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Environmental Crime
Environmental crime encompasses a spectrum of illicit activities, including illegal wood, wildlife trafficking, illegal mining and land grabbing.
Special Project
INVESTIGATIONS
The Roots of Environmental Crime in the Colombian Amazon
COLOMBIA
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1 SEP 2021
The Amazon Basin is being ravaged at an accelerating rate by organized criminal groups and "legal" enterprises alike, as deforestation soars and biodiversity suffers. Illegal mining, logging, wildlife trafficking, land…
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GameChangers 2021: How Organized Crime Devoured the Amazon Rainforest
NEWS
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28 DEC 2021
There was record destruction of the Amazon in 2020, as the rainforest lost an area around the size of Belize, and the situation looks to be even bleaker in 2021.
GameChangers 2021: How IUU Fishing Plundered Latin America's Oceans
NEWS
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23 DEC 2021
A spree of illegal fishing occurred across Latin America this past year, much of it driven by competition for diminishing catch.
FARC Dissidents First to be Charged Under New Colombian Environmental Law
NEWS
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8 DEC 2021
Three FARC dissident commanders have become the first people to be charged with criminal deforestation under a new law aimed at actors involved in environmental devastation – a crime for…
Costa Rica Sabotaging Own Efforts to Protect Vulnerable Sharks
NEWS
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29 NOV 2021
A new report has suggested that recent progress made in Costa Rica to protect its abundant shark and turtle populations has been reversed due to recent commercial decisions. …
Colombia's San Andrés Losing Battle Against Illegal Fishing
NEWS
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17 NOV 2021
As Colombia and Nicaragua continue battling over fishing rights and policing around the Caribbean archipelago of San Andrés, its waters have become vulnerable to illegal fishing from vessels across the…
Avocados In, Butterflies Out - How Illegal Logging is Devastating Western Mexico
NEWS
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10 NOV 2021
Criminal groups across western Mexico have increased their control of illegal logging, silencing landowners, government officials and even entire communities to ensure near-total impunity.
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