to capture all of 2020’s losses.
Every death is of course notable, but this list acknowledges a few of the 2020 deaths that carry special significance to the conservation community.
The list is grouped into three categories: murders and killings, reportedly COVID-19-related, and other deaths.
Note: this list only includes deaths that occurred in 2020.

It is impossible to capture all of 2020’s losses between the global pandemic, the impacts of natural disasters often exacerbated by human activities, and the atrocities committed against environmental defenders.

Every death is of course notable, but this list acknowledges a few of the 2020 deaths that carry special significance to the conservation community.

Murders, assassinations, and other killings

12 Virunga park rangers: (DR Congo) Augustin Mugisho Kulondwa (27), Djamali Badi Mukandama (27), Hértier Ndagijimana Ndahobari (27), Jacques Muhindo Katembo (29), Jean-Louis Kambale Mutsomani (31), Jeannot Muhindo Isevihango (30), Joseph Kasole Janvier (30), Jules Kambale Teremuka (28), Junior Fazili Justin (29), Kadhafi Abedi Iyalu (23), Lumumba Anuari Bihira (27), and Moise Paluku Kalondero (30) were Virunga Park Rangers who were killed in an ambush near the headquarters of Virunga National Park in Rumangabo om April 24, 2020. Ruphin Masumbuko Malekani, a driver for the park authority, was also killed. More
Adán Vez Lira, 53: (Mexico) Community leader known for his work to preserve the natural resources of his community, La Mancha, Veracruz, Mexico. He was gunned down on a local road in Veracruz. More
Arbildo Meléndez Grandez, 43: (Peru) A Cacataibo indigenous leader from the Unipacuyacu native community in Huánuco, Peru. Grandez was gunned down on April 12, 2020 after receiving threats for his efforts to secure land titles for his community in the face of advancing encroachment by drug traffickers and illegal coca cultivation. More
Benoit Maria: (Guatemala) The Guatemalan director of Agronomes et Veterinaires Sans Frontieres was ambushed and killed in northeastern Guatemala on August 12, 2020. More
Deogene Bagurubumwe Chuhoze, 47: (DR Congo) A Virunga National Park Ranger who was killed on October 10, 2020 during an attack near Sarambwe village. At the time of his death, he had worked for the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) since 1996. More
Eugui Roy Martínez Pérez, 21: (Mexico) An outstanding biology student who served as a guide for many scientists in Mexico. He discovered a new species of viper and was writing a book about the herpetofauna of Loxicha in Oaxaca, Mexico. He was shot to death on his ranch in the community of Tierra Blanca, where he was quarantining during the pandemic. The motive for his slaying is unknown. More
Félix Vásquez, 65: (Honduras) A member of the Lenca Indigenous community who campaigned for the environment and was an advocate for rural workers’ rights. Vásquez was shot dead in front of his family by masked gunmen in late December 2020. More
Fikile Ntshangase, 65: (South Africa) A South African activist who campaigned against a coal mine in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province. Ntshangase was shot at her home near the Tendele coal mine, which borders the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi game park More
Germain Kambale Vyasaki, 28: (DR Congo) A Virunga National Park Ranger who was killed on March 3, 2020 during an attack near Nyamilima. More
Hermanus (“Tompel”), 36: (Indonesia) A farmer from Penyang Village in Kotawaringin Timur Regency, Central Kalimantan died after being detained near a disputed oil palm concession belonging to PT. Hamparan Mas Bangun Persada. More
Homero Gómez González, 50: (Mexico) A defender of oyamel fir forests and the monarch butterfly in Mexico who was found dead January 29, 2020, more than two weeks after he went missing. His body showed signed on violent assault. More
Isaac Herrera Avilés, 58: (Mexico) A lawyer who fought in defense of forests and freshwater sources in the face of urban expansion in Morelos, Mexico. He was gunned down on the doorstep of his house. More
Jaime Monge: (Colombia) An environmental leader who represented the Cali Peasants Association near the Farallones de Cali National Park. Monge was assassinated on August 18, 2020. More
Javier Francisco Parra, 47: (Colombia) The Coordinator of the Regional La Macarena of the Corporation for the Sustainable Development of the La Macarena Special Management Area (Cormacarena), a Colombian environmental authority. Parra was shot on December 3, 2020 in the municipality of La Macarena in the department of Meta, an area besieged by armed conflict, deforestation, and land grabbing. More
Jorge Enrique Oramas: (Colombia) A Colombian defender of the Farallones de Cali National Park who was killed on May 16. More
Juana Perea, 50: (Colombia) An ecotourism operator and scuba-diving instructor who opposed the proposed Gulf of Tribugá port project. Perea was found murdered in Nuquí, in the department of Chocó, Colombia on October 28. More
Marius Betera: (Indonesia) An indigenous Papuan farmer who was killed after allegedly being assaulted by a police officer when complaining about a palm oil company bulldozing his banana plot in Boven Digoel district in Papua, Indonesia. The company, Tunas Sawa Erma (TSE), is a subsidiary of palm oil and logging giant Korindo Group. More
Miguel Tapi Rito: (Colombia) An Indigenous Embera leader of the Dobida people who served as the governor of the Indigenous communities El Brazo and Bacuru Purru in Bahía Solano. Hooded men entered his community and murdered him on December 3, 2020. More
Omar Guasiruma Nacabera and Ernesto Guasiruma Nacabera: (Colombia) Embera Indigenous leaders from Buenavista in Colombia’s Choco region. They were killed in their homes in March 2020. More
Paulina Gómez, 50: (Mexico) Defender of the Wirikuta Indigenous territory in San Luis Potosi, against the mining activity. She disappeared on March 19 and was found shot to death three days later. More
Pradeep Bandara, 25: (Sri Lanka) A Sri Lankan wildlife officer who was killed by poachers during the COVID-19 lockdown. More
Rieli Franciscato, 56: (Brazil) A sertanista with the Brazilian government’s Indigenous affairs agency FUNAI who worked to protect the rights and territory of Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation in the Amazon rainforest. Franciscato was killed on the edge of the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indigenous territory in Rondonia. More
Roberto Carlos Pacheco Villanueva, 34: (Peru) An environmental defender who was a son of well-known environmentalist, Demetrio Pacheco. Villanueva, who had received several threats after filing complaints about deforestation and invasions in his forest concession, was assassinated on September 10, 2020. More
Yamid Alonso Silva Torres, 38: (Colombia) A park ranger for the El Cocuy National Park, Torres was assassinated on February 6 in a rural area of Güicán, in the department of Boyacá, Colombia. More
Yehry Rivera, 45: (Costa Rica) A land activist and member of the Brörán Indigenous group in Costa Rica who was killed by a mob on February 24, 2020. Rivera’s death came shortly after the near-death of Mainor Ortiz Delgado, 29, a leader of the Bribri Indigenous group in neighboring Salitre. More
Zezico Rodrigues Guajarar: (Brazil) A teacher from the Arariboia indigenous reserve in northeastern Maranhão state, who was found shot dead on March 31, 2020. The motive for the killing remains unknown. More

