Launch of the Report "Policy Matter" - A call for global action for the protection and support to Environmental Defenders

Overall picture is that, Environmental defenders are killed each year in startling numbers. Increasingly environmental defenders are subjected to threats and attacks for their efforts, including harassment, physical violence, criminalization, arbitrary detention and continuous intimidation. • There is urgency to form a new coalition to protect and support these defenders. Many IUCN members and our partners are affected, as documented by recent survey work among NGO membership. It is more urgent than ever before to step up by working together to protect communities and individuals on the frontlines to secure the environment. Also, it is becoming increasingly clear that IUCN’s NGO membership faces a wide range of challenges in undertaking its conservation work. Who are the environmental defenders? • Environment human rights defenders, Indigenous People, and local activists.