In this series, Our Letters to the Future, Mongabay’s Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellows share their views on environmental journalism, conservation and the future for their generation, amid multiple planetary crises. Each commentary is a personal reflection, based on individual fellows’ experiences in their home communities and the insights gained through the past six months of the fellowship. The series spans the globe — Malaysia, India, Colombia, Brazil, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo — showcasing both a broad diversity of ideas, as well as the common ground these young environmental journalists share as they embark on their careers. Protecting the jungle “justifies all the struggles. … what’s the value of your life if you have nothing to die for?” Ángela Maldonado, Whitley Award winner and director of the NGO Fundación Entropika, said to me once during an interview. Her answer got tattooed in my mind and soul. For years, I have met all sorts of activists, environmentalists and social leaders, and I always wondered if they felt the same way as Maldonado about protecting their territories and values. It is not something you usually ask, but I wish I had. What are the stories of the people who oppose the destruction of their water sources, land, forests and homes, to the point that their lives are being taken away from them? In countries of Latin America such as Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, the number of assassinations and disappearances of environmentalists is out of control. For example, Colombia,…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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