ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS AND THE ROLE OF THE IUCN

The document examines the gap between the IUCN's formal commitment to protect environmental defenders via Resolution 115 and the actual implementation of a global policy and action plan. It highlights the extreme risks faced by defenders globally and specifically in Africa, including gender-based violence against women defenders and the criminalization of activists. While noting a few regional projects and the importance of IUCN's public statements, the report argues that the organization remains largely reactive and lacks a systematic strategy, funding, and reporting mechanism to address the structural drivers of violence against those protecting nature.

• Since 2012, 2,253 environmental defenders have been killed globally, with an average of one death every two days over twelve years; in 2024, the rate increased to approximately three people killed or disappeared each week.
• Women Environmental Human Rights Defenders (WEHRDs) face distinct vulnerabilities and gendered violence, including sexual violence, threats against children, and social stigmatization such as being labeled "prostitutes" to coerce silence.
• Despite the mandate of Resolution 115, there is currently no evidence of a global action plan or policy implemented by the IUCN, and progress has been limited to a small number of projects, with none located in Africa.
• The IUCN has implemented two notable regional projects: VOCES in Latin America, a USD $6 million initiative for defender empowerment, and RESIST in Nepal, which focuses on combating gender-based violence in community forestry landscapes.
• In Africa, governments use legal systems to intimidate defenders through vague protest laws and Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), as seen with the criminalization of opponents of the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline in Uganda and mining activists in South Africa.
• Some African IUCN member states have made legal progress, with the Democratic Republic of Congo adopting a national law to protect defenders in October 2023, followed by the Central African Republic at the end of 2024.

APA

Natural Justice (n.d.). ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS AND THE ROLE OF THE IUCN. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Defenders-the-role-of-the-IUCN.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS AND THE ROLE OF THE IUCN. n.d. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Defenders-the-role-of-the-IUCN.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Natural Justice |title=ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS AND THE ROLE OF THE IUCN |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Defenders-the-role-of-the-IUCN.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{naturaljusticendenvironmental, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENDERS AND THE ROLE OF THE IUCN}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Defenders-the-role-of-the-IUCN.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }