Ambrosio Vilhalva, Indigenous Land Rights Activist and Movie Star from Brazil, Portrait 25

Acrylic on canvas by Liz Peterson
Original photograph © Survival International

Ambrosio Vilhalva was a leader of one of the few remaining tribes of indigenous Guarani in Southern Brazil. Mr. Vilhalva was leading the charge among his people to take back the ancestral land that had been forcibly taken from them decades ago by powerful ranchers. During this massive displacement that took place around the mid-century, approximately fifty thousand Guarani were forced into cramped refugee settlements with no land and a loss of their entire livelihood. The loss of their homeland, which they refer to as "tekoha," has taken a huge toll on the population of Guarani - they are often forced to take low-paying jobs with the ranchers or farmers that have taken their land. The suicide rate among them is one of the highest in the world. 

Though Mr. Vilhalva may not have identified as an environmentalist, his advocacy for the rights of the Guarani aligns with efforts to protect the lands they claim as home, and he was an outspoken critic of the clearing of the land for use as a sugarcane plantation. The forced removal of indigenous people from their ancestral lands closely corresponds with massive ecological abuse, as the lands are usually seized for use of their natural resources. 

Vilhalva attempted to get government assistance in reclaiming the lands that had been taken from his tribe by ranchers in the 1950s, but a lethargic response led him to take matters into his own hands. In 2004, he led his people into a small plot of land on their stolen tekoha, where they squatted among the sugar cane crops and stayed in spite of constant threats and harassment. 

In 2008, Vilhalva became an internationally known film star after the release of the Marco Bechis film "Birdwatchers," in which he played the main character. The film was a fictional account of the struggle between the Guarani and landowners that came after and it starred many members of his tribe. Vilhalva felt that the movie would help people understand their plight. After five years of activism, the Guarani were finally recognized as the rightful owners of the land by the Minister of Justice in 2009, though this designation did nothing to stop the ranchers from using the land and threatening the Guarani settlement. 

In December of 2013, Valhalva was stabbed to death in his home. Police detained Vilhalva's father-in-law as the main suspect in his murder, though he has denied any involvement. Others in his community suspect that his death was the result of his activism, as he was receiving death threats from ranchers disputing the Guarani's right to the land. 

Sources:

http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/9826

http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/9797

http://www.news.com.au/world/south-american-indian-activist-ambrosio-vilhalva-has-been-murdered/story-fndir2ev-1226774711288

Trailer for "Birdwatchers"

A word about Chico Mendes

The Light the Land project focuses on environmental or land rights activists who have been killed in the past decade. Several people have asked if I planned to complete a portrait of Chico Mendes, a rights activist for rubber tappers of the Amazon and rainforest defender called the Patron of the Brazilian Environment by the government. Mr. Mendes was killed by a rancher in 1988 and his life and work helped inspire a movement within Brazil to establish more protections for the Amazon. Though I am not doing a rendering of Mr. Mendes for the site as he was not killed in the past decade, I would like to share a number of other portraits that have been done by artists worldwide in admiration for his life and work.

Please take a moment to click the name of the artist to go their webpage, and read the source material below for more of Chico Mendes' story and the current state of affairs for the rubber tappers of the Amazon.

Close up of Chico Mendes portrait from "I MARTIRI, Angelo Vassallo e Chico Mendes"
by Italian artist Sergio Michellini

Portrait of Chico Mendes by U.S. artist Jacqueline Bishop

Chico Mendes by U.S. artist Erin Currier

Chico Mendes by Brazilian cartoonist Marcio Liete

Articles about Chico Mendes:

"Brazil Salutes Chico Mendes 25 years after his murder," The Guardian, 2013

Website for the Chico Vive conference held in April 2014

The Life and Legacy of Chico Mendes, BBC, 2008

Leonardo Co, Botanist and Native Plant Conservationist in the Philippines, Portrait 24

Portrait using marker and flowers (unfinished) by Liz Peterson
Original Photograph: Oda S. Beltran

