[h=1]Report: Killings of environmentalists up 60 percent in 2015[/h] June 20, 2016 6:12 PM EDT SAO PAULO (AP) ? A London-based advocacy group said Monday it documented 185 killings of environmental activists around the world last year, nearly 60 percent more than in 2014 and the highest since it began collecting data dating back to 2002.
In a newly released report, Global Witness said Brazil topped the 16-country list with 50 environmental defenders slain in 2015, followed by the Philippines with 33 and Colombia with 26. The group says 116 were slain worldwide in 2014.
Last year ?was the deadliest year on record for killings of land and environmental defenders ? people struggling to protect their land, forests and rivers,? the report said.
Conflicts involving mining, agribusiness, hydroelectric dams and logging are behind most of the killings, which average more than three a week, it added.
Those who oppose such projects are ?finding themselves in the firing line of private security companies, state forces and a thriving market for contract killers,? Global Witness said...
