Colombia

 

20 04, 2026

Rights of Nature Defender Wins Goldman prize for Protecting Colombia’s Magdalena River from Fracking

2026-10-30T00:17:17-04:00Tags: |

In 2018, an oil spill from one of Colombia’s powerful fossil fuel companies killed thousands of animals and forced a relocation of hundreds of people from the community of Puerto Wilches, a river town and one of Colombia’s most biodiverse regions. Yuvelis Morales Blanco came forward as one of the most fierce environmental defenders coming out of this disaster at the age of 16. Her relentless advocacy awarded her the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for her leadership at 24. Morales Blanco is a co-founder of Aguawil, a youth-led organization that organizes peaceful protests and supports the community with the translation of dense technical information about fracking to culturally relevant material. Aguawil was created in response to mobilize the community against continued fossil fuel development and oil pollution. Her advocacy put her life at risk, as she faced death threats and was forced to temporarily flee to France for her safety. As part of the first all-women group of Goldman Environmental Prize recipients, Yuvelis Morales Blanco highlights the importance of women-led leadership, since women of color face the greatest injustices being leaders in the environmental movement, and reflects on her relationship with the river and nature as a part of herself, not a resource  to extract from.

17 03, 2026

A decade after the death of Berta Cáceres, we can no longer tolerate threats to environmental activists

2026-10-30T17:52:12-04:00Tags: , , , |

According to Global Witness, 2,253 environmental defenders have been killed since 2012, with Indigenous peoples and small-scale farmers among the most affected. These defenders often face powerful industries and governments while protecting their lands and communities. Berta Cáceres was murdered in 2016 for successfully halting a massive hydropower development along the Gualcarque River in Honduras. She was assassinated by hired gunmen by executives of the company building the dam. In 2019 in Colombia, Francia Márquez, was the target of a grenade and gunfire attack for defending her Afro-Colombian community from illegal mining. Her advocacy and sacrifice led her to be the first Afro-Colombian to be elected vice president of Colombia. The work, legacy, and attacks against these women  inspired international legal efforts to protect environmental activists, such as the Escazú Agreement, the first ever international treaty made so governments had to specifically protect environmental human right defenders in Latin American and the Caribbean. Philanthropists are also providing financial and strategic support to global environmental defenders. While progress has been made, stronger government accountability, enforcement of existing protections, and continued funding are needed to ensure environmental defenders can continue their work without sacrificing their lives.

23 10, 2024

Legal rights for nature boost biodiversity conservation

2026-03-29T18:08:57-04:00Tags: , |

Indigenous leader Mari Luz Canaquiri and other Kukama Indigenous women secured a landmark ruling that recognised the Marañón River, a freshwater river in Perú that links the Andes to the Amazon, as a living entity with inherent rights to be protected and to flow free from pollution. This decision was the first of its kind in Perú and was a win that existed within the context of the United Nations COP16 summit in Colombia that same year. Latin America leads the way in enshrining legal rights to nature, and environmentalists at COP16 were urging the eight countries that are home to the Amazon basin to view it as a single entity with nature rights. In Colombia, where more than 20 rivers have won the legal right to exist and flourish, the Constitutional Court recognised the country’s portion of the Amazon as an “entity subject of rights,” granting the rainforest the same legal rights as a human being in 2018. However, a 2023 study noted that government authorities “shirk responsibility” by not complying with the court rulings. While there has been progress on reducing deforestation rates in the Brazilian and Colombian parts of the Amazon, protecting this fragile and vital ecosystem is more urgent than ever. Many environmentalists believe that successful litigation in Latin America can help win rights for the Amazon as a whole. Natalia Greene, the Director of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, noted that “People are ready to go to court for this,” and “If the Amazon reaches a tipping point we are doomed as a species. There is no way we can cool the planet if we don't take care of the biome.”