Leonardo Co was an esteemed botanist with a wide-ranging knowledge of the native plants of the Philippines. He was also passionate about their preservation and in 2007 founded the Philippine Native Plant Conservation Society. Co was heavily involved in a research project to track biodiversity in Palanan, Isabela in partnership with the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University and Smithsonian Tropical Research Center and was instrumental in categorizing the medicinal plants of the islands. He was much beloved as a mentor who freely shared his knowledge with a great deal of enthusiasm. A statement by the group after his death said Co "would expound on the complex interrelationships between one living thing to another; He possessed firsthand knowledge that can never be found in any literature." Co was so respected for his expertise that one of the most extraordinary plants endemic to the Philipphines was named after him, the Rafflesia leonardi.

On November 15, 2010, while conducting field research in Leyte, Co was shot and killed by the Philippine army, along with forest guard Sofronio Cortez and guide Julius Borromeo. The army dubbed the event an accident and said that Co and his group were caught in a crossfire between the army and rebel forces inhabiting the area. This interpretation of events has been disputed by the two surviving witnesses who said the Philippine soldiers were the only ones to fire shots. 

photo of Leonardo Co with his namesake plant, Rafflesia leonardi

Sources:

http://www.cecphils.org/node/179

http://pinoyweekly.org/new/2010/11/remembering-leonard-co/

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/56126/troops-to-be-charged-with-homicide-for-deaths-of-botanist-leonard-co-2-others

https://sites.google.com/a/agham.org/justice-for-leonard-co/

Nisar Baloch, Land Rights and National Park Advocate in Pakistan, Portrait 23

digital copy of Karachi City resolution regarding land rights and marker drawing by Liz Peterson
Original Images: Citizens of Pakistan

Nisar Baloch was a teacher who once offered free computer classes to young people in Karachi. Baloch was also an environmentalist and human rights activist who was very vocal in efforts to protect the Gutter Baghicha. Gutter Baghicha is an area of the city of Karachi that was supposed to be set aside for the public amenities and creation of a National Park, but had been encroached upon by various ehnic groups with the aid of corrupt government since the 1950s. Baloch was particularly adamant that land being developed within the acreage set aside for the National Park be returned to the public. These houses were being constructed on what Baloch deemed illegal and phony city ordinances in which development proceeded with the aid of armed officers on site. Under the organization of the NGO Shehri-Citizens for a Better Environment, Baloch fought against these advances in spite of arrests and threats. During a press conference the day before his death, Baloch stated he feared he might be murdered by Izhar Uddin, a local city official.

In 2009, Nisar Baloch was shot and killed by a man on a motorbike. A year later, the activist who replaced his position with CBE, Nadir Baloch, was also shot. Neither of the murders have been investigated fully or prosecuted. Nisar Baloch was married and had one adopted child. 

Sources:

Tribute to Nisar Baloch
Suggestions for Land Use of Gutter Baghicha by the Citizens for a Better Environment
Who was Nisar Baloch?
Events Leading to the Murder of Nisar Baloch - A Shehri Activist

140 Virunga Park Rangers, Land and Wildlife Protectors, Democratic Republic of the Congo - Portrait 22

digital representation of the number of park rangers killed
at Virunga National Park since 1996

Virunga National Park is the deadliest place in the world for park rangers - 140 rangers have been killed since 1996 while working to protect the park. It is also the most biodiverse protected park in the world, with more than 1000 known animal species, including one of the last remaining groups of mountain gorillas. In spite of the dangers, the park staff at Virunga have remained dedicated to the ongoing preservation of Virunga. The population of mountain gorillas has nearly doubled since the 1980s, thanks in large part to the dedication and bravery of its rangers. 

Much of the violence to rangers is due to the ongoing conflict in areas near its borders. Virunga is vast with over two million acres of land, so it is very difficult to patrol. The park has become a refuge for armed militants engaged in local civil wars as well as poachers of bushmeat, and on one occasion was entirely in the hands of rebel forces who had evicted all of the park staff. 

