TED Talks Daily - Meet our planet's hidden defenders | Anjan Sundaram

Episode Date: August 23, 2024

Small Indigenous communities make up only five percent of the world's population, but they defend 80 percent of the biodiversity that remains on Earth, says war reporter Anjan Sundaram. He paints a picture of Mexico's embattled ecological frontlines, where invisible heroes are fighting corporations and cartels alike to save our planet's last natural ecosystems.

TED Audio Collective. You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. Today, a war reporter who is covering an ongoing conflict that affects us all, the fight for environmental conservation. It's being fought by people around the world, often unseen and unknown, who are battling for the future of our planet.

Anjan Sundaram is on the front lines of this conflict and shares its stakes and its heroes, coming up after a break. Support for this show comes from Airbnb. If you know me, you know I love staying in Airbnbs when I travel. They make my family feel most at home when we're away from home. As we settled down at our Airbnb during a recent vacation to Palm Springs, I pictured my own home sitting empty. Wouldn't it be smart and better put to use welcoming a family like mine by hosting it on Airbnb? It feels like the practical thing to do, and with the extra income, I could save up for renovations to make the space even more inviting for ourselves and for future guests.

Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host. Sonia Sinek from Creative Destruction Lab as they ask bold questions like, why is Canada lagging in AI adoption and how to catch up? Don't get left behind. Listen to Disruptors, the innovation era, and stay ahead of the game in this fast-changing world. Follow Disruptors on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform. I want to tell you about a podcast I love called Search Engine, hosted by PJ Vogt. Each week, he and his team answer these perfect questions, the kind of questions that, when you ask them at a dinner party, completely derail conversation. Questions about business, tech, and society, like, is everyone pretending to understand inflation? Why don't we have flying cars yet? And what does it feel like to believe in God?

If you find this world bewildering, but also sometimes enjoy being bewildered by it, check out Search Engine with PJ Vogt, available now wherever you get your podcasts. And now, our TED Talk of the day. I'm here to tell you about some of the most vital heroes of our time. They fight a hidden war across our world I'm here to tell you about some of the most vital heroes of our time. They fight a hidden war across our world

that will define our future. They battle on behalf of us all to protect mountains, rivers, forests and the last pristine ecosystems. Yet these warriors pass almost invisible. We don't know their names, and we rarely read about them. These obscure heroes are environmental defenders. They mount protests and fight legal and armed battles,

and have already saved many plants and animals from destruction. Small indigenous communities make up only 5% of the world's population, but they defend 80% of all the biodiversity that remains on Earth. Their stories aren't told, in part, because many of them live in war zones. I've committed myself to reporting on forgotten conflicts, like those in the Congo and the Central African Republic. For several years now, I've documented the war for the environment,

and I'd like to show you this fight for the future from the inside. The front line of this war runs right through Latin America. At least 1,700 environmental defenders have been killed over the last decade. Nearly 70 percent of these assassinations were perpetrated on the land between Mexico and Argentina. Three years ago, I read that more than 50 defenders were murdered in Mexico just that year,

making it the world's deadliest country for the defense of nature. I didn't know how long it would take to investigate these crimes against environmental defenders, so I bought a one-way ticket there to uncover and tell the stories of their sacrifices. One of the first defenders I met was David Salazar. I met him on the Pan-American Highway. His community had hijacked buses and trucks

and blockaded the longest highway in the world to protest a planned industrial megaproject. Their lowland forest, called El Pitayal, had been marked for destruction to build a new factory complex. They're up against the US and Mexican governments and multinational companies that want this vast, interoceanic megaproject to go forward. According to researchers,

Mexico's violent cartels also see a chance to boost their multibillion-dollar revenues through theft and protection rackets on their territory. Governments, companies and cartels stand to profit. When David's protests didn't stop the construction, saboteurs burned government vehicles near their forest. Their weapon was fire, which locals call lumbre. We don't know who burned the vehicles, but the community authority, David, was singled out. The other men and women organizing the resistance warned me,

David's going to be attacked or even assassinated. The municipal police had once severely beaten him up. That afternoon, I sat down with David in his yard, and I pulled out my notebook. Aren't you afraid they'll kill you? I asked. He said, of course I'm afraid. David wasn't killed, but two months ago, a Mexican court sentenced him to 46 and a half years in prison for damaging property,

effectively handing him a life sentence. But David told me, all the world's prisons aren't large enough to fit the defenders willing to risk everything to protect the earth. I've gotten his community legal assistance. Since the courts don't reliably protect the planet, other communities have armed themselves.

