Globally, the killings of environmental rights defenders is growing at an alarming rate. In 2015 alone, of the 156 killings investigated by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, 45% were those of land, indigenous and environmental rights. Inna Michaeli and Semanur Karaman, of the Association for Women in Development, write about the grassroots resistance of women like Havva Ana, a forest protector from Turkey. Bonita Meyersfeld, professor of law at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, argues that development projects are only successful if the economnic benefits are reinvested in communities. Photo credit: Gabby de Cicco