Rainforest in Sarawak, Malaysia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

Reportedly COVID-19-related

Aritana Yawalapiti: (Brazil) A Xingu chief who was a charismatic and effective spokesperson for the rights of Indigenous peoples in the Brazilian Amazon and beyond. More
Benjamin Rodriguez Grandez: (Peru) A Peruvian Indigenous leader and elder instrumental in the creation of Yaguas Park. Grandez died of COVID-19. More
Heherson Alvarez, 80: (Philippines) An outspoken critic of Ferdinand Marcos Dictatorship, Alvarez became a leading environmental advocate in the Philippines, helping pass Executive Order 774 in 2008, which became a model climate change law, and authoring other landmark laws for environmental protection, including the Solid Waste Management Act, the Clean Air Act; and the Philippines’ Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law. More
Humberto Chota Laulate: (Peru) A Shawi Indigenous leader in Loreto, Peru who was the president of the Federación de Comunidades Nativas Ticuna y Yagua del Bajo Amazonas (Feconatiya) where he battled on behalf of Shawi, Ticuna and Yagua communities against deforestation and encroachment of indigenous lands by drug traffickers. He died from COVID-19 after spending a week waiting for oxygen. More
Jose de los Santos Sauna Limaco, 44: (Colombia) A political leader of the Kogi peoples of the Sierra Nevada of Colombia. Santos Sauna died from COVID-19 two years to the day after cosigning a decree to protect the “Linea Negra,” the invisible line that connects the sacred sites of the Kogis. More
José Tijé Huarao, 81: (Peru) A Harakbut indigenous leader who was the founder of the Arazaire native community in Madre de Dios, Huarao was known for his proficiency of endangered Harakmbut language, his fight against illegal mining, and his efforts to secure land titles for Indigenous communities. He died of COVID-19. More
Luis Hernando “Bufeo” Rivas Cubeo: (Colombia) Co-founder of the indigenous community of Borikada in the Curare Los Ingleses reserve in Colombia, Cubeo used his wealth of traditional knowledge to help bridge the worlds of governmental and non-governmental organizations, joining the Río Puré National Park team and leading their efforts in the Colombia-Brazil border to protect isolated indigenous peoples from unwanted contact.
Paulinho Paiakan: (Brazil) A Kayapo Chief who was one of the first to have emerged from the Brazilian Amazon in 1970s to warn of the dangers of rainforest destruction. More
Robinson López, 36: (Colombia) A prominent indigenous leader who served as the Climate Change and Biodiversity coordinator of COICA, the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin (COICA). More
Santiago Manuín Valera, 63: (Peru) An Awajún indigenous leader who was awarded the Reina Sofia Prize in 1994 for his work in defense of the Amazon and human rights. Valera was shot eight times during the 2009 Bagua conflict between police and Indigenous protestors. In 2014 he won Peru’s National Human Rights Award. More
Sugathakumari, 86: (India) A poet whose poetry moved environmentalists to join the movement to protect the rainforest of Silent Valley in the 1980s from being converted to a hydroelectric project. More
T. Peter, 63: (India) An activist for fishworker rights who served as general secretary of the National Fishworkers’ Forum. More
Thomas Kunz, 81: (U.S.) A mammalogist who studied bats and advocated for their conservation. More
Widodo Ramono: (Indonesia) Indonesian rhino conservationist who served as the director of YABI. More

Sunset in the Amazon. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

Other causes

Ajay Desai, 63: (India) An elephant biologist and wildlife conservationist who served in a number of conservation roles, including Co-Chair of IUCN SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group and a member of the Steering Committee of Government of India’s Project Elephant. Desai, who worked on elephant and other large mammal conservation across Asia, was a mentor for many young and aspiring wildlife conservationists in India. More
Alfredo Sirkis, 69: (Brazil) Founder of Brazil’s Green Party and a climate change campaigner. Sirkis was killed in car accident. More
Alphonse Musafiri Gasacyoya, 64: (DR Congo) A Virunga National Park pilot who died in a plane crash on November 18, 2020. Gasacyoya had trained Congolese pilots for park patrols. More
Barbara Bernache-Baker, 90: (Puerto Rico) A biologist who worked to protect marine life around the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico More
Barry Lopez, 75: (United States) A writer who wrote a range of fiction and non-fiction works, from books to short stories, that explored nature and environmental themes. More
Beverly J. Paigen, 81: (U.S.) A biologist who led the toxic waste research at Love Canal, which found significantly higher rates of birth defects among local residents. Paigen was targeted for her outspokenness on the issue. More
David E. Wildt, 69: (U.S.) A conservation biologist who worked on the reproductive biology and population genetics of endangered species from the cheetah to giant pandas. Wildt, who retired as the Director of the Smithsonian’s Conservation Biology Institute’s Center for Species Survival in 2018, won many accolades over his distinguished career. More
David Pimentel, 94: (U.S.) An ecologist who published more than 700 papers and 40 books on conservation and the environment, including the first course in introductory ecology at Cornell. More
Doug Crowe, 81: (U.S.) A conservation biologist who authored articles on wildlife management and worked in the U.S. government on international conservation and anti-poaching efforts. More
Eberhard Curio, 88: (Philippines) A renowned ornithologist who pioneered hornbill conservation work and research in the Philippines, resulting in the protection of rare species. More
Ferreira du Plessis: (South Africa) A South African wildlife veterinarian who cared for orphaned and injured rhinos at Care For Wild rhino sanctuary. More
Garth Owen-Smith, 76: (Namibia) An African conservationist credited with establishing Namibia’s community-driven conservation model in the 1980s. Owen-Smith co-founded Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation with his long-time partner Margie Jacobsohn. More
Georgina Mace, 67: (U.K.) A British ecologist and conservation scientist who played a central role in developing the criteria for listing species in the IUCN Red List. Mace served in a range of leadership roles in conservation and won numerous awards and honors. More
Ghanimat Azhdari, 36: (Iran) An Indigenous Peoples’ and Community Conserved Areas and Territories (ICCA) researcher and member of the Qashqai tribe who was killed when the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 on January 8th, 2020 in Tehran. More
Glenn Fredly, 45: (Indonesia) An Indonesian singer and musician who was an outspoken advocate for the environment and Indigenous peoples. His #SaveAru campaign sparked public outcry over a plan to clear vast areas of forest on Aru Island for industrial sugarcane plantations, while his calls to reject a reclamation project in Bali’s Benoa Bay received wide public support. More
Gunawan Wiradi, 86: (Indonesia) A major figure in the world of Indonesian agrarian reform. More
Guy Suzon Ramangason: (Madagascar) A champion of protected areas in Madagascar who served as director-general of Madagascar National Parks, the quasi-governmental agency that manages many of the country’s parks. He helped develop and promote numerous protected areas across the country during his long career in conservation. More
Henk Reichart, 95: (Suriname) A Dutch-American sea turtle expert who for many years ran STINASU, a conservation NGO in Suriname
Jack Randall, 95: (U.S.) An ichthyologist who discovered and named 830 species of fish. Randall, who was known as “Dr. Fish”, published more than 900 papers and two dozen books. More
James Redford 58: (United States) An activist, filmmaker and philanthropist who co-founded The Redford Center with his father actor Robert Redford. Redford produced films about environmental issues and climate justice, among other issues.
James L. Ruos, 85: (U.S.) A biologist who worked on wildlife conservation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and first proposed the concept of a “debt-for-nature” swap as a mechanism for protecting migratory bird habitat. More
Joe Connell, 96: (U.S.) An ecologist who studied how ecological communities functioned. Connell established well-known long-term studies of coral reefs and tropical rainforests in Queensland, Australia. More