On Mexico's Pacific coast, While some of the forests don't reliably protect the planet, other communities have armed themselves. On Mexico's Pacific coast, a locality of only a thousand people fights a drone war to protect their ancestral mountain. A European company has built a huge iron mine nearby and now wants to expand its excavation to this pristine mountain called La Mancera. A ferocious cartel regularly strikes the community using drones as it disappears and kills anti-mining activists.

The European company denies allegations made by local activists that it's involved in any illegal activity. But the mountain is full of gold. It is also a home to jaguars, rare plants and an intact forest. This isolated indigenous community called Santa Maria de Ostula fights back to defend nature and to defend its culture and its people. It sends its young men to the front lines. It scavenges weapons after its victories over the cartels.

I'm told it's common knowledge that factions of the Mexican army and police sell weapons to the cartels and communities, thereby profiting from both sides of this war. The cartels, by some estimates Mexico's fifth largest employer, recruit young poor men, arm them, and have them run illegal businesses in remote places that are dangerous for journalists. Scores of reporters have been killed in Mexico,

many of whom investigated illegality and corruption. I carry cigarettes and chocolate to hand out, so any cartel fighters I run into might spare me. And now, back to the episode. I asked one of Ostula's young defenders, a councilman named Pedro, to take me to their front line. He said, I'll take you to the European iron mine,

but it's crawling with cartel fighters. Ostula had just lost three defenders in a cartel ambush and was braced for a new attack. Millions of dollars are extracted each year from the iron mine, but in the nearby municipal capital, the houses were dirty. Paint peeled, the walls crumbled. We drove into a compound with an ordinary low building. I wasn't allowed, of course, to take photos inside, but this is what I saw. As I walked in, it was like a fixer-upper meets the movie The Matrix. I was surrounded by 50 millimeter guns and assault rifles covering the walls. Large drones, walkie-talkies. Bullets lay on the ground.

A carpenter repaired a roof fortified with three layers. I interviewed the base commander, a hefty man named El Chopo. I asked where the cartel attacked. Here, he said. I looked out into the valley and asked how often they attacked. Every two days. They sent four drones this morning, he said, carrying C4 explosives mounted on motorheads.

They didn't drop those bombs, but they'll be back later today. A fighter jumped out of his hammock and loaded his rifle. Estamos listos. We're ready. This is how the battle to save nature is waged. One mountain, forest and river at a time. The roads were quiet as I drove with Pedro, the councilman, to the European iron mine.

It was a wide, gray mountainside. Mexicans say the mining companies work to licuar las montañas, or blend the mountains down. Pedro pointed up at an old shack. He said, the cartel fighters are behind those walls, and we should leave because I'm on their hit list. These remote wars for the environment can seem to not exist. Meanwhile, the international mining companies are winning so-called corporate sustainability awards.

That night, walking on Ostula's beach, I waited for turtles to swim ashore to nest. I saw their soft white eggshells glow in the moonlight. In the morning, baby turtles hatched. The turtles seemed oblivious to the humans fighting around them. Or maybe they knew about the environmental defenders. I've now covered a dozen battles for pristine ecosystems rich in titanium, copper, gold, water, sand, forests, jaguars, butterflies. Without war reporters on the ecological front lines, environmental defenders are killed in obscurity. Ecosystems are destroyed in silence, and the perpetrators get away. In my own work, I've shone a light on war crimes in Central Africa. I've seen criminals be prosecuted.

Yet we won't win the global environmental war unless we pay more attention and join forces with brave defenders around the world. These small bands of fighters are fearless. They fought colonial conquerors hundreds of years ago, then led fiery revolutions, and remarkably hold off heavily armed cartels. Together with them,

you and I now need to take on our biggest and most important war to save all that remains of nature and ensure our survival. Thank you. to save all that remains of nature and ensure our survival. Thank you. Support for this show comes from Airbnb. If you know me, you know I love staying in Airbnbs when I travel. They make my family feel most at home when we're away from home. As we settled down at our Airbnb during a recent vacation to Palm Springs,

I pictured my own home sitting empty. Wouldn't it be smart and better put to use welcoming a family like mine by hosting it on Airbnb? It feels like the practical thing to do, and with the extra income, I could save up for renovations to make the space even more inviting for ourselves and for future guests. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host. That was Anjan Sundaram at TED 2024. If you're curious about TED's curation, find out more at TED.com slash curation guidelines.

And that's it for today. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Autumn Thompson, and Alejandra Salazar. It was mixed by Christopher Fazi-Bogan. Additional support from Emma Taubner, Daniela Balarezo, and Will Hennessey. I'm Elise Hugh. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening. Looking for a fun challenge to share with your friends and family?

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