Course in Madre de Dios to strengthen the work of Peruvian environmental defenders

Earlier this month, our Peruvian partner Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental (SPDA) organised the first edition of a course for people committed to protecting the environment and human rights in Madre de Dios. The course aims to reduce the risks faced by environmental defenders by emphasising the value of their work and promoting legal protection and practical tools. This initiative is part of PIDDA Rights, a joint project of SPDA and IUCN NL.

This article was written by SPDA. Read the original version in Spanish here. All photos on this page Diego Perez / SPDA

According to Global Witness, Peru is among the ten most dangerous countries in the world for those who defend the environment and human rights. Against this backdrop, SPDA organised the first edition of the course Environmental defenders: rights and mechanisms for their defence in Puerto Maldonado in the Peruvian Amazon region of Madre de Dios. The objective of the course is to reduce the risks faced by defenders by providing practical and legal tools, while it highlights the importance of their efforts.

Environmental defenders from Madre de Dios and beyond

On 9 and 10 May, 2025, around 50 people participated in the classroom phase of the course, organised in two groups. The first group consisted of defenders belonging to Indigenous peoples and local communities of Madre de Dios and Cusco. In the other group professionals from different regions of the country linked to organisations working for the protection of environmental defenders participated. This second group was selected by SPDA from more than 300 applications, based on their experience.

Throughout the programme, topics such as the national and international normative framework on human rights, state protection mechanisms, inter-institutional articulation, and legal tools that can be applied when facing threats were addressed.

‘The course has helped me a lot. I work with coordinators who have been defending their rights and their territories. What I have learned will help me to replicate it and look for strategies on how we can face the challenges they face.’ commented José Vargas, technical specialist of the Tambopata National Reserve Management Committee.

‘Understanding the whole legal and protection system, through our fields of expertise, can enable us to anticipate to decrease the risks or to make connections so that the risks can be better addressed.’

• Participant Kelly Guevara

Deeper understanding of the legal and protection system

For the group of professionals, the course continues with a virtual stage in which they will delve deeper into issues such as illegal economies in the Amazon, financing for the implementation of strategies for the protection of defenders at the national level, environmental legislation for the protection of the environment, territory, and natural resources, as well as other topics.

For Kelly Guevara,  Children and Youth Engagement in Climate Action Officer at UNICEF and one of the trained professionals, the course may enable a better approach to the risks faced by environmental defenders. ‘Understanding the whole legal and protection system, through our fields of expertise, can enable us to anticipate to decrease the risks or to make connections so that the risks can be better addressed,’ she said.

The programme consists of four modules and is taught by SPDA specialists and professors from the Institute of Democracy and Human Rights of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Those who successfully complete the course will receive a certificate to support their training.

Participatory approach

One of the particularities of this course is that it was designed with a participatory approach. Through two previous validation workshops, renowned environmental defenders, such as Víctor Zambrano and Demetrio Pacheco, together with leaders of Amazonian Indigenous organisations, reviewed and proposed improvements to the content. A second workshop was also held with professionals working on the protection of human rights defenders.

Both groups agreed on the need for intercultural training to promote joint work between the state, organisations, and communities in the protection of defenders.

Replication in other regions

At the classroom stage in Puerto Maldonado, Silvana Baldovino, Director of the Biodiversity and Indigenous Peoples Programme of SPDA, announced that the course will be replicated in other regions of the country in the coming months. ‘We must continue to strengthen the capacities of defenders and those who have the duty to protect them,’ she emphasised.

Baldoivine also highlighted the importance of expanding the course to other spaces, because it not only provides legal tools, but also ‘makes their work visible and promotes an intercultural and inclusive approach that contributes to reducing the risks faced by defenders in the Amazon.’

About PIDDA Rights

Environmental defenders take many risks protecting nature. Globally, every week people get killed because they stand up for their natural environments and human rights. Women are often at the forefront of defending environmental human rights, while at the same time being more at risk. With the support of the French Development Agency, Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental and IUCN NL strengthen the work of environmental defenders in Madre de Dios in Peru, applying a gender and intercultural approach.