Defenders of the Earth: Liberia

A 2006 recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize, Silas Siakor has dedicated his life to fighting for the disempowered in Liberia, a country where corruption and land grabs have led to a massive gap between the haves and have-nots.

Liberia is known for its lush rolling forests covering around 45% of the country. But between 1990 and 2010, Liberia lost over 12% of its forest cover. This has left the country even more vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather events, while at the same time homes and livelihoods are being destroyed by extensive logging and palm oil production. Although there are laws meant to curtail these practices, Liberia’s forests continue to be ‘hijacked’ by big business. 

Silas Siakor has dedicated his life to trying to protect this environment. He, along with other activists, have taken great personal risks to collect evidence of falsified logging records, illegal logging practices, and evidence of associated human rights abuses.

The episode features Silas Siakor, human rights lawyer Jonathan Kaufman, and Alfred Brownell, a Liberian environmental activist and lawyer and the founder of Green Advocates International. 

Defenders of the Earth captures the gripping and inspiring stories of activists around the world who are taking on powerful interests to protect our planet. Our presenter is Vanessa Nakate, climate justice activist from Uganda. Our episodes profile activists in Russia, Liberia, Honduras, and the Philippines. 

As climate activist and journalist Bill McKibben wrote in Last Line of Defence, a report from Global Witness released in September 2021, land and environmental defenders ”are at risk, in the end, not just because of another local person who pulls the trigger or plunges the blade; they’re at risk because they find themselves living on or near something that some corporation is demanding.”

In 2020, 227 activists were murdered for taking a stand to defend human rights, their land, and our environment. Over a third of the attacks were reportedly linked to resource exploitation — logging, mining, and large-scale agribusiness — and hydroelectric dams and other infrastructure. And that number is likely to be higher due to poor reporting. 

Defenders of the Earth is produced by Global Witness and Whistledown Productions. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts.