“It’s Not Safe to Live Here”: Colombia Tops Global Toll in Killings of Environmental Defenders

Jani Silva sits inside the wooden house she built on the banks of the Putumayo River in Puerto Asis — a home she has not slept in for more than eight years because of threats tied to her work protecting an Amazon reserve from oil and mining interests.

A Life Under Guard

The 63-year-old environmental defender now lives under long-term protection in Puerto Asis, near the Ecuador border. For 12 years Colombia’s National Protection Unit (NPU) has provided her with four full-time bodyguards, yet Silva says the threats never ceased. "Since leaving because of the threats, I’m afraid ... it’s not safe to live here," she told The Associated Press. She returns only for short, escorted daytime visits and has twice fled attempts to reoccupy her home.

Colombia’s Deadly Toll

International monitors say Colombia is the deadliest country in the world for people defending land and forests. Global Witness recorded 48 killings of environmental defenders in Colombia in 2024 — nearly a third of the cases the group reported globally that year. Colombia’s Interior Ministry reports that about 15,000 people across the country receive protection from the NPU, including defenders, journalists and local leaders, but watchdogs say protections often fall short in rural conflict zones.

Community Conservation in the Amazon Pearl

The Amazon Pearl reserve, a community-run protected area roughly 30 minutes by boat from Puerto Asis, covers about 227 square kilometers (87 square miles) and supports some 800 families. ADISPA, the local farming association Silva leads, runs reforestation and agroecology projects, wetlands protection, community patrols and beekeeping programs that now involve more than 600 families. The group says it has nurtured more than 120,000 native seedlings to restore degraded riverbanks and forest corridors.

"We started setting up nurseries at our homes ... and reforesting the riverbank," Silva said. Women exchanged native seeds, organized planting drives and agreed to temporary hunting bans after pregnant armadillos were killed — measures that community members say helped wildlife recover. Families now map plots to balance production and conservation.

Pressure From Industry And Armed Groups

As ADISPA’s president, Silva documented spills, deforestation and road-building linked to operations in GeoPark’s Platanillo block and urged regulators to investigate. Advocates say those complaints, and ADISPA’s efforts to block new drilling and mining, have provoked armed groups that profit from illicit extraction.

GeoPark told the AP it complies with Colombian environmental and human-rights regulations, maintains formal dialogue with local communities, including Silva, and "categorically rejects" any threats or links to armed groups. The company said its operations require environmental permits and regular inspections and that it has not received sanctions since 2009.

Control And Coercion In Putumayo

Armed groups known locally as Comandos de la Frontera (Border Commandos) exert control over territory, river traffic and parts of the local economy across stretches of Putumayo. The Commandos — composed of FARC dissidents, former paramilitaries and criminal networks that expanded after Colombia’s 2016 peace accord — are accused of extortion, illegal taxation, profiting from coca cultivation and clandestine mining, and imposing fines or unpaid labor on communities.

The AP recorded drone imagery showing illegal coca cultivation near a community beekeeping project. Human Rights Watch says these armed groups have tightened control over daily life in Putumayo and committed abuses including forced displacement, restrictions on movement and targeted attacks on local leaders.

Calls For Stronger Action

Advocacy groups such as Amazon Watch and Human Rights Watch urge Colombian authorities to go beyond providing bodyguards: they call for thorough investigations and prosecutions of those who order and carry out threats and attacks against defenders. "Protection must include justice," Andrew Miller of Amazon Watch said.

Silva remains determined. "I have a calling to serve," she said. "I feel like I am needed ... there is still so much to do." Her daughter, Anggie Miramar Silva, 27, works on ADISPA’s technical team and admires her mother’s persistence even as she acknowledges the personal risks.

Notes: Colombia’s Interior, National Defense and Environment ministries did not respond to AP requests for comment. The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from private foundations; the AP is solely responsible for all content.