Some park conservationists have recently received death threats for opposing oil drilling efforts in Virunga. Last month, park warden Emmanuel de Merode was the victim of an assassination attempt which may have been related to his efforts to prevent the oil drilling. UK based Soco International LLC is currently prospecting for oil near Lake Edward in spite of opposition by many international environmental groups concerned over the impact of drilling in the park (as noted in the Guardian's news brief below, Soco itself is not responsible for the threats or assassination attempt)

Virunga Park Ranger sits with an orphaned gorilla after
its parents were killed by poachers (Photo: Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images)

Sources:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/04/140416-emmanuel-de-merode-warden-shot-virunga-congo/

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/photos-gorilla-orphan-park-ranger-share-a-touching-moment

http://ens-newswire.com/2012/10/25/eight-dead-in-attack-on-virunga-national-park-rangers/

Mario Guifarro, Rainforest Conservationist in Honduras - Portrait 21

Charcoal drawing by Liz Peterson

Mario Guifarro was well known in his local area for his expertise of the Moskitia wilderness in eastern Honduras.  He was a skilled tracker who was invaluable, as he knew several languages of the local indigenous groups, and was also knowledgable about native plant uses and the lay of the land. His devotion to rainforest conservation began in a counterintuitive way - he was once a hunter and gold-miner, but turned to forest preservation as he began to witness firsthand the rapid destruction of his outdoor playground. It is said he rarely ventured out without his pistol and his guitar.

Guifarro was leading an expedition to map out the vast rainforest wilderness of the Tawahka Asongni Biosphere Reserve as a way to prevent illegal logging in the forest. Unfortunately, news of the mission spread and he was threatened often by the logging companies. In Sept. of 2007, Guifarro and his son Shamir broke off from their group to speak with a group of villagers about working for them. They were interrupted by two smiling men who asked Guifarro to play a song for them, after which one of the men shot him to death. His son Shamir was able to escape, but was murdered in a very similar fashion nine months later.

In 2013, biologists discovered a new species of snake in the rainforest of Eastern Honduras and named it after Guifarro to recognize his contribution to conservation and bravery in the face of intimidation. The snake is a poisonous bright-green palm pit-viper now known as Bothreichus guifarroi.

There is an excellent description of Guifarro and overview of the ongoing environmental struggle in Honduras by Jeremy Kryt in the Earth Island Journal. 

Sources:

http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/eij/article/the_last_song_of_mario_guifarro

http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20130415001140data_trunc_sys.shtml

Valmir de Mota Oliviera, Land Reform and Anti-GMO Activist in Brazil - Portrait 20

Pencil on paper by Jake Willoughby, age 11

Valmir de Mota Oliviera, also known as "Keno," was an active leader in two agrarian reform organizations that organize and campaign for the rights of landless workers and peasants in Brazil. One of the groups that he worked with, Via Campesina, was protesting the presence of a GMO test site established by transnational corporation Syngenta, which the protestors felt had unlawfully encroached upon the protected area near the Iguazu River. 

In October of 2007, Oliviera, along with approximately 200 other activists, staged a peaceful protest at Syngenta's test site  in the Parana state of Brazil. During their protest, a bus full of approximately 40 armed security guards arrived and opened fire on the protestors, killing Oliviera and wounding six others. The guards were employed by a company hired by Syngenta for security. Syngenta has declared that they had no involvement in the attack and that the security personnel are not permitted to be armed. However, several members of Via Campesina had filed police reports regarding Syngenta's security company carrying arms and threatening their lives. Oliviera had also reported receiving death threats. 

Oliviera had three children.

Sources:

http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/1215

http://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/main-issues-mainmenu-27/biodiversity-and-genetic-resources-mainmenu-37/441-syngenta-murder-and-private-militias-in-brazil

http://www.christianaid.org.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/200711/partner_killed.aspx

http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=8593