At least 124 land and environmental defenders killed globally in 2025 Published: 16 September 2026 London

https://globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/at-least-124-land-and-environmental-defenders-killed-globally-in-2025/ New Global Witness figures bring the total killed and disappeared since 2012 to 2,375 Just two South American countries – Colombia and Brazil – accounted for 52% of the 2025 killings In Asia, defenders are facing a rising tide of criminalisation and intimidation Globally, more than three quarters of those killed were small-scale farmers, Indigenous Peoples or Afro-descendant peoples. Indigenous Peoples accounted for 44 of the killings documented in 2025. Land disputes triggered more than half of the killings documented in 2025