John Houghton, 88: (U.K.) A climate scientist who co-founded the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and served in key leadership positions, including heading the UK Met Office. More
John Lewis: (U.K.) Veterinarian and conservationist who co-founded Wildlife Vets International (WVI) and was a partner at International Zoo Veterinary Group (IZVG). Lewis was well-known for his work with big cats, including the Amur leopard and tiger, and served as a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Cat specialist group. More
Kamini Vitharana: (Sri Lanka) A pioneering ecologist and conservationist who was co-Founder of Ruk Rekaganno, the Movement for the Protection of Trees. Vitharana led a civil society resistance movement against the mass logging of the Sinharaja forest, now a UNESCO world heritage site. More
Lyndon Pishagua Chinchuya: (Peru) A Yanesha Indigenous leader who served as the coordinator of Asociación Regional de los Pueblos Indígenas de la Selva Central (ARPI S.C.) where he fought for Indigenous rights. More
Marcellus Adi Riyanto, 54: (Indonesia) An Indonesian conservationist who devoted his career to the study and preservation of Indonesia’s endangered rhinos. More
Mario Molina, 77: (Mexico) A Mexican chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his co-discovery that chlorofluorocarbon gases (CFCs) were depleting the ozone layer. More
Michael Soulé, 84: (U.S.) Founder and first president of the Society for Conservation Biology who published numerous books and papers on population and evolutionary biology, population genetics, island biogeography, trophic cascades, and biodiversity policy, among other topics. Soulé won many accolades and served in a number of conservation leadership roles. More
Mohamed Hyder, 88: (Kenya) A Kenyan zoologist who served in senior leadership roles in the management of Kenya’s national parks. Hyder led the Kenya delegation to the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 1966. More
Olaf Weyl, 48: (South Africa) Chief Scientist at The South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity and Research Chair in inland fisheries and freshwater ecology. He specialized in rural food security, invasive species and conservation of endemic fishes. More
Paul Mafabi: (Uganda) A wetlands management specialist who served as a member of the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management. More
Pete Peterson, 74: (U.S.) A professor emeritus at the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences who worked an interdisciplinary conservation ecologist. More
Peter Beard, 82: (U.S.) Wildlife photographer and author of The End of the Game, which looked at elephant poachers. More
Peter Pritchard, 76: (U.K.) A zoologist who was a Hero of the Planet by Time magazine and a Floridian of the Year by the Orlando Sentinel for his efforts to protect turtles and tortoises. More
Petri Viljoen, 70: (South Africa) A South African wildlife expert who died in a plane crash in the Chewore Safari Area in Zimbabwe’s Zambezi Valley. More
Richard Grove, 64: (U.K.) An environmental historian who wrote the book Green Imperialism which documented the origin and history of the environmental movement. Grove co-founded the journal Environment and History and also the Centre for World Environmental History at the University of Sussex More
Robert Duane Powell, 79: (U.S.) An ecologist who brought his mathematical expertise to remote sensing and conservation biology. More
Robert May, 84: (U.K.) A mathematical ecologist who made important contributions to the understanding of biodiversity, population dynamics and infectious-disease epidemiology More
Samir Acharya, 75: (India) A citizen of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands who was active on environmental issues, civic rights and protecting the rights of the indigenous communities. More
Sidney Holt, 93: (U.S.) A biologist who worked to protect marine mammals via at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), other United Nations (UN) organizations, and conservation NGOs. More
Susan Marie Moegenburg, 53: (U.S.) A University of Vermont lecturer who taught classes on tropical forest ecology, conservation and non-timber forest products More
Terry Erwin, 79: (U.S.) An entomologist who was perhaps best known for his estimate of the number of species on the planet. Erwin revolutionized the scientific understanding of the diversity of life on Earth and set up some of the world’s first global conservation programs. More
Tom Norris, 55: (U.S.) A marine mammal acoustician who founded the research firm Bio-Waves, which advanced the study of marine mammals via passive acoustic monitoring technology. More
Tommy Apriando, 30: (Indonesia) An esteemed investigative journalist and chairperson of the Yogyakarta branch of Indonesia’s Alliance of Independent Journalists. His reporting took on politicians who used their connections with oligarchs to enrich themselves, exposed abuses by mining and palm oil companies, and told the complex stories that underpin entrenched land conflicts. More