Being an earth defender is neither easy nor safe work. On many occasions, earth defenders are criminalized, threatened, and attacked by actors whose interests conflict with theirs. Nowadays, the use of digital tools has strengthened and supported many earth defense strategies, which usually involve collecting sensitive information, while bringing new challenges and risks to their processes. More than ever, digital security considerations have become a key aspect of most environmental and human rights defense projects.
For this reason, and considering the wide variety of contexts in which earth defense takes place, we have put together two different but complementary guides that compile suggested steps, resources, and questions to support earth defenders to carry out an in-depth risk analysis and develop appropriate contingency measures.
The Personal and physical safety guide for Earth Defenders aims to support Earth Defenders to identify and address direct risks such as violence and criminalization.
The Digital Security for Earth Defenders Guide aims to help identify digital risks and think through countermeasures and contingency plans
These resources will support Earth Defenders to take care of their personal, physical, and digital safety while protecting their territories. These two guides can be used as a starting point or can be adapted, if appropriate, for different contexts. We invite you to read, use and share these guides.