Defenders of the Earth Global Witness

A community in Honduras faces criminal prosecution as they take on companies building an open pit mine in a national park. Central to the story are Juan Antonio López and Juana Zúñiga, both activists in Tocoa, Honduras, who want to see their relatives and fellow campaigners released from jail. You'll hear how activists fighting for their legal and environmental rights face intimidation, threats, false imprisonment, and death.

In this episode, we meet Derek Cabe, coordinator of the Coal-Free Bataan Movement, as she continues the work of Gloria Capitan, a murdered activist who was campaigning against coal plants in Bataan province. The Coal-Free Bataan movement opposes a coal storage facility and power plants which they believe polluted their town, sickened families, and covered the coastline in ash.

Silas Siakor, the Liberian campaigner who exposed Charles Taylor’s regime’s toxic dependence on the timber trade, continues to campaign against illegal logging. At great personal risk, Silas, along with other activists, collected evidence of falsified logging records, illegal logging practices, and associated human rights abuses, and reported them to the world.

In our premiere episode, we meet 17-year-old Rita Naumenko, one of just a handful of Fridays for Future activists in Russia. Rita’s protests target her government and the large corporations that seem to show no interest in curbing harmful emissions. Restrictive laws and a climate of repression present activists like Rita with nearly insurmountable challenges, but she persists.

Defenders of the Earth captures the gripping and inspiring stories of activists around the world who are taking on powerful interests to protect our planet. Our presenter is Vanessa Nakate, climate justice activist from Uganda.