19 08, 2024

Women Ex-Combatants in Colombia’s Amazon Pioneering Eco-Peace

2026-10-30T17:37:24-04:00Tags: |

Women are leading the movement of integrating women soldiers who were former soldiers of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). After six decades of conflict, FARC and the Colombian government signed a peace agreement in 2016. This left millions of people displaced and needing support in transitioning to civilian life. With support from international organizations, the Colombian government launched Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration, a program providing services to former fighters including education, vocational training, psychological, and community building support. However, a women's-led organization emerged to offer a more culturally based approach to healing. Asociación de Mujeres Productoras de Esencias de Paz (ASMUPROPAZ) was founded in 2017 by a small group of women who met at a camp for ex-combats and stands out for not only supporting reintegration but environmental conservation as well. Sandra Rojas, a founder, supports literacy programs, vocational courses, and training focusing on agriculture, environmental management, and  production of natural and plant-based products, encouraging economic independence. ASMUPROPAZ fosters community cohesion as well to heal from the decades of violence together through gender-based participation and collaboration between ex-combatants and local residents with the focus of protecting nature strengthened a sense of unity and connection to the environment as they restore the land that was left damaged by the conflict.

19 01, 2024

Courage & calm despite attacks: Q&A with Colombian activist Yuly Velásquez

2025-03-28T11:31:03-04:00Tags: |

Yuly Velásquez, a fisherperson and the president of an environmental organization that aims to protect the wetlands and waterways near Barrancabermeja, Colombia, presents the dangers the region and local environmental and land defenders are facing. Colombia’s largest oil refinery is located in Barrancabermeja, where frequent oil and toxic waste discharges harm the local environment. This discharge threatens migratory fish and bird species, as well as the Antillean manatee which is on the verge of extinction. Local communities cannot access clean and safe drinking water, with manually drilled wells releasing gas. Velásquez reports having received death threats for her activism, and survived three assassination attempts. While attacks on her and other environmental defenders have increased, FEDEPESAN (the Federation of Artisanal, Environmental and Tourist Fishermen of the Department of Santander) reports of pollution and corruption have been ignored. According to Velásquez, they were failed by the government body monitoring pollution, with funds designated for cleaning up pollution not being invested in the affected places, and turned to the Attorney General’s Office, suspecting corruption. With the help of other organizations, FEDEPESAN now monitors the pipes and has created a network of fishers that inform them of pollution and in turn receive support from the group. In her eyes, it is collective work and international cooperation between groups that gives them the strength to reach the national government. To her, the Escazú Agreement represents hope but is only the beginning. 

15 06, 2023

How Environmental Conflicts Hurt — and Motivate — Women Activists

2024-09-16T10:50:06-04:00Tags: |

Sandra Liliana Pena, a Colombian human rights defender from the Nasa and Paez Indigenous groups, rose to prominence as the governor of a reserve in the Cauca community. She vehemently protested against illegal crops encroaching on Nasa land. In April 2021, Pena was brutally assassinated, adding to the alarming tally of violence against women environmental defenders (WEDs). Research unveils a grim reality: in a study among 523 documented cases, 81 WEDs were assassinated, often by state actors, criminal groups, or vested interests. These women defy societal norms, challenging patriarchal expectations, and face violence due to their activism. Yet, their plight extends beyond murder to displacement, repression, and criminalization. Despite underreporting, these cases demand urgent attention. Families struggle for justice, underscoring the need for better protection, contingent upon meaningful participation from vulnerable groups. While Indigenous and low-income women, disproportionately affected by environmental conflicts, confront paramilitaries, traffickers, and corporations, they are sidelined in negotiations despite bearing the brunt of ecocide. Colombia's high femicide rate exacerbates this crisis, with Indigenous and Black women particularly vulnerable. Engaging human rights defenders, especially Indigenous women and children, is paramount. World leaders must commit to implementing safeguards to ensure their safety and uphold environmental justice.

20 04, 2023

Indigenous women in Colombia protect rich Amazonian wetland from overfishing

2024-09-16T10:05:48-04:00Tags: |

In the Lake Tarapoto wetlands, in southern Colombia, Indigenous women led by Lilia Isolina Java, are at the forefront of protecting the rich Amazonian ecosystem from overfishing. Partnering with Conservation International's Amazonía Verde program, they have established fishing agreements to address the detrimental impact of overfishing on fish populations, food sovereignty, and the broader ecosystem's effect on aquatic animals like dolphins and manatees. The program actively monitors and manages fisheries while preserving ancestral knowledge. Resilient and determined, these women safeguard their cultural heritage while advocating for Indigenous and environmental rights. They acknowledge the disproportionate impact of climate change on women and emphasize the need for inclusive decision-making. Through community-driven efforts, they prioritize sustainable practices, rejecting false solutions, and unsustainable techno-fixes. Their work stands as a testament to decentralized, safe, affordable, and accessible solutions, fostering a future where the environment and diverse communities thrive harmoniously.

8 02, 2023

Indigenous women record age-old knowledge of bees in Colombia’s Amazon

2025-07-21T14:58:01-04:00Tags: |

Bees have always been extremely important for the Yucuna Indigenous peoples of Colombia because of their contribution to nature and humanity. However, deforestation and the widespread use of pesticides, such as glyphosate, have largely affected the region’s biodiversity. Since 2020, a team of 36 Indigenous Yucuna women from 12 reserve communities has engaged with elders from various areas to document and preserve the remaining oral knowledge on bees and their roles in the ecosystem, along with the traditional classification system of diverse bee species. The information collected will be compared with a team of biologists and printed in Spanish and Yucuna languages to share it with broader communities. The project highlights the role of local action in the protection of the environment, while showing how Indigenous traditional knowledge is a powerful instrument for environmental protection and restoration. 

13 07, 2022

Displaced by a Dam, Women Defenders Fight for Their Land Rights in Colombia

2025-02-20T18:25:37-05:00Tags: |

Dubbed ‘El Monstruo’ by locals, the Hidrosogamoso Dam in Santander, Colombia, has sparked a wave of resistance while devastating both the environment and the lives of Indigenous communities. Operating since 2014 on the Sogamoso River, it stands as the nation’s fourth-largest hydroelectric dam. However, its creation has come at a hefty cost: the reservoir, Topocoro, swallowed up approximately 7,000 hectares of precious forest and cropland, leading to widespread deforestation and habitat loss. Over 1,000 people were forcibly relocated, disrupting the livelihoods of those dependent on fishing, mining, and agriculture along the river. The dam's impact extended far beyond displacement; it instigated threats, disappearances, and even killings of those who opposed it. In the face of such adversity, women have emerged as leaders, fighting not only against the dam but also against violence and disease. Despite the challenges, there remains a glimmer of hope as these women continue to advocate for their rights and the preservation of their land and bodies, supported by a growing movement for environmental justice in Colombia.

28 02, 2022

Gender-based violence and the climate crisis: an obstacle to climate-resilient communities

2023-03-29T12:59:09-04:00Tags: |

Paula Alejandra Camargo Pàez calls attention to the intersection of gender equality, violence against women and the fight against climate change. Pàez discusses how climate change exacerbates gender-based violence (GBV), especially against rural, Black, Rasizal and Indigenous women and girls who live in areas most affected by climate change. Climate-related disasters compound risks faced by marginalized communities, prompting negative feedback loops that further limit their access to health and economic services and increase their vulnerability to all types of abuse. In turn, GBV discourages the participation of women in climate-resilient communities. In order to build climate-resilient communities, Pàez explains it requires a human rights-based, gender-sensitive approach that includes preventing GBV. Photo credit: EFE/Ernesto Guzman Jr.

12 10, 2018

Colombian Women Are Putting Their Lives On The Line For The Earth

2020-09-02T23:29:09-04:00Tags: |

The murder of Earth Defenders is on the rise, especially throughout Latin America, according to Global Watch. Nevertheless, Colombian women like Jackeline Romero Epiayu, Briceida Lemos Rivera, Isabel Zuleta, and Nini Johana Cárdenas Rueda continuously fight for the land and their livelihoods. Through community organization and outreach, these women are bravely resisting the expansion of mining industries and  infrastructure projects that have devastating impacts on the environment and local communities. But with such force comes danger as these four women are facing harassment from Colombian authorities, anonymous threats to their lives and loved ones, and have even escaped attempted kidnappings and murders. Photo Credit: Ynske Boersman

10 07, 2018

This Indigenous Tribe In Colombia Is Run Solely By Women

2018-11-25T12:20:04-05:00Tags: |

Neris Uriana, the first female chieftain of Wayuu tribe in La Guajira, was elected in 2015. She had tremendous support from her husband Jorge Uriana who thinks the future is female. Jorge was the previous community leader and decided women should participate in decision making and worked to dismantle machismo culture. After becoming chieftain, Neris has introduced sustainable agriculture methods to her tribe and collaborated with other communities to improve irrigation, crop cycles, and land use. Neris has successfully created many women leaders in her tribe, such as Pushaina, who is growing the crops with minimum water supply. Photo Credit: Lucy Sherriff/PRI

3 02, 2018

Colombian Environmentalist Murdered Amid Rising Violence

2018-02-22T20:17:06-05:00Tags: |

Yolanda Maturana dedicated her life to defending Colombia’s wildlife and forests, and was an opponent of illegal mining and water contamination in the central and north western Colombian departments of Risaralda and Choco. Because of her activism she was brutally assassinated in her home, in the village of Santa Cecilia. Across the country, violence is escalating towards environmental activists, a trend congruent with global patterns, but also influenced by Colombia’s brutal and continuing war. Photo credit: @yolandamaturana

28 05, 2017

El Heraldo: Rights Of Nature Granted To The Atrato River In Colombia

2017-10-28T23:06:11-04:00Tags: |

The Constitutional Court of Colombia has declared the Atrato River a rights-bearing subject, creating a commission of government representatives and community members to restore and protect the river. Xiména Gonzalez, an advocate, lawyer and spokeswoman for the Center for Studies for Social Justice Tierra Digna, explains how illegal gold mining and mercury have polluted Colombia’s third-most important river and threatened the livelihoods of people in the Chocó region. In granting rights to the Atrato River, the Court also curbed the use of toxic substances for the extraction of minerals, promoting sustainability and health for the communities that depend upon the Atrato’s waters. Photo credit: Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund

27 03, 2017

Alicia Lopez Guisao: Another Indigenous Human Rights Activist Killed In Colombia

2017-10-27T00:43:10-04:00Tags: |

Alicia Lopez Guisao was a leader of the Asokinchas community in Colombia, organizing the Agrarian Summit Project, which distributed land and food for 12 Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities in the department of Choco. When shopping in a grocery store in Medellín, she was shot to death by two gunmen. Since the retreat of Colombia’s FARC, other paramilitary groups have been acting to gain power in the city, and consequently the rate of attacks to human rights activists increased. In spite of all the pain, Alicia’s family might not be able to attend the burial, as they have been threatened to be the next in case they do. Photo credit: Congreso de los Pueblos

3 03, 2017

Colombian Human Rights Defender Ruth Alicia Lopez Guisao Shot Dead In Medellin

2018-03-06T17:34:01-05:00Tags: |

Ruth Alicia was a well-known and respected community leader, engaged in the promotion of health and education projects, most recognizably through the food security projected organized by the ‘Cumbre Agraria’. Her bravery and empathetic social engagement helped organize and empower local indigenous and Afro descendant communities in areas neglected and condemned within the violence of the Colombian war. As a result of her humanitarian commitment, Ruth Alicia and her family received constant threats and were displaced by paramilitaries. Ruth Alicia was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen on March 2, 2017. Photo credit: HRD Memorial

5 01, 2017

All-Women Alliance Tackles Industrial Pollution in Colombia

2017-10-29T21:51:56-04:00Tags: |

Colombia’s highly polluting construction industry is being transformed by an all-women alliance ready to make industrialization sustainable in efforts to help tackle climate change. The Fostering Cleaner Production Initiative invites Colombian women to take on industrial pollution for a greener future. Women within the initiative are being trained to bring pollution prevention to their current positions that deal with water, sewage, and varying construction companies. These women are being credited for the industry transitioning into renewable energies, and lowering waste. Photo credit: UN Climate Change Climate Action

