New website for environmental defenders

On March 6, Universal Rights Group and several other partners, including the Special Rapporteur, announced the launch of a new web portal with information and links for environmental human rights defenders - that is, those who defend the environment and the human rights that depend on it.  As Global Witness has described, they are increasingly under threat -- at least 185 were killed in 2015 alone.

Called environment-rights.org, the new site describes the rights of environmental defenders, includes links to sites of international organizations and others who can help them, and provides a great deal of other relevant information.  The organizers plan to continue to add to the site in the future, and to translate it into other languages, including Spanish and French.