Dionisio Ribeiro Filho, 59, was shot in the head at the entrance to the Tingua forest reserve, just outside Rio de Janeiro, after he defended it from poachers and illegal palm tree cutters. His death followed the Feb. 12 killing of prominent human rights and environmental activist Dorothy Stang as she helped set up a peasant farming reserve in the state of Para and defended it from illegal loggers and ranchers. "He had received death threats for some time," said Luis Henrique dos Santos, head of the Tingua reserve and a federal employee. "We are working against illegal palm cutting and this upset a lot of people." (Reuters, Feb. 24)
