Civil society plays a vital role in achieving a just, inclusive, and sustainable future. A vibrant civil society can promote human rights, the rule of law, digital democracy, gender equality, sustainable development, the interests of marginalized groups, and other public benefit objectives. However, across Africa and globally, the space for civil society is shrinking. Restrictions on civil society take various forms. Some impede the ability of civil society organizations (CSOs) to establish, operate, and sustain themselves. Others limit civil society’s capacity to engage in biodiversity conservation, research, advocacy, the use of information and communication technology, and access to international development cooperation. Additionally, governments have engaged in practices such as mass surveillance, deploying military force against peaceful protesters, stigmatizing CSOs and activists, and using emergency powers as a pretext to suppress civic space. These restrictions often disproportionately target already marginalized groups, including women, youth, and indigenous peoples.
As we approach 2030, the situation for environmental human rights defenders will undoubtedly remain complex and challenging. Currently, severe restrictions on civic space persist in both regions. In the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, deforestation rates are increasing due to weak law enforcement and the constraints placed on NGOs and environmental defenders, hindering their ability to work freely. Civic space restrictions also extend to the digital realm, manifesting through hacking, online attacks, and threats.
On a more positive note, the shift towards online organization has enabled greater inclusivity, allowing people in remote areas, who might otherwise struggle to attend in-person meetings, to participate more actively.
However, authoritarianism is on the rise, with repressive regimes intensifying crackdowns on civil society. Governments are increasingly adopting restrictive measures that undermine the ability of environmental human rights defenders and conservation organizations to operate effectively and safely.
Women environmental human rights defenders face additional gender-specific threats and attacks. They are disproportionately subjected to sexual assault, harassment, and intimidation of a sexualized nature. Their leadership in human rights and climate justice struggles often goes unrecognized or is deliberately ignored, as it challenges patriarchal gender norms and structures.
Women Environmental Human Rights Defenders (WEHRDs) often lack the same status in their communities and access to protection resources as their male counterparts, despite facing similar or, at times, greater risks. This disparity is particularly evident in cases where intimate partner violence and other forms of family or community pressure are used to punish WEHRDs for their activism—a phenomenon that often goes unreported and unacknowledged as a legitimate threat.
In addition to external challenges, WEHRDs frequently encounter discrimination and threats from other human rights defenders within the broader human rights and climate justice spaces. Women from marginalized communities who advocate for indigenous people’s rights face compounded discrimination due to their activism, as well as their political, ethnic, social, or gender identities.
Women Environmental Human Rights Defenders (WEHRDs) face an added psychological and economic burden due to their frequent role as primary caregivers. Indigenous human rights defenders and leaders, including women, are often harassed, threatened, or even killed. Indigenous women human rights defenders, in particular, are exposed to sexual harassment and violations as a result of their activism. Despite these challenges, Indigenous Peoples in the Albertine Rift and the Congo Basin regions are building strong organizations and networks at various levels.
Across these regions, women are often excluded from forest governance, limiting their access to resources even though they play a central role in household management, health, and food security for entire communities. Women’s involvement in defending local community rights is therefore crucial, and ensuring the safety of WEHRDs is a vital precondition for reducing deforestation. Unfortunately, WEHRDs in these regions remain under serious threat because of their work.
In working with WEHRDs, it has become clear that empowering frontline communities, organizations, and groups to lead decision making is essential for effective interventions. Furthermore, international solidarity and support for WEHRDs whether through financial, diplomatic, legal, or advocacy efforts can significantly enhance their safety and amplify the impact of their struggles.
Digital threats targeting Environmental Human Rights Defenders (EHRDs) are increasing in both number and frequency across the Albertine Rift and Congo Basin regions, reflecting the widespread access EHRDs have to digital devices and the critical role technology plays in their work.
These digital attacks employ various tactics, including surveillance, targeted malware infections, hacking, trolling, device confiscation, and theft. Governments and companies have become increasingly sophisticated in using technology to monitor activists, journalists, and political opponents, often attempting to normalize such tracking as a necessary trade-off for ensuring safer societies.
Online smear campaigns targeting environmental human rights defenders have become increasingly common and are likely to rise further. These campaigns are inexpensive, anonymous, and difficult to counter. Women Environmental Human Rights Defenders (WEHRDs) are particularly vulnerable, as these campaigns often include gendered hate speech.
We have documented numerous cases across the region where WEHRDs have received threats on social media platforms. Disturbingly, some of these threats reveal that perpetrators have access to specific personal information and locations of the targeted individuals. Many of the threatening messages include misogynistic language and explicit threats of sexual violence against the women involved.
Indigenous Peoples in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo face numerous violations of their rights and freedoms, including their freedom of speech, assembly, and self-organization, as well as their access to justice and rights to land, territories, and natural resources. Widespread discrimination against Indigenous Peoples persists in the region, with harassment, threats, and even fatal attacks on Indigenous human rights defenders and leaders on the rise. When asserting their rights to ancestral lands, they are often labeled as terrorists or accused of sedition.
The growing wave of authoritarianism further undermines the ability of Indigenous Peoples and their defenders to safeguard and promote their rights, particularly in relation to land, territories, and natural resources. Indigenous women human rights defenders face additional challenges, as their activism often subjects them to sexual harassment and violations.
The growing demand for land and natural resources continues to place Indigenous Peoples’ lands at risk of exploitation, illicit acquisitions, and land-grabbing. Key drivers include mineral extraction, logging, agribusiness, and large-scale infrastructure projects, including those for green energy. As a result, Indigenous Peoples face forced evictions, human rights abuses, violations, and conflicts, which threaten their livelihoods, food security, cultural identity, and very survival.
Indigenous women leaders and organizations defending Indigenous women’s rights are frequent targets of intimidation, threats, and violence. They often face criminalization through false allegations, leading to baseless legal proceedings and imprisonment. These actions aim to demoralize, paralyze their human rights defense work, and delegitimize their causes. This violence, combined with the intersecting forms of discrimination Indigenous women face, creates conditions that perpetuate and exacerbate violence against them.
Violence against Indigenous women and girls also occurs during armed conflicts, militarization of territories, implementation of development and extractive projects, and in their efforts to defend human rights. This violence is sometimes politically motivated. The cycle of poverty disproportionately affects the most vulnerable women and girls, such as unmarried mothers, child brides, orphans, widows, and women living with disabilities, perpetuating generational marginalization and impunity for violence.
Indigenous women, however, remain active change agents and key leaders in the struggle for Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
Another alarming trend is the rising violence against Environmental Human Rights Defenders (EHRDs), with Indigenous Peoples among the most exposed. According to Global Witness, Indigenous activists accounted for 39% of environmental and land defenders killed over the past decade. Although women comprised only 10% of the total fatalities, nearly two-thirds of those killed were Indigenous women, highlighting the critical intersection of gender and Indigenous identity. Most of these killings were linked to the mining and extractive industries, but agribusiness, hydroelectric dams, water rights disputes, and logging also contributed significantly.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders has acknowledged the threats and violence faced by EHRDs, emphasizing the link between Indigenous Peoples’ rights and environmental defense in their reports. This intersection underscores the urgent need to protect Indigenous communities and their defenders in the face of escalating violence.
Environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs), as defined by the United Nations, are individuals or collectives working in either their personal or professional capacity to realize basic environmental rights. By the nature of their jobs, all forest rangers should be EHRDs, as their work can help ensure a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. A healthy environment is a necessary precondition for the full realization of many human rights.
Rangers and forest guards are indispensable environmental defenders in Africa, especially in countries like Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo). They play a crucial role in protecting biodiversity, conserving ecosystems, and ensuring the sustainable management of natural resources. Their responsibilities include patrolling protected areas, monitoring wildlife populations, combating poaching, and mitigating human-wildlife conflicts. Community rangers, often recruited from local populations, serve as vital intermediaries between conservation initiatives and local communities. By fostering collaboration, trust, and conservation awareness, they are instrumental in enforcing environmental laws, safeguarding wildlife corridors, and implementing restoration projects, making them key players in environmental human rights defense.
Despite their invaluable contributions, rangers and forest guards face immense challenges that frequently endanger their lives. Across Africa, they contend with armed poachers, illegal loggers, and wildlife traffickers who view them as obstacles to lucrative illicit activities. In regions like DR Congo, the risks are heightened by armed groups and political instability. Rangers often operate with limited resources, including inadequate training, poor equipment, and low wages, leaving them vulnerable when confronting well-armed adversaries. Corruption within governance structures further undermines their efforts, leading to inconsistent enforcement of environmental laws and exposing rangers to retaliation from powerful networks involved in environmental exploitation.
The human cost of their work is staggering. Africa has one of the highest rates of violence against rangers and environmental defenders globally, with numerous reports of killings, injuries, and abductions. Armed militias often target rangers in parks like Virunga and Garamba in DR Congo, while Uganda has also experienced ranger fatalities. However, community-based conservation efforts and partnerships with local stakeholders in Uganda have helped mitigate some conflicts. Beyond physical violence, rangers endure significant psychological stress from constant threats and a lack of recognition for their sacrifices, resulting in low morale and burnout.
Community rangers face unique challenges as they balance their roles as conservationists and members of local communities. They may encounter social pressure to overlook illegal activities or face threats from neighbors, leading to conflicts of interest. However, their deep understanding of local customs and ability to mediate disputes effectively often foster greater community support for conservation projects. They also highlight the human rights dimensions of environmental protection by advocating for equitable resource access and opposing harmful development practices that threaten both ecosystems and livelihoods.
Rangers and forest guards embody the essence of environmental human rights defenders, protecting critical ecosystems, promoting sustainable development, and defending the rights of local communities to a healthy environment. Addressing the challenges they face requires increased investment in their training, welfare, and equipment, as well as stronger enforcement of environmental laws. International support is crucial to counter the threats posed by criminal networks and armed conflicts. Recognizing their sacrifices and enhancing their capacity are essential steps toward preserving Africa’s rich biodiversity and empowering local communities to coexist harmoniously with nature.
Responding to these challenges, Environmental Defenders implement the following actions:
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