17 12, 2016

Prominent Indigenous Environmental Activist In Colombia Faces Death Threats

2017-07-16T13:23:58-04:00Tags: |

Jakeline Romero is a renowned Colombian Indigenous advocate who has been fighting against the British-owned Cerrejon open pit coal mine in her community for years. Jakeline has seen five communities razed to allow for mine expansion, disproportionately affecting local women and children. A member of the Wayuú Women's Movement, Jakeline stands strong despite a recent open threat on her life, and uses the opportunity to draw attention to strength of the movement and the women she represents. Photo credit: London Mining Network

6 08, 2016

Colombian Women Tell Us Why Preserving Seeds Is An Act Of Resistance

2017-07-19T20:50:56-04:00Tags: |

Women across Colombia are working together to preserve local seeds from the threats of mining, agrochemicals, and hybrid strains. In a landscape altered by climate change and decreasing amounts of water and food, women are also mobilizing to educate their communities about the harmful impacts of transgenic seeds on their food security and sovereignty. Photo credit: flickr/Global Crop Diversity Trust

27 10, 2014

EarthRights International Woman Leader on Chiquita Violations

2017-10-27T01:23:56-04:00Tags: |

In this piece, Katie Redford, co-founder and director of EarthRights International, writes about the human rights allegations against fruit company Chiquita. The banana giant, after a decade-long legal battle, has failed to get out of a lawsuit brought against it for sponsoring death squads to kill and intimidate farmers in Colombia. This legal decision is a feat for farmers, workers and other victims who were terrorized and murdered through Chiquita’s financing of Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia.

21 10, 2014

Mariana Goméz Soto: We Prefer Water To Gold

2017-07-12T20:58:16-04:00Tags: |

Anthropologist Mariana Goméz Soto is on the front lines of the battle against a giant government-backed gold mine and tailings dam in her hometown of Doima, Colombia. Doima is a farming town located in the Andean Highland’s Paramos, a water-rich ecosystem particularly vulnerable to mining waste. The community opposed the mining project during the consultation phase, and women continue to resist the construction of a toxic tailings pond through sit-ins and legal battles. Mariana Goméz Soto has been actively creating bridges between the community, experts in Bogota, and international allies to protect Doima’s farmland and aquifers. Photo credit: theecologist.org

1 11, 2013

Nohra Padilla Leads Improvements In Recycling And Waste Sustainability In Bogotá

2017-11-01T02:47:42-04:00Tags: |

Nohra Padilla has had a long history of experience with waste picking, as she started the occupation from an early age to help her family. With the pass of years, she became one of the main leaders of waste pickers from Bogotá, growing the Association of Recyclers of Bogotá (ARB) into an organization of more than 3,000 informal recyclers and the National Association of Recyclers in Colombia (ANR), with 12,000 members into strong institutions that revolutionized the infrastructure of waste management nationwide. In 2011, Padilla managed to lead a law that prohibits contracts for waste management that do not offer jobs for informal pickers and had them be recognized as a part of the recycling and waste process in Colombia. Even amongst threats to her well-being, Padilla has achieved great improvements for sustainability and waste management in her country. Photo Credit: Goldman Environmental Prize

1 11, 2013

Afro-Colombians Campaign Against Aerial Fumigation – And Win

2017-11-01T01:10:32-04:00Tags: |

Yolanda Garcia Luango of community organization Aso Manos Negra, alongside many other human rights and environmental activists, farmers, Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, fought for the Colombian government to halt to the spraying of toxic chemicals such as glyphosate. This action is part of the Colombian authorities’ strategy, supported by the United States, to kill coca plants and fight opiate drugs since its early stage, causing many Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities to suffer from exposure to such dangerous components. Photo credit: Global Greengrants Fund

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