Conservationists deserve protection

Abstract

The global conservation community is shocked and deeply concerned about the deaths of two butterfly conservationists in Mexico. On 29 January, environmentalist Homero Gomez Gonzalez was found dead in Michoacan state, near the El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Preserve he managed ([ 1 ][1], [ 2 ][2]). On 1 February, the body of a second butterfly activist, Raul Hernandez Romero, was also found ([ 3 ][3], [ 4 ][4]). Although official investigations are ongoing, both deaths are presumed to be related to retaliation by criminal groups of illegal loggers ([ 1 ][1]–[ 4 ][4]). Environmental defenders around the world are increasingly exposed to threats and violence ([ 5 ][5])—sometimes, as in the recent tragic events in Mexico, at the risk of their lives. Any threat or attack experienced by nonviolent environmental defenders is unacceptable. Many countries, by signing international biodiversity agreements, have agreed implicitly to protect conservationists and environmental human rights defenders. For example, 89 states—including Mexico—are members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and are thus signatories to resolutions that call for support for environmental defenders ([ 6 ][6]). Another example, the Escazu Agreement, is currently undergoing ratification by Latin American countries ([ 7 ][7]). Crimes committed against environmental defenders cannot go unpunished, and justice must be prompt. Those who would attack the people who try to protect nature do so at their own peril. Humans depend on plants, animals, and fungi for survival, and those working to achieve global targets to halt biodiversity loss deserve nothing but support. To recognize the importance of conservation work and the risks it too often entails, countries should make explicit their commitment to protecting conservationists. Later this year, at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming, China, new biodiversity targets will be set to guide future conservation action. It is paramount that at this pivotal time the biodiversity crisis is taken seriously by governments through direct action that protects not just biodiversity but also those working tirelessly to preserve it. It is our duty to pursue the legacy of conservationists like Homero and Raul. 1. [↵][8]1. K. Semple, 2. P. Villegas , “Mexican butterfly conservationist is found dead, two weeks after vanishing,” The New York Times (2020). 2. [↵][9]1. D. Agren , “Mexico: Defender of monarch butterflies found dead two weeks after he vanished,” The Guardian (2020). 3. [↵][10]1. A. Ortega , “At famed Mexican butterfly reserve, second worker found dead,” Reuters (2020). 4. [↵][11]“Second Mexico monarch butterfly activist found dead,” BBC (2020). 5. [↵][12]Global Witness, “Enemies of the state? How governments and business silence land and environmental defenders” (2019). 6. [↵][13]Resolution 2.37 of the 2000 IUCN World Conservation Congress (2000); [www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/import/downloads/wcc\_amman\_res\_2\_37.pdf][14]. 7. [↵][15]United Nations, “Regional agreement on access to information, public participation and justice in environmental matters in Latin America and the Caribbean” (2018); [www.cepal.org/en/escazuagreement][16]. M.B. chairs the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Butterfly Specialist Group. S.H. chairs the IUCN SSC Spider and Scorpion Specialist Group. A.H. chairs the IUCN SSC Invertebrate Conservation Committee. [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #ref-2 [3]: #ref-3 [4]: #ref-4 [5]: #ref-5 [6]: #ref-6 [7]: #ref-7 [8]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [9]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [10]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3 in text [11]: #xref-ref-4-1 View reference 4 in text [12]: #xref-ref-5-1 View reference 5 in text [13]: #xref-ref-6-1 View reference 6 in text [14]: http://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/import/downloads/wcc_amman_res_2_37.pdf [15]: #xref-ref-7-1 View reference 7 in text [16]: http://www.cepal.org/en/escazuagreement