South America

"Rojas Gonzales was fighting dam constructions which many say would displace thousands and destroy the Amazon.

A community leader and environmental activist was killed in Peru in a suspected repression tactic earlier this week, local media reported Monday.

Hitler Ananias Rojas Gonzales, 34, was struck by five bullets in his hometown Yagen in northern Peru, the Indigenous rights portal Servindi reported.

Rojas Gonzales was an adamant opponent of dam constructions on the River Marañon carried out by the Brazilian corporation Odebrecht."

"Maria Valdenice Nukini believes it's her duty to protect her ancestral territory in northern Brazil and raise awareness of the role indigenous communities play in protecting nature."

"The mine at Cerro de Pasco, Peru, once funneled silver to the Spanish crown. Today, it’s consuming the town—and poisoning children with lead."

"Brazil filed a lawsuit on Monday against two of the world's largest mining companies for 20 billion Brazilian reais ($5.2 billion) to clean up what it says was its worst environmental disaster, caused by the collapse of a tailings dam."

"Illegal levels of arsenic and mercury polluted the Rio Doce river in the days after a dam burst at an iron ore mine in early November in Brazil's worst-ever environmental disaster, according to tests by a state water agency."

"The destruction of Brazil's Amazon forest, the world's largest intact rainforest, increased by 16 percent in 2015 from a year ago as the government struggles to enforce legislation and stop illegal clearings."

"Workers at Brazilian iron ore miner Vale SA fear for their safety after the Samarco dam burst in the town of Mariana, where the company was reducing the number of employees because of weak ore prices, despite its push for output and complaints about safety."

"Researchers say expanding food production could radically reduce biodiversity in these important forests over the next 30 years."

"Nine people are now confirmed dead, and a further 19 remain unaccounted for as a slow-motion environmental catastrophe continues to unfold following the collapse of two mining dams in Brazil’s mineral-rich state of Minas Gerais."