Death threats, bodyguards and a Farc commander called Smurf: living dangerously with Colombia’s nature defenders

Leading Colombian conservationists share their experiences working in the most dangerous country to fight for wildlife

Politicians, conservationists and business people from around the world met last week to discuss how to save nature at the Cop16 biodiversity conference in Cali, Colombia.

For those working on the ground, however, it is the most dangerous country in the world to fight for the environment. A third of the 196 environmental defenders killed last year were Colombian. Here, four conservationists give us a glimpse into their working lives and the dangers they face.