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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/murdered-journalists/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:43:03 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Murdered Journalists</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/murdered-journalists/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>RJ Nichole Ledesma, chronicler of unsettled ground on Negros Island, was killed last month. He was 30.</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rj-nichole-ledesma-chronicler-of-unsettled-ground-on-negros-island-was-killed-last-month-he-was-30/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rj-nichole-ledesma-chronicler-of-unsettled-ground-on-negros-island-was-killed-last-month-he-was-30/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 May 2026 15:32:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/03151913/RJ-Nichole-Ledesma-bw-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318634</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Endangered Environmentalists, Human Rights, Journalism, Murdered Journalists, Obituary, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[RJ Nichole Ledesma’s journalism returned again and again to land: who worked it, who owned it, who was pushed from it, and what happened when projects planned elsewhere arrived in villages with little warning. In Negros, an island shaped by sugar plantations, labor struggles and long conflict, he reported from places where environmental change was [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[RJ Nichole Ledesma’s journalism returned again and again to land: who worked it, who owned it, who was pushed from it, and what happened when projects planned elsewhere arrived in villages with little warning. In Negros, an island shaped by sugar plantations, labor struggles and long conflict, he reported from places where environmental change was not an abstraction. It appeared as proposed energy projects on agricultural land, a hydropower venture, a palm-oil plantation, or reclamation along a coast where fisherfolk made their living. He was 30 when he was killed on April 19th during a Philippine Army operation in Toboso, Negros Occidental. The military said the operation targeted suspected rebels of the New People’s Army and left 19 people dead. The Committee to Protect Journalists, citing news reports and the Altermidya Network, said Ledesma was a writer and editor at Paghimutad-Negros and had been reporting on the effects of renewable-energy projects. Altermidya and Human Rights Advocates Negros said he was not at the initial clash site, but in a separate community during a military pursuit operation. The army disputed accounts that some of those killed were civilians. The circumstances of his death remain contested. The shape of his work is easier to see. RJ Ledesma. Photo via Altermidya Ledesma came to journalism through campus reporting at the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod, where he studied psychology and became editor-in-chief of The Spectrum. There he learned the practical habits of reporting: listening, checking, documenting, and standing by a story&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rj-nichole-ledesma-chronicler-of-unsettled-ground-on-negros-island-was-killed-last-month-he-was-30/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rj-nichole-ledesma-chronicler-of-unsettled-ground-on-negros-island-was-killed-last-month-he-was-30/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318634</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Dom Phillips &#038; Bruno Pereira ‘would be killed again,’ Indigenous leader says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/dom-phillips-bruno-pereira-would-be-killed-again-indigenous-leader-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/dom-phillips-bruno-pereira-would-be-killed-again-indigenous-leader-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Oct 2025 17:29:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/24122158/upscalemedia-transformed-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308184</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Journalism, Murdered Journalists, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SÃO PAULO AND RIO DE JANEIRO — Despite government efforts to halt violence in the Amazon region where British journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira were killed three years ago, the threats remain, prominent Indigenous leader Beto Marubo said. “Unfortunately, I can say that if Dom and Bruno were in the Javari Valley [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SÃO PAULO AND RIO DE JANEIRO — Despite government efforts to halt violence in the Amazon region where British journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira were killed three years ago, the threats remain, prominent Indigenous leader Beto Marubo said. “Unfortunately, I can say that if Dom and Bruno were in the Javari Valley today, they would be killed again,” Marubo told Mongabay in an interview in São Paulo, referring to the lack of permanent presence of the federal government in Amazonas state. On June 5, 2022, Phillips and Pereira were brutally killed in the Javari Valley; none of the perpetrators have been brought to trial. According to Marubo, authorities did make an effort to take some specific actions in the Javari Valley, including raids and investigations led by the Federal Police and by the federal environmental agency, IBAMA, in addition to opening channels of dialogue with the community, but it didn’t solve the problem. “It didn’t have the impact we expected that all the repercussions of the case would have on those in power, unfortunately. So, the factors that caused the killings remain the same: drug trafficking and the increase in invasions of Indigenous lands”, said Marubo, who represents the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Vale do Javari (UNIVAJA) in Brasília, Brazil&#8217;s capital. Portrait of prominent Indigenous leader, Beto Marubo, by renowned Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado. Image courtesy of the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Vale do Javari (UNIVAJA). In a news release published in June,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/dom-phillips-bruno-pereira-would-be-killed-again-indigenous-leader-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308184</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Finishing Dom Phillips’ posthumous book was ‘the hardest thing emotionally’ co-authors say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/finishing-dom-phillips-posthumous-book-was-the-hardest-thing-emotionally-co-authors-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/finishing-dom-phillips-posthumous-book-was-the-hardest-thing-emotionally-co-authors-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jun 2025 14:30:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/18061146/Dom-Phillips-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300979</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Books, Conservation, Environment, Interviews, Interviews With Environmental Journalists, Journalism, Murdered Journalists, Rainforest Destruction, and Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“The journalist should not be part of the story.” Jonathan Watts, British journalist based in Brazil, recalls the words of fellow British journalist Dom Phillips and the challenges they posed to finish his posthumous book. “Dom was not the kind of journalist who wanted to be in the story. He told me, ‘I don’t like [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“The journalist should not be part of the story.” Jonathan Watts, British journalist based in Brazil, recalls the words of fellow British journalist Dom Phillips and the challenges they posed to finish his posthumous book. “Dom was not the kind of journalist who wanted to be in the story. He told me, ‘I don’t like this journalism where I did this and I did that.’” On June 5, 2022, Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira were brutally killed in the Javari Valley region, in the Brazilian Amazon; Phillips was investigating illegal fishing in the region for his book. How to save the Amazon: A journalist’s fatal quest for answers, by Phillips with contributors, is being launched in the United Kingdom, the United States and Brazil, accompanied by dedicated events in the three countries. Watts, The Guardian’s global environment editor and a close friend of Phillips’, led a group of expert writers to finish Phillips’ book. “The really big challenge was how do we balance Dom’s original intentions with the reality that the world has changed and that the story has changed partly because Bruno and Dom were murdered changed the story, they became part of the story,” Watts, who wrote a chapter for Philips’ book, tells Mongabay in a video interview. “In this case, the story was so big, what happened to them, that we could not not write about it.” Despite Phillips’ “in some ways old fashioned or old school” way of thinking about never including the journalist in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/finishing-dom-phillips-posthumous-book-was-the-hardest-thing-emotionally-co-authors-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/finishing-dom-phillips-posthumous-book-was-the-hardest-thing-emotionally-co-authors-say/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300979</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Dom Phillips’ posthumous book centers on collaborative work for saving the Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/dom-phillips-posthumous-book-centers-on-collaborative-work-for-saving-the-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/dom-phillips-posthumous-book-centers-on-collaborative-work-for-saving-the-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 May 2025 17:02:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/30140506/1-7-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299950</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Books, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Murdered Journalists, Rainforest Destruction, Threats To Rainforests, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#8220;You can&#8217;t stop important, high-quality journalistic work.&#8221; Alessandra Sampaio, widow of British journalist Dom Phillips, says it was the main driver that led her to unite forces with his friends to finish his book after he was killed in 2022. &#8220;As soon as the tragedy happened, it became very clear to me and also to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&#8220;You can&#8217;t stop important, high-quality journalistic work.&#8221; Alessandra Sampaio, widow of British journalist Dom Phillips, says it was the main driver that led her to unite forces with his friends to finish his book after he was killed in 2022. &#8220;As soon as the tragedy happened, it became very clear to me and also to [Dom&#8217;s] journalist friends, from whom I had a lot of support, that it was important to finish the book,&#8221; Sampaio tells Mongabay in a video interview. On June 5, 2022, Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira were brutally killed in the Javari Valley region, in the Brazilian Amazon. The British journalist was investigating illegal fishing in the region, aimed to be the second-last trip for his book, according to Sampaio. Near the Brazil-Colombia-Peru triple border, the Javari Valley region is a hotspot for organized crime, including drug traffickers, illegal loggers and poachers. The region is home to the second-largest Indigenous territory in Brazil — 8.5 million hectares (21 million acres), an area twice the size of Switzerland — and an estimated 17 isolated Indigenous groups live there, with little to no contact with the rest of the world. The cover of the U.S. edition of Dom Phillips&#8217; book, which will be launched in the U.S. on June 9. Three years later, How to save the Amazon: A journalist&#8217;s fatal quest for answers, by Phillips with contributors, will be launched beginning May 31 in the United Kingdom, the United States and Brazil, accompanied by dedicated events&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/dom-phillips-posthumous-book-centers-on-collaborative-work-for-saving-the-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299950</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Southeast Asia in review: 2024</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/southeast-asia-in-review-2024/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/southeast-asia-in-review-2024/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Dec 2024 04:33:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn CowanGerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/08/08190458/WFFT-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292507</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Climate Change, climate finance, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Electric Cars, Endangered Environmentalists, Endangered Species, Environment, extractives, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Hydroelectric Power, Impact Of Climate Change, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industrial Agriculture, Infrastructure, Journalism, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Mining, Murdered Journalists, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Redd, Renewable Energy, Roads, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[2024 was a year marked by a COP climate summit so dismal that many governments and analysts questioned whether the annual meetings are even worth holding. While world leaders failed to secure meaningful action, extreme weather events battered Southeast Asia, underscoring the deadly consequences of inaction on climate change and the urgent need for inclusive [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[2024 was a year marked by a COP climate summit so dismal that many governments and analysts questioned whether the annual meetings are even worth holding. While world leaders failed to secure meaningful action, extreme weather events battered Southeast Asia, underscoring the deadly consequences of inaction on climate change and the urgent need for inclusive solutions. An early summer heat wave that climate scientists said would have been “impossible” without the climate crisis saw temperatures soar across the region. Amid the deadly and unprecedented temperatures, farmers faced water shortages and ruined fruit and rice harvests. The onset of the wet season brought no respite, with intensified typhoons and flash floods taking a devastating toll on northern Vietnam, the Philippines and parts of Thailand. The storms left urban centers and farmland in tatters, displacing people, devastating crops and triggering deadly landslides. The Ngao River, a Mekong tributary, burst its banks flooding more than 2,000 Rai of pomelo orchards in late Aug-mid-Sept, photographed on Sept 20, 2024. Image courtesy of Rak Chiang Khong Conservation Group / International Rivers. Carbon market calamities One mechanism aimed at countering global emissions to reduce to the likelihood and severity of these climatic tumults is the carbon market. However, the sale of carbon credits to offset fossil fuel emissions and reduce deforestation has come under increased scrutiny in Southeast Asia. The region is home to a significant portion of the world’s tropical forests, and carbon industry players reported that REDD+ projects here could generate up to $27.7&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/southeast-asia-in-review-2024/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-292507</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Environmental journalist in Cambodia shot and killed by suspected logger</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/environmental-journalist-in-cambodia-shot-and-killed-by-suspected-logger/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/environmental-journalist-in-cambodia-shot-and-killed-by-suspected-logger/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Dec 2024 09:52:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald FlynnPhoung Vantha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/11101042/Choeung-Chheng-banner-Redo-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291436</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Endangered Environmentalists]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Corruption, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Freedom of Information, Global Environmental Crisis, Illegal Logging, Journalism, Murdered Journalists, Protected Areas, Threats To Rainforests, Timber, timber trade, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SIEM REAP, Cambodia — Chhoeung Chheng, a journalist covering environmental issues for local online news outlet Kampuchea Aphiwat News, has died of his injuries after being shot in Siem Reap province on Dec. 4 by a suspected illegal logger. Chheng was rushed to a commune health clinic with a gunshot wound to the abdomen before being [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SIEM REAP, Cambodia — Chhoeung Chheng, a journalist covering environmental issues for local online news outlet Kampuchea Aphiwat News, has died of his injuries after being shot in Siem Reap province on Dec. 4 by a suspected illegal logger. Chheng was rushed to a commune health clinic with a gunshot wound to the abdomen before being transferred to Siem Reap Provincial Hospital where, in the early hours of Dec. 7, he died of his wounds. The attack took place at around 6 p.m. near Trapeang Phluoh village, Pongro Leu commune, Chi Kraeng district, Siem Reap province, close to Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary, where Chheng and a colleague, Moeun Ny, had been traveling at the time. “We’d traveled from toward Trapeang Raing, which is a conservation area under ​​the Ministry of Environment, to take photos of illegal [forest] activities for producing news,” Ny told Mongabay. The pair had been traveling toward Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected forest that lost 72% of its primary forest cover between 2002 and 2023, according to Global Forest Watch data. Based on testimony from witnesses, this map shows the rough location of the shooting, which happened on the border of Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary as Chhoeung Chheng and Moeun Ny returned from the forest. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay. Much of that deforestation was due to economic land concessions that saw some 70,000 hectares of the sanctuary cleared to make way for rubber plantations. What remains of the forest has been further decimated by new&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/environmental-journalist-in-cambodia-shot-and-killed-by-suspected-logger/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/environmental-journalist-in-cambodia-shot-and-killed-by-suspected-logger/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291436</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Reporter who revealed deforestation in Cambodia now charged with deforestation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/reporter-who-revealed-deforestation-in-cambodia-now-charged-with-deforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/reporter-who-revealed-deforestation-in-cambodia-now-charged-with-deforestation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Sep 2024 04:49:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald FlynnNehru Pry]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/05025848/Ouk-Mao-and-felled-timber-in-Phnom-Chum-Rok-Sat-Stung-Treng-Cambodia-Aug-2024-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=287953</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Corruption, Deforestation, Ecotourism, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Governance, Illegal Logging, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Journalism, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Logging, Military, Mining, Murdered Journalists, Protected Areas, Resource Conflict, Selective Logging, timber trade, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[STUNG TRENG, Cambodia — It was late in the afternoon of Sept. 16 when Ouk Mao finally answered his phone. The environmental journalist had spent much of that Monday making preparations in case he was jailed the next day. Mao was accused of illegal logging in the northeastern province of Stung Treng. Mao is known [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[STUNG TRENG, Cambodia — It was late in the afternoon of Sept. 16 when Ouk Mao finally answered his phone. The environmental journalist had spent much of that Monday making preparations in case he was jailed the next day. Mao was accused of illegal logging in the northeastern province of Stung Treng. Mao is known in his community for having played a key role in exposing a land grab perpetrated by mining company Lin Vatey, which has ties to senior figures within the Cambodian military. His reporting on Lin Vatey’s logging and mining operations had earned him the ire of local authorities, so he wasn’t overly surprised when, on Aug. 20, he was summoned for questioning at the Stung Treng Provincial Court. But he was surprised by the charges: illegally clearing state-owned forest and incitement. These are crimes that carry jail sentences of 10 and two years respectively, as well as fines totaling tens of thousands of dollars. The questioning was set for Sept. 17, leaving Mao convinced he would be jailed. “It is just a pretext to arrest me,” Mao told Mongabay. “They are angry at me because I covered the news in the community forest of Phnom Chum Rok Sat that affects the high-ranking officials, so the court accused me of clearing forest because I have talked a lot about deforestation.” While Mao wasn’t jailed after questioning as he’d feared, the investigating judge did place him under judicial supervision, meaning Mao will be surveilled by authorities and will&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/reporter-who-revealed-deforestation-in-cambodia-now-charged-with-deforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-287953</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Shrinking civil space and persistent logging: 2023 in review in Southeast Asia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/shrinking-civil-space-and-persistent-logging-2023-in-review-in-southeast-asia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/shrinking-civil-space-and-persistent-logging-2023-in-review-in-southeast-asia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Dec 2023 14:40:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn CowanGerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/12064247/Garment-Deforestation_Mongabay_Andy-Ball_Story-3-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=277151</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Community Forests, Conflict, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Crime, Deforestation, Deforestation Alert System, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Heroes, Environmental Law, Forests, Governance, Illegal Logging, Journalism, Law, Logging, Military, Murdered Activists, Murdered Journalists, Politics, Protests, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Roads, Selective Logging, Surveillance, Traditional People, Tropical Deforestation, Violence, Wildlife, and Wildlife consumption]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Southeast Asia is home to the third-largest expanse of tropical rainforest in the world, making it a pivotal region for global efforts to address the biodiversity crisis and climate change. But intense development pressure and global consumption are transforming the region’s landscapes, fragmenting forests, degrading waterways and depleting the natural resources on which countless species [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Southeast Asia is home to the third-largest expanse of tropical rainforest in the world, making it a pivotal region for global efforts to address the biodiversity crisis and climate change. But intense development pressure and global consumption are transforming the region’s landscapes, fragmenting forests, degrading waterways and depleting the natural resources on which countless species and millions of people depend. There have been both losses and gains for the environment and conservation across the region in 2023. The year was marked by ever-increasing repression against environmental activists, unabated logging pressure even within protected areas, and regional haze crises generated by El Niño-driven forest fires and agricultural burning. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Reforestation and ecosystem restoration efforts are coming to the forefront of conservation planning at local, national and regional scales, and mechanisms to make farming practices more sustainable, efficient and profitable are being widely explored throughout the region. Here’s a closer look at some of the conservation trends and developments across Southeast Asia that Mongabay covered during 2023. Repression ramps up across the region Southeast Asia has never been an easy place for activists, but a worrying trend emerged over the course of 2023 that saw environmental and Indigenous activists increasingly placed in the crosshairs of authoritarian governments as a result of their activism. In Cambodia, the transition of power from former prime minister Hun Sen to his eldest son, Hun Manet, has done little to open up the rapidly shrinking civil space. The ongoing crackdown on&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/shrinking-civil-space-and-persistent-logging-2023-in-review-in-southeast-asia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-277151</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘The police are watching’: In Mekong countries, eco defenders face rising risks</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-police-are-watching-in-mekong-countries-eco-defenders-face-rising-risks/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-police-are-watching-in-mekong-countries-eco-defenders-face-rising-risks/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Dec 2023 18:14:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hướng Thiện]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/06114122/Greater-Mekong-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=276749</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Mekong Forest Trade and Mekong Illegal Logging]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Mekong Basin, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conflict, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Journalism, Law, Logging, Murdered Activists, Murdered Journalists, Politics, Protests, Surveillance, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[While attending a recent United Nations forum, Toto, a Lao environmental activist, had an opportunity to meet with a U.N. special rapporteur in person. In the end, he decided not to do so. &#8220;It would be great to meet him, but it would be dangerous for me,&#8221; says Toto, who like all Mekong-based activists interviewed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[While attending a recent United Nations forum, Toto, a Lao environmental activist, had an opportunity to meet with a U.N. special rapporteur in person. In the end, he decided not to do so. &#8220;It would be great to meet him, but it would be dangerous for me,&#8221; says Toto, who like all Mekong-based activists interviewed for this story asked for a pseudonym to avoid government reprisals. “I was afraid meeting him would make it even harder to do what I am doing now,&#8221; Toto says. Souk, another Lao environmental activist, found herself in the same boat as Toto: They were both scared when they were asked to introduce themselves while participating in various activities at the U.N. forum. “Being seen as attending human rights events would put us at risk,” Souk says. On paper, U.N. protocols protect participants in U.N. human rights forums from reprisals, but this doesn’t necessarily provide activists with solace. Their concerns stem from harsh realities. In May, a well-known young Lao activist, Anousa Luangsuphom, was shot in the face and chest, sending shockwaves to the public at home and abroad. “We all know that our government is involved in it,&#8221; Toto says. Security concerns Across the Lower Mekong countries, the voices of civil society actors have been progressively more curtailed and controlled. Activists, journalists, environmental lawyers and others who raise attention for environmental issues tell Mongabay they feel threatened by increasingly authoritarian governments. In Laos, Toto and Souk have been struggling to strike a balance between&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/the-police-are-watching-in-mekong-countries-eco-defenders-face-rising-risks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-276749</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Who were the 11 Philippines environmental defenders killed in 2022?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/who-were-the-11-philippines-environmental-defenders-killed-in-2022/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/who-were-the-11-philippines-environmental-defenders-killed-in-2022/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Sep 2023 13:34:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/25134216/21728728_10210439725090456_1071347794764139314_o-e1695649488535-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273497</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conflict, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Murdered Activists, Murdered Journalists, Politics, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Philippines has gained the grim distinction of being Asia&#8217;s deadliest country for land and environmental defenders, with 281 deaths over the past decade, roughly one-third of which were linked to mining, according to the nonprofit Global Witness. This figure is a part of a larger global tally of at least 1,910 defenders killed between [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Philippines has gained the grim distinction of being Asia&#8217;s deadliest country for land and environmental defenders, with 281 deaths over the past decade, roughly one-third of which were linked to mining, according to the nonprofit Global Witness. This figure is a part of a larger global tally of at least 1,910 defenders killed between 2012 and 2022, a new Global Witness report shows. In 2022, an average of one defender was killed every other day globally, totalling 177 fatal attacks. According to the organization’s findings, the Philippines has consistently ranked as the top Asian country each year, though it observed a decline in fatal attacks against defenders in recent years, dropping from 29 in 2020 to 19 in 2021 and further down to 11 in 2022. Despite the decrease in murder counts, Global Witness and its Philippine-based environmental advocacy partners believe that Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who assumed the presidency in June 2022, &#8220;has so far failed to address human rights violations.” “Impunity continues and there is a concerted effort to undermine our work by continually branding us as bad people,” says Rodne Galicha, Executive Director of Living Laudato Si’ Philippines. “The involvement of politicians and their families who hold business interests creates a more dangerous environment for defenders speaking out in the Philippines. Real-estate, mining, large-scale agriculture and many of the reclamation projects we see across the country are connected to decision-makers with a vested interest to turn a profit, leading them to cut corners and importantly to prioritize&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/who-were-the-11-philippines-environmental-defenders-killed-in-2022/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/who-were-the-11-philippines-environmental-defenders-killed-in-2022/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-273497</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Latin America had the most attacks on environmental defenders in 2022, says report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/latin-america-had-the-most-attacks-on-environmental-defenders-in-2022-says-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/latin-america-had-the-most-attacks-on-environmental-defenders-in-2022-says-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2023 15:07:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juan Carlos GranadosPilar Puentes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/05142513/defensores-asesinados-2022-768x450.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268307</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conflict, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Murdered Activists, Murdered Journalists, Politics, Saving Rainforests, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The human rights organization Front Line Defenders has published its Global Analysis 2022, a report on the state of people who have dedicated their lives to defending the environment, Indigenous peoples, women and the LGBTIQ community. According to the report, 401 environmental and human rights defenders were killed in 26 countries around the world last [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The human rights organization Front Line Defenders has published its Global Analysis 2022, a report on the state of people who have dedicated their lives to defending the environment, Indigenous peoples, women and the LGBTIQ community. According to the report, 401 environmental and human rights defenders were killed in 26 countries around the world last year. The report also analyzes the scope and severity of violence against human rights defenders. Latin America continues to be the region with the highest number of murders of human rights defenders, according to the organization’s interim director, Olive Moore. It is also “the most dangerous context for human rights defenders, in addition to the war between Ukraine and Russia,” she said. Of the five countries that accounted for more than 80% of murders of human rights defenders, four are in Latin America: Colombia with 186 murders, Mexico with 45 murders, Brazil with 26 murders and Honduras with 17 murders. Meanwhile, Ukraine had 50 cases. The report states that almost half, exactly 48%, of the total number of murders last year targeted defenders of land rights, the environment, and Indigenous rights. Nemonte Nenquimo and the Waorani community at a march. Image by Mateo Barriga, Amazon Frontlines. Colombia has the highest number of murders of rights defenders In 2022, 46% of the total recorded murders of rights defenders worldwide took place in Colombia. The organization Somos Defensores documented 186 murders. For example, on February 22nd, 2022, in the department of Cesar, Colombia, Jorge Tafur and Teófilo&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/latin-america-had-the-most-attacks-on-environmental-defenders-in-2022-says-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268307</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cambodian activists commemorate 11th anniversary of Chut Wutty’s murder</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/cambodian-activists-commemorate-11th-anniversary-of-chut-wuttys-murder/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/cambodian-activists-commemorate-11th-anniversary-of-chut-wuttys-murder/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Apr 2023 12:28:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/28121136/Cambodian-activists-Chut-Wutty-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268050</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Law, Logging, Murdered Activists, Murdered Journalists, Politics, Protests, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — On the morning of April 26, a handful of activists took to the streets of the Cambodian capital to commemorate the 11th anniversary of environmentalist Chut Wutty’s assassination. Fifteen activists, some adorned in leaves, other sporting masks of Wutty’s face, gathered at Wat Botum Park in Phnom Penh at 9:30 a.m. holding [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — On the morning of April 26, a handful of activists took to the streets of the Cambodian capital to commemorate the 11th anniversary of environmentalist Chut Wutty’s assassination. Fifteen activists, some adorned in leaves, other sporting masks of Wutty’s face, gathered at Wat Botum Park in Phnom Penh at 9:30 a.m. holding photos of Wutty to demand the government more thoroughly investigate the murder that place in Koh Kong province on April 26, 2012. Wutty, a prominent environmental activist who remained defiantly outspoken against deforestation and the politically connected companies that fueled it, was gunned down while investigating illegal logging that he had linked to the development of two Chinese-built hydropower dams, the Stung Russei Chrum and Stung Tatay. Both are situated in the southwestern province of Koh Kong, which sits at the heart of the Cardamom Mountains where deforestation rates have soared in tandem with infrastructure projects. Activists took to the streets of Phnom Penh on the morning of April 26 to commemorate the anniversary of famed environmentalist Chut Wutty&#8217;s murder. Photo by Gerald Flynn/Mongabay. Trained by Russia, Wutty served in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) until 2000, but the corruption that was driving the ecological destruction that he saw as a soldier drove him to join Conservation International. He worked there for two years before going on to form his own NGO, the National Resources Protection Group. His investigations into illegal logging and its perpetrators earned him many enemies within both the RCAF and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/cambodian-activists-commemorate-11th-anniversary-of-chut-wuttys-murder/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268050</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rainforest reporting: Journalists discuss the challenges &#038; dangers of Amazonia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/rainforest-reporting-journalists-discuss-the-challenges-dangers-of-amazonia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/rainforest-reporting-journalists-discuss-the-challenges-dangers-of-amazonia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Apr 2023 12:34:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolina Conti]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/04122621/2-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267206</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Conservation, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Journalism, Murdered Journalists, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Journalists in Brazil have a saying, an expression penned by Brazilian poet Gonçalves Dias: “Boys, I saw it!” It’s popular among anyone going to the field to make reports, interview and witness facts and then report to others what they saw. And heard. In this article, we used the words of the poet from Brazil’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Journalists in Brazil have a saying, an expression penned by Brazilian poet Gonçalves Dias: “Boys, I saw it!” It’s popular among anyone going to the field to make reports, interview and witness facts and then report to others what they saw. And heard. In this article, we used the words of the poet from Brazil’s north as a foreword to some conversations we held with those who, for years now, not only know and report on Amazonia but live — fully — the violence that goes on in the region. According to environmentalist group Global Witness, there were 20 environmental activists murdered in Brazil in 2020 alone. In 2022, the deaths of journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous specialist Bruno Pereira were, according to reporter Daniel Camargos, “a nightmare that came true” for anyone who — like him — frequently reports on events in Amazonian territories. Reporter Daniel Camargos with journalist Dom Phillips in São Félix do Xingu, Pará, in mid-2019, where they did team reporting. Image courtesy of João Laet/Repórter Brasil. ‘Dom! Send us some news!’ “Once, when I was doing a coverage in Rondônia, the photographer that I worked with and I were approached by armed plainclothes police. It was a situation that recurred in my dreams frequently back then,” says Camargos, who today works for Repórter Brasil. “I was also having nightmares shortly before what happened to Dom. I would see myself and my colleagues beaten up, dead, exactly like what happened not long afterward with Dom and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/rainforest-reporting-journalists-discuss-the-challenges-dangers-of-amazonia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267206</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘We lost the biggest ally’: Nelly Marubo on her friend Bruno Pereira’s legacy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/we-lost-the-biggest-ally-nelly-marubo-on-her-friend-bruno-pereiras-legacy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/we-lost-the-biggest-ally-nelly-marubo-on-her-friend-bruno-pereiras-legacy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jan 2023 15:26:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Max Baring]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/23131240/5-Brino-Pereira-Nelly-Marubo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264844</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Illegal Deforestation, Endangered Environmentalists, and Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conflict, Crime, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Interviews, Murdered Journalists, Politics, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ST ANDREWS, Scotland — This autumn, Mongabay had the opportunity to interview Nelly Marubo, friend and colleague of Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, who was brutally murdered in the Brazilian Amazon in June 2022, along with British journalist Dom Phillips. Nelly is one of a new generation of Indigenous anthropologists, born in the forest but educated [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ST ANDREWS, Scotland — This autumn, Mongabay had the opportunity to interview Nelly Marubo, friend and colleague of Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, who was brutally murdered in the Brazilian Amazon in June 2022, along with British journalist Dom Phillips. Nelly is one of a new generation of Indigenous anthropologists, born in the forest but educated to university level. This interview was a chance to get a sense of who Pereira was from an Indigenous point of view and how he was perceived by the Indigenous people in the area where he was killed. Born in the Javari Valley, Marubo says she had been a friend and colleague of Pereira since they met in 2010 when he started working in the region. In this video interview, she tells us how she was surprised to meet Pereira in Atalaia do Norte the day before his murder — and how desperate she was after learning the news of his disappearance — as she was aware of the threats and persecution he was facing in the region. “I told him that he couldn’t be there,” Nelly tells Mongabay during her visit to the UK as part of the project “Amplifying Amerindian Voices,” supported by the impact fund from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. “We knew something was going to happen. But we didn’t know in what way.” In tears, Nelly describes the terrible desperation she felt when she was told, “Bruno didn’t arrive,” and she received no response from him. “We thought&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/we-lost-the-biggest-ally-nelly-marubo-on-her-friend-bruno-pereiras-legacy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-264844</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Top 10 notable Indigenous stories of 2022</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/top-10-notable-indigenous-stories-of-2022/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/top-10-notable-indigenous-stories-of-2022/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Dec 2022 13:00:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/12/24012757/52018320474_eedd760da9_k-e1671845474877-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264098</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Arctic]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Conservation Philosophy, Conservation Solutions, Crime, Culture, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Forests, Funding, Gold Mining, Human Rights, Hunting, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Law, Mining, Murdered Activists, Murdered Journalists, Oil, Oil Drilling, Organized Crime, Politics, Private Reserves, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Social Justice, Solutions, and Trophy Hunting]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This year ended with a big bang for many Indigenous leaders, communities and activists around the world. During the U.N. biodiversity conference, known as COP15, Indigenous traditional lands and rights were successfully incorporated into the final global agreement to halt and reverse biodiversity loss after more than two years of campaigning. Indigenous leaders fear being [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This year ended with a big bang for many Indigenous leaders, communities and activists around the world. During the U.N. biodiversity conference, known as COP15, Indigenous traditional lands and rights were successfully incorporated into the final global agreement to halt and reverse biodiversity loss after more than two years of campaigning. Indigenous leaders fear being evicted and losing more of their traditional lands to newly created protected and conserved areas through the agreement’s infamous ’30 by 30’ target protecting 30% of land and marine areas by 2030. Once the agreement was cinched on December 19, Indigenous delegates were among the attendees celebrating what they dub a “major shift” in recognizing their rights and role as among the world’s most effective environmental stewards. “It&#8217;s historic. It&#8217;s a moment to celebrate,&#8221; said Jennifer Tauli-Corpuz, a representative of the Indigenous caucus (IIFB) at COP15. However, this was not the only notable story that marked Indigenous communities around the world in 2022. As Indigenous peoples gain more global attention and the climate and biodiversity crises advance onto their territories, Indigenous communities, along with their struggles, conservation successes and conflicts are further thrust into the spotlight. From a historic number of Indigenous candidates elected in Brazil’s elections to a new cycle of investigations into Indigenous people killed in a national park, Mongabay presents its 10 most notable Indigenous news stories from 2022. 1. Indigenous youths lured by the illegal mines destroying their Amazon homeland Robervaldo a young Yek&#8217;wana that used to work in an illegal&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/top-10-notable-indigenous-stories-of-2022/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-264098</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Crimes against the Amazon reverberate across Brazil, analysis shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/crimes-against-the-amazon-reverberate-across-brazil-analysis-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/crimes-against-the-amazon-reverberate-across-brazil-analysis-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2022 19:40:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Oliveira]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/08/31193750/Novo-Progresso-PA-Felipe-Werneck-Ibama-co%CC%81pia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=259810</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Conflict, Conservation, Crime, Dams, Deforestation, Drought, Environment, Environmental Law, Fires, Forests, Governance, Green, Human Rights, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Logging, Mining, Monitoring, Murdered Activists, Murdered Journalists, Organized Crime, Palm Oil, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Remote Sensing, Saving Rainforests, Social Conflict, Soy, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Crimes associated with illegal logging, mining and other illicit activities in the Brazilian Amazon are being felt in 24 of Brazil’s 27 states, a new report shows.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Brazilian Amazon covers nine of the country’s 27 states, but environmental crimes committed in the rainforest have rippled out to nearly every single state, a new analysis shows. Activities such as illegal logging, gold mining and illegal occupation of public lands are linked directly to a range of crimes that are widespread throughout the country, according to the analysis conducted by the Igarapé Institute. These include tax evasion, money laundering, corruption, criminal association, fraud, and wildlife trafficking. It found these crimes are present in 24 of the 27 states, with Alagoas, Paraíba and Pernambuco the only exceptions. That translates into a total of 254 Brazilian municipalities as well as eight cities in other South American countries caught up in this web of illegal businesses that contribute directly and indirectly to the degradation of the largest tropical rainforest on Earth. A swath of deforested area in the municipality of Careiro da Várzea, Amazonas state, near the territory of the Mura people. Image courtesy of Alberto César Araújo/Amazônia Real. The Amazonian state of Pará is the most affected by these crimes, which the analysis recorded in 161 locations within the state. This is followed by the states of Rondônia (122 locations) and Amapá (101). Outside the Amazonian region, São Paulo is the most affected state (36 locations), followed by Paraná (14) and Goiás (10). Analyzing information generated by more than 300 Federal Police operations conducted between 2016 and 2021, researchers found that the illegal logging industry has the biggest footprint beyond&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/crimes-against-the-amazon-reverberate-across-brazil-analysis-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-259810</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Violence persists in Amazon region where Pereira and Phillips were killed</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/violence-persists-in-amazon-region-where-pereira-and-phillips-were-killed/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/violence-persists-in-amazon-region-where-pereira-and-phillips-were-killed/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Aug 2022 16:52:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sarah Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/08/02152902/1-Matis-people-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=258809</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conflict, Crime, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Murdered Journalists, Organized Crime, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Social Conflict, Threats To Rainforests, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Less than two months since the killing of British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in early June, armed illegal gold miners reportedly intimidated government rangers near the remote Amazon region where the pair were killed. Indigenous leaders say this ongoing reign of violence poses a grave danger to those working and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Less than two months since the killing of British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in early June, armed illegal gold miners reportedly intimidated government rangers near the remote Amazon region where the pair were killed. Indigenous leaders say this ongoing reign of violence poses a grave danger to those working and living in the Vale do Javari region. On July 15, two armed men reportedly arrived at the ranger base of Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency, Funai, on the Jandiatuba River. The men, brandishing shotguns, demanded to know how many people were working there, and appeared to have “a clear intention to harass the workers,” according to a statement from the Union of the Vale do Javari Indigenous Peoples (UNIVAJA). Two days after the reported harassment, Leandro Ribeiro do Amaral, the coordinator at Funai’s base in the region, resigned amid reportedly growing tension and violent threats in the region. It’s the sixth time the coordinator position in the Vale do Javari base has changed hands in the last three years. In March, the Union of the Vale do Javari Indigenous Peoples (UNIVAJA) recorded an increase in illegal mining rafts along the rivers that course through the Vale do Javari Indigenous Territory, including the Jandiatuba River. Image courtesy of UNIVAJA. Funai officials at the Jandiatuba base work to protect the well-being of Indigenous communities inside the Vale do Javari Indigenous Territory, both those with contact with the outside world and those that have chosen to remain isolated. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/violence-persists-in-amazon-region-where-pereira-and-phillips-were-killed/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-258809</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Deaths of Phillips and Pereira shine light on a region of the Amazon beset by violence</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/death-of-phillips-and-pereira-shine-a-light-on-a-region-beset-by-violence/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/death-of-phillips-and-pereira-shine-a-light-on-a-region-beset-by-violence/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2022 17:29:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sue Branford]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/16160108/3-Dom-Phillips-interviewing-the-Ashaninka-indigenous-people-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=257363</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conflict, Conservation, Crime, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Journalism, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Law, Murdered Journalists, Organized Crime, Politics, Protests, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Authorities in Brazil have uncovered the bodies believed to be those of Dom Phillips, a British journalist, and Bruno Pereira, a prominent Indigenous rights defender. The discovery, on June 15 in the Vale do Javari region of western Brazil, comes 10 days after the pair were reported missing in the Amazon. The Vale do Javari [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Authorities in Brazil have uncovered the bodies believed to be those of Dom Phillips, a British journalist, and Bruno Pereira, a prominent Indigenous rights defender. The discovery, on June 15 in the Vale do Javari region of western Brazil, comes 10 days after the pair were reported missing in the Amazon. The Vale do Javari region, which includes a massive Indigenous reserve of the same name, lies in Amazonas state and was recently dubbed the country’s most violent region, where illegal loggers, poachers and drug traffickers vie to seize land from, or plunder the resources of, the traditional riverine communities and Indigenous groups living there. The Vale do Javari Indigenous Territory, the second-largest in Brazil, covering 85,000 square kilometres (33,000 square miles), is home to 6,000 Indigenous people. It also has the largest number of isolated Indigenous groups anywhere in the world, believed to number about 17, who have had very little to no contact with the outside world. British journalist Dom Phillips interviewing President Jair Bolsonaro at a breakfast with journalists in July 2019.  Image courtesy of Marcos Corrêa/Amazônia Real. Pereira previously headed the office dealing with isolated Indigenous groups under Funai, the federal government agency for Indigenous affairs. He was a staunch believer that these groups should only be contacted as a last resort, although he did head an expedition into the Vale do Javari in 2019 to ease tension between Indigenous groups, including one isolated group, that was threatening to erupt into violence. That expedition came in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/death-of-phillips-and-pereira-shine-a-light-on-a-region-beset-by-violence/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-257363</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Environmental assassinations bad for business, new research shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/environmental-assassinations-bad-for-business-new-research-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/environmental-assassinations-bad-for-business-new-research-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jan 2021 18:38:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Genevieve Belmaker]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Genevieve Belmaker]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/12/18013336/peru_aerial_0263-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=238814</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Peru, and Philippines]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Divestment, Endangered Environmentalists, Finance, Gold Mining, Illegal Mining, Mining, Murdered Activists, Murdered Journalists, Rainforests, and Resource Conflict]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The old adage of &#8220;money talks&#8221; is being given a modern data analysis stress test and applied to the assassinations of civil society activists in the global mining sector. In fact, according to a trio of economics experts from Oxford University and Australia’s Monash University who have taken on the subject, it is simply bad [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The old adage of &#8220;money talks&#8221; is being given a modern data analysis stress test and applied to the assassinations of civil society activists in the global mining sector. In fact, according to a trio of economics experts from Oxford University and Australia’s Monash University who have taken on the subject, it is simply bad business for a multinational firm to be associated with a publicly reported murder. This is especially true if some key baseline factors are in play: notably, a slow news day and a specific company connected by name with the violence-associated project. That naming must also be done through the media, or a civil society organization like a nonprofit human rights organization. For the Oxford-Monash study, the team analyzed data stretching back to 1998 in the mining and extractive industries alone, eventually confirming the assassinations of 354 individuals over two decades in that sector globally. A key factor: small or highly leveraged firms tend to be more wrapped up with on-the-ground factors at the mining outfit, which can play into the impact of a publicized murder. The more leveraged a firm, the more disruptive the news of a murder tends to be. The cost to companies is undeniable: the researchers&#8217; analysis calculates a median loss price tag of more than $100 million in market capitalization for a firm associated with an assassination. When the market does respond to such deaths, it does so swiftly, within 10 days of the murder being publicly reported. The response is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/environmental-assassinations-bad-for-business-new-research-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-238814</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>2019 was the deadliest year ever for environmental activists, watchdog group says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/2019-was-the-deadliest-year-ever-for-environmental-activists-watchdog-group-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/2019-was-the-deadliest-year-ever-for-environmental-activists-watchdog-group-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jul 2020 06:09:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ashoka]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/12/14105822/protest-2-674x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=233148</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Global, and Philippines]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Climate Change, Endangered Environmentalists, Forests, Human Rights, Journalism, Murdered Activists, Murdered Journalists, Rainforests, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Tropical Forests, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[2019 was the deadliest year on record for environmental activists, according to a new report by the advocacy watchdog Global Witness. In total, the group says that at least 212 people were killed across the world in retaliation for their defense of land and the environment, with those representing Indigenous communities bearing a disproportionate brunt [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[2019 was the deadliest year on record for environmental activists, according to a new report by the advocacy watchdog Global Witness. In total, the group says that at least 212 people were killed across the world in retaliation for their defense of land and the environment, with those representing Indigenous communities bearing a disproportionate brunt of the violence. Many of the killings were linked to battles over control of forests that are critical to the global fight against climate change, said Chris Madden, a senior campaigner at Global Witness. “Looking at the cases that we’re seeing and the issues these people are working against, they’re often the very same causes of climate breakdown,” he told Mongabay in an interview. “So that’s why we’re saying they’re at the front line of the climate crisis.” Topping the list of the deadliest countries for environmental defenders in 2019 were Colombia and the Philippines, with 64 and 43 killings respectively. In Colombia, the figure was more than double the number who were murdered in 2018. Overall, the most dangerous region for defenders was Latin America, which saw two-thirds of the global death toll, with the Amazon alone accounting for 33 deaths. Despite only making up 5% of the world’s population, activists representing Indigenous communities, who are often on the front lines of conflict over forests and land, comprised 40% of those killed. In Colombia, the 2016 peace agreement signed between the government and the leftist guerrilla group FARC is causing a scramble for control&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/2019-was-the-deadliest-year-ever-for-environmental-activists-watchdog-group-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-233148</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Palm owner charged with ordering murder of two journalists in Indonesia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/11/palm-owner-charged-with-ordering-murder-of-two-journalists-in-indonesia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/11/palm-owner-charged-with-ordering-murder-of-two-journalists-in-indonesia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Nov 2019 07:25:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ayat S. Karokaro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/11/11011916/Puluhan-ribu-hektar-hutan-di-Sumut-sudah-dikuasi-korporasi-dan-merubahnya-jadi-kebun-sawit-Ayat-S-Karokaro-1200x800-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=224284</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, North Sumatra, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Crime, Environment, Land Conflict, Murdered Journalists, Palm Oil, and Social Conflict]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MEDAN, Indonesia — Police in Indonesia have arrested five people over the death of two journalists whose bodies were found at an oil palm plantation, including the alleged owner of the plantation. Wibharry Padmoasmolo, a palm oil businessman, was charged last week by the North Sumatra police for allegedly ordering a hit on Maraden Sianipar, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MEDAN, Indonesia — Police in Indonesia have arrested five people over the death of two journalists whose bodies were found at an oil palm plantation, including the alleged owner of the plantation. Wibharry Padmoasmolo, a palm oil businessman, was charged last week by the North Sumatra police for allegedly ordering a hit on Maraden Sianipar, 55, and Martua Siregar, 42, on Oct. 29 at the PT Sei Alih Berombang (SAB) plantation. Maraden’s body was found on Oct. 30 in a ditch at the concession, while Martua’s was found the following day in the bushes near a warehouse at the same site. Maraden was found with his left arm hacked off and wounds to his head, while Martua had stab wounds to his abdomen, back and head, according to local media reports. A plantation worker harvesting palm fruit at a plantation in North Sumatra. Image by Nanang Sujana for RAN/Oppuk. Police said the pair was attacked on their way into the plantation by guards hired by the company. Police arrested four of the alleged assailants last week, prior to detaining Wibharry, and are now on the hunt for three others believed to be involved in the killing. “They killed the pair because they were promised money [by Wibharry],” Agus Andrianto, the chief of the North Sumatra provincial police, told reporters in Medan, the provincial capital, adding that Wibharry was the one who had ordered the killing. The four reportedly received a combined 41.5 million rupiah ($3,000) from the company to kill&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/11/palm-owner-charged-with-ordering-murder-of-two-journalists-in-indonesia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-224284</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesian journalists critical of illegal palm plantation found dead</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/11/indonesia-palm-oil-violence-journalists-plantation-sab/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/11/indonesia-palm-oil-violence-journalists-plantation-sab/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Nov 2019 09:13:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ayat S. Karokaro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/12/08082618/DSCF7234_Invisible-and-temporary_kernet-worker-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=224103</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, North Sumatra, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Crime, Environment, Land Conflict, Murdered Journalists, Palm Oil, and Social Conflict]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MEDAN, Indonesia — Two Indonesian journalists who had reported on an illegal oil palm plantation in Sumatra while also allegedly trying to gain control of the crop have been found dead at the plantation. The body of Maraden Sianipar, 55, was found on Oct. 30 in a ditch in the concession of palm grower PT [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MEDAN, Indonesia — Two Indonesian journalists who had reported on an illegal oil palm plantation in Sumatra while also allegedly trying to gain control of the crop have been found dead at the plantation. The body of Maraden Sianipar, 55, was found on Oct. 30 in a ditch in the concession of palm grower PT Sei Alih Berombang (SAB). The body of Martua Siregar, 42, was found the next day in the bushes near a warehouse at the same site. Both men worked for a weekly publication, Pindo Merdeka, based in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province. Local media reported that Maraden had been found with his left arm hacked off and wounds to his head, while Martua appeared to have stab wounds in his abdomen, back and head. Police have launched an investigation into the case amid mounting calls from Indonesian press groups condemning the deaths and demanding that the perpetrators be brought to justice. But it’s not clear whether they were killed because of their critical reporting on SAB, whose concession was sealed off by authorities a year ago after it was found to have cleared 750 hectares of forest to plant oil palms. Witnesses said the pair were also known to be part of a community group that had for years been locked in a dispute with the plantation company and had sought to take control of the oil palms once the local forestry office had ruled that the company’s expansion onto forested land was illegal.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/11/indonesia-palm-oil-violence-journalists-plantation-sab/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-224103</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Journalists reporting on the environment faced increased dangers in 2018</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/01/journalists-reporting-on-the-environment-faced-increased-dangers-in-2018/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/01/journalists-reporting-on-the-environment-faced-increased-dangers-in-2018/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jan 2019 13:48:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kaamil Ahmed]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Genevieve Belmaker]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/01/04122551/sarawak_2015513-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=213392</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Global, India, and Indonesia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Forests, Human Rights, Interviews With Environmental Journalists, Journalism, Murdered Journalists, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[GLO-4060 QZA-16/0047.4]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A pair of “French spies” had infiltrated India by sea to commit a “treasonous conspiracy,” an Indian minister claimed in late November. In reality, they were two visiting journalists, and their mission was an investigation into allegations of illegal sand mining in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. They had merely tried and failed to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A pair of “French spies” had infiltrated India by sea to commit a “treasonous conspiracy,” an Indian minister claimed in late November. In reality, they were two visiting journalists, and their mission was an investigation into allegations of illegal sand mining in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. They had merely tried and failed to visit the site of a major mining company through legal means. Their presence set off alarm bells among some connected to the industry, and the fallout has been significant. It’s included a police investigation, a politically fueled propaganda campaign, and the arrests of two local translators who had been working for them. This heavy-handed response is familiar to Indian journalist Sandhya Ravishankar, who has reported on sand mining since 2013 and found that her probing into allegations of major business interests damaging the local environment has resulted in stalking and various types of harassment – some of it reportedly directed by the head of one of the mining companies. “I got rape threats, my bike was vandalized, the miner has openly admitted that there are five detective agencies trailing me wherever I go, CCTV visuals of me having coffee with a source at a cafe have been made public,” Ravishankar said, adding that she also discovered government documents showing “officials have colluded to slander me.” Ravishankar&#8217;s case is just one example of the growing dangers for journalists reporting environmental stories. Even as environmental journalism becomes increasingly important in the face of destructive business and political&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/01/journalists-reporting-on-the-environment-faced-increased-dangers-in-2018/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-213392</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cambodia drops case of murdered forest activist, Chut Wutty</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/10/cambodia-drops-case-of-murdered-forest-activist-chut-wutty/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/10/cambodia-drops-case-of-murdered-forest-activist-chut-wutty/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Oct 2012 20:23:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2012/10/cambodia-drops-case-of-murdered-forest-activist-chut-wutty/</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Endangered Environmentalists]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Corruption, Crime, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Heroes, Forests, Governance, Green, Illegal Logging, Journalism, Law, Logging, Murdered Activists, Murdered Journalists, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Timber, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Aerial view of illegal logging in Cambodia. Photo by: Paul Mason USAID/Cambodia/OGD. An investigation into the mysterious death of Cambodian forest activist, Chut Wutty, has been dismissed by the courts, which critics allege is apart of an ongoing cover up. The court decided that since the suspect in Wutty&#8217;s death, In Rattana, was also dead [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Aerial view of illegal logging in Cambodia. Photo by: Paul Mason USAID/Cambodia/OGD. An investigation into the mysterious death of Cambodian forest activist, Chut Wutty, has been dismissed by the courts, which critics allege is apart of an ongoing cover up. The court decided that since the suspect in Wutty&#8217;s death, In Rattana, was also dead there was no need to proceed. Chut Witty was shot to death while escorting two journalists to a logging site run by Timbergreen. Wutty, whose death made international news, was a prominent activist against illegal logging in Cambodia. According to a court proceeding on last Thursday, Chut Wutty was killed by In Rattana, a military officer working for Timbergreen, after refusing to give up a memory card with photos on it. In Rattana was in turn shot and killed by a Timbergreen security guard who was attempting to disarm him. While the court has accepted this as the official version, several other stories came forward in the days following Wutty&#8217;s death. One stated that In Rattana was killed by his own bullets that ricocheted off Wutty&#8217;s car as they activist attempted to drive away; another said that In Rattana shot himself after killing Wutty. Critics believe that the rapid dismissal of the case proves that there is a cover-up going on. &#8220;Many of the officials who benefit from illegal trade, illegal logging, and illegal trade of timbers, were not happy with [Chut Wutty],&#8221; Ou Virak the head of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2012/10/cambodia-drops-case-of-murdered-forest-activist-chut-wutty/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-30196</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Another journalist attacked in Cambodia for covering illegal logging</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/09/another-journalist-attacked-in-cambodia-for-covering-illegal-logging/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/09/another-journalist-attacked-in-cambodia-for-covering-illegal-logging/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Sep 2012 16:38:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2012/09/another-journalist-attacked-in-cambodia-for-covering-illegal-logging/</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Endangered Environmentalists]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Crime, Deforestation, Environment, Governance, Green, Illegal Logging, Journalism, Logging, Murdered Activists, Murdered Journalists, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Illegal logging of rosewood, a highly sought luxury timber, in Virachey National Park in Ratanakkiri Province. Photo by: Greg McCann. Two weeks after an environmental journalist was found murdered in the trunk of his car, another journalist has been brutally attacked in Cambodia. Ek Sokunthy with the local paper Ta Prum says he was beaten [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Illegal logging of rosewood, a highly sought luxury timber, in Virachey National Park in Ratanakkiri Province. Photo by: Greg McCann. Two weeks after an environmental journalist was found murdered in the trunk of his car, another journalist has been brutally attacked in Cambodia. Ek Sokunthy with the local paper Ta Prum says he was beaten in his home by three assailants by a pistol and a stick. The attack follows swiftly after the high-profile murder of 44-year-old forest journalist Hang Serei Oudom. Ta Prum&#8216;s Phum Chesda told the Phnom Penh Post that Sokunthy had written an article on illegal logging last month. Sokunthy received three death threats after publishing the article. Sokunthy described his assailants as &#8220;illegal loggers,&#8221; telling the Post that, &#8220;I have never written of their case. I didn’t know the reason why they beat me because I always wrote stories favorable to authorities and am fearful now.&#8221; Police are currently searching for the three attackers, one of whom was allegedly a former police officer. Both Sokunthy and Oudom covered illegal logging in Ratanakkiri Province. In early September, Odum was found dead in the trunk of his car in a cashew plantation in Ratanakkiri. Police believed he was killed by axe blows to his head. Attacks against environmental journalists and campaigners is becoming an epidemic in Cambodia, where illegal logging and land conflict between foreign companies and local communities are rife. Also this month, three journalists saw their motorcycles damaged when they took photos of illegal logging. And&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2012/09/another-journalist-attacked-in-cambodia-for-covering-illegal-logging/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-30230</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Environmental journalist investigating illegal logging murdered in Cambodia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/09/environmental-journalist-investigating-illegal-logging-murdered-in-cambodia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2012/09/environmental-journalist-investigating-illegal-logging-murdered-in-cambodia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Sep 2012 19:08:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2012/09/environmental-journalist-investigating-illegal-logging-murdered-in-cambodia/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Corruption, Crime, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Heroes, Governance, Green, Illegal Logging, Journalism, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Logging, Murdered Activists, Murdered Journalists, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Aerial view of illegal logging in Cambodia. Photo by: Paul Mason USAID/Cambodia/OGD. Less than five months after high-profile forest activist, Chut Wutty, was killed in Cambodia, an environmental journalist, Hang Serei Oudom, has been found slain in the trunk of his car, possibly murdered with an ax, reports the AFP. Oudum, who worked at the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Aerial view of illegal logging in Cambodia. Photo by: Paul Mason USAID/Cambodia/OGD. Less than five months after high-profile forest activist, Chut Wutty, was killed in Cambodia, an environmental journalist, Hang Serei Oudom, has been found slain in the trunk of his car, possibly murdered with an ax, reports the AFP. Oudum, who worked at the local paper Vorakchun Khmer Daily, was known for writing stories on epidemic of illegal logging in Cambodia, often linking the crime to business people and politicians. The car and body were found in a cashew nut plantation in Ratanakiri province, an area rife with logging. &#8220;Before he was murdered, other journalists had warned him not to write critically about the forest crimes,&#8221; Pen Bonnar, with The Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc), told AFP. 44-year-old Oudom also wrote about traffic accidents and protocol, according to his editor. Oudom was last seen by his wife Sunday evening when he told her he was going to a meeting and would be back shortly. He was found Tuesday with wounds to the head that police say are consistent with an ax or baton. An investigation into the murder is ongoing, but earlier today police detained a military police officer, Captain An Bunheng, for questioning. Ten other people are said to be under question. &#8220;There is a lot of money at stake. These are well-equipped, well-financed groups of individuals,&#8221; Ou Virak, president of Adhoc, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). &#8220;These illegal loggers will certainly do what they&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2012/09/environmental-journalist-investigating-illegal-logging-murdered-in-cambodia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-30293</doi>				</item>
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