; Whereas, in 2021, Indigenous peoples made up more than 40 percent of victims in fatal attacks against environmental and land defenders worldwide, despite Indigenous peoples only comprising approximately 5 percent of the world’s population; Whereas Indigenous peoples, who steward more than 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity, are disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of environmental loss and more frequently targeted in attacks on environmental and land defenders; Whereas women acting in defense of their lands and natural environments in Latin America face additional threats to their human rights, as Latin America has the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world; Whereas many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean lack sufficient oversight capacity, transparency, and accountability for regulations of environmental permits and investigations of environmental crimes, especially in Indigenous lands, nationally protected forests, and other remote geographical areas with limited government presence, forcing affected populations to advocate for their land and natural resources at great personal risk; Whereas corruption in Latin America and the Caribbean enables the subversion of laws designed to prevent environmental crime and protect natural resources, undermining efforts to prevent ecological destruction; Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic has strained the resources and institutional capacity of Latin American and Caribbean Governments to address environmental crimes and prevent the expansion of nonstate actors into remote areas and border regions where these groups target environmental and land defenders and engage in illicit mining and drug trafficking activities; Whereas the United States Agency for International Development has developed programs to reduce environmental crimes and other threats to the Amazon’s forests, waters, and peoples throughout Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname