There is a war on nature. Dom Phillips was killed trying to warn you about it

"This response by the army highlights how weak and misdirected states have become. National defence is stuck in the past – far too focused on borders and not enough on ecosystems. Meanwhile criminal gangs invade Indigenous and conservation areas with impunity. The failure of the state to defend forest defenders even as it gives a green light to illegal resource extraction suggests the government in Brazil has been captured by criminal interests.

In an election year in Brazil, everything is political. Bolsonaro has said, “The indications are that something wicked was done to them,” but he has also accused Dom and Bruno of taking an “adventure” that was “ill-advised”. This is a common tactic in the war for nature. Those pushing the extractive agenda frequently trivialise, denigrate or criminalise land-defenders. They try to claim protests and exposés are isolated and unreasonable rather than an attempt to understand and confront structural problems on a global scale. When that does not work, intimidation and violence can often follow.

The killings will chill journalists and editors covering the environmental frontline, but I hope it will inspire rather than deter. "

more in the article by Jonathan Watts​

There is a war on nature. Dom Phillips was killed trying to warn you about it | Jonathan Watts | The Guardian