Jani Silva, 63, sails in a boat on the Putumayo River, on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)2025-12-08T14:00:48Z PUERTO ASIS, Colombia (AP) Jani Silva sits inside the wooden house she built on the banks of Colombias Putumayo River a home she hasnt slept in for more than eight years.The longtime environmental activist has been threatened for work that includes protecting part of the Amazon from oil and mining exploitation. She describes a tense escape one night through a back window after community members tipped her that armed men were outside.Since leaving because of the threats, Im afraid ... its not safe to live here, she told The Associated Press. She only comes now for brief daytime visits when accompanied by others. The two times Ive tried to come back and stay, Ive had to run away. Activists like Silva face steep risks in Colombia, the deadliest country in the world for people protecting land and forests. Global Witness, an international watchdog monitoring attacks on activists, recorded 48 killings in Colombia in 2024, nearly a third of all cases worldwide. Jani Silva, 63, gets off a boat, on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Jani Silva, 63, gets off a boat, on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Colombia says it protects activists through its National Protection Unit, which provides bodyguards and other security measures. Officials also point to recent court rulings recognizing the rights of nature and stronger environmental oversight as signs of progress.Silva, 63, now lives under guard in Puerto Asis, a river town near the Ecuador border. She has had four full-time bodyguards for 12 years provided by the National Protection Unit. Yet the threats have not pushed her from her role at ADISPA, the farming association that manages the Amazon Pearl reserve she previously lived on and has worked to protect. I have a calling to serve, Silva said. I feel like I am needed there is still so much to do.Colombias ministries of Interior, National Defense and Environment did not respond to requests for comment. About 15,000 people nationwide receive protection from the NPU, the Interior Ministry said in a 2024 report. They include environmental and human rights defenders, journalists, local officials, union leaders and others facing threats, though watchdog groups say protections often fall short in rural conflict zones. Rainbows cross the Putumayo River on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Rainbows cross the Putumayo River on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Community buffer stands in a violent corridorThe Amazon Pearl is home to roughly 800 families who have spent decades trying to keep out oil drilling, deforestation, illicit crops and the armed groups that enforce them. Silva describes the community-run reserve, about 30 minutes by boat down the Putumayo from Puerto Asis, as a beautiful land almost blessed, for its biodiversity, forests and rivers.The preserves 227 square kilometers (87 square miles) host reforestation projects, programs to protect wetlands and forest threatened by oil exploration and efforts to promote agroecology. The farming association has community beekeeping projects to support pollination and generate income, organizes community patrols, supports small sustainable farming and has carried out major restoration, including cultivating more than 120,000 native seedlings to rebuild degraded riverbanks and forest corridors.Silva has been a main voice challenging oil operations inside the reserve. As president of ADISPA, she documented spills, deforestation and road-building tied to Bogota-based oil company GeoParks Platanillo block and pushed environmental regulators to investigate. Advocates say those complaints, along with ADISPAs efforts to keep new drilling and mining out, have angered armed groups that profit from mining and oil activity in the region.GeoPark said it complies with Colombian environmental and human-rights regulations and has not received environmental sanctions since operations began in 2009. The company maintains formal dialogue with local communities, including Silva, and categorically rejects threats or links to armed groups and its activities require environmental licenses and undergo regular inspections, GeoPark said in a written statement to the AP. Community members open an apiary on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Community members open an apiary on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More A person extracts honey from bees on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) A person extracts honey from bees on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More A bee approaches an aloe vera flower, part of the crops of one of the community's sustainable projects, on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) A bee approaches an aloe vera flower, part of the crops of one of the community's sustainable projects, on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Ruben Pastrana poses for a photo on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Ruben Pastrana poses for a photo on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Rubn Pastrana, 32, runs one of the Pearls beekeeping projects in the riverbank community of San Salvador, where ADISPA works with children using native stingless bees to teach biodiversity and forest conservation. Theyre very gentle, he said of the bees, and their calm nature lets children learn without fear.More than 600 families now take part in conservation and agroecology projects, many launched through community initiative.The first project was started on our own initiative, Silva said. We started setting up nurseries at our homes and reforesting the riverbank. Women exchanged native seeds and organized replanting drives, and the community agreed to temporary hunting bans after seeing pregnant armadillos killed a move Silva said allowed wildlife to recover. Families now map their plots to balance production with conservation. A girl looks out the window at the Amazon Pearl community farming project on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) A girl looks out the window at the Amazon Pearl community farming project on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Border Commandos control the territoryArmed groups known locally as Comandos de la Frontera, or Border Commandos, operate throughout this stretch of Putumayo, controlling territory, river traffic and parts of the local economy. The Commandos emerged after Colombias 2016 peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the Marxist guerrilla army whose demobilization ended a half-century conflict but left power vacuums across the Amazon and Pacific regions. In places like Putumayo, those gaps were quickly filled by FARC dissidents, former paramilitaries and other criminal networks.The Commandos enforce control through extortion, illegal taxation and by regulating, or profiting from, coca cultivation, clandestine mining and key river routes. Residents say the group forces some communities to perform unpaid labor or face fines, further eroding livelihoods in an area where most families rely on tending their farms. A small coca crop is visible on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) A small coca crop is visible on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The AP saw illegal coca growing near the beekeeping project via drone imagery.Human Rights Watch on Friday said armed groups in Putumayo have tightened their control over daily life and committed serious abuses against civilians including forced displacement, restricting movement and targeting local leaders. Andrew Miller, head of advocacy at the U.S.-based advocacy group Amazon Watch, said Colombian authorities must go beyond providing bodyguards and prosecute those behind threats and attacks on defenders. Ruben Pastrana explains to the group about sustainable projects on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Ruben Pastrana explains to the group about sustainable projects on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Developing the next generationPastrana, from the beekeeping project, said Silvas long-term vision has nurtured new leaders and guided young people, helping them develop the grounding to resist recruitment by armed groups.Silvas daughter, Anggie Miramar Silva, is part of ADISPAs technical team. The 27-year-old grew up inside the reserves community process and watched her mother move constantly between meetings, workshops and patrols, pushing others to defend the land. Anggie Miramar poses for a photo on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Anggie Miramar poses for a photo on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More She admires that resolve, even as she lives with the same fear that trails her mother. While people often suggest she might one day take her mothers place, she is not convinced. My mothers work is extremely hard, Miramar said. I dont know if I would be willing to sacrifice everything she has.Jani Silva knows the risks. But stopping doesnt feel like an option.We have to continue defending the future, she said, and we need more and more people to join this cause. A woman organizes the crops of one of the communitys sustainable projects on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) A woman organizes the crops of one of the communitys sustainable projects on the outskirts of Puerto Asis, Colombia, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More ___The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. STEVEN GRATTAN Grattan reports on the Amazon rainforest and deforestation around Latin America for The Associated Press. He is based in Bogota, Colombia. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site