José Luis Silva Andrade is a human rights defender from the community of Agua Fría, located in the region of Los Azufres, Michoacán. His human rights work has centred on encouraging and promoting the importance of the forest in the community, as well as its flora and fauna. He has also promoted practices that raise community awareness of the value of the land, including his participation in collective community reforestation campaigns to restore the forest.
José Luis has also been part of the process of strengthening the defence of the Agua Fría territory against attempts of dispossession by small-scale businesspeople and criminal groups seeking to profit from the exploitation of the forest. José Luis and his family have worked monitoring and denouncing the attempts of environmental authorities to criminalise members of the community.
José Luis has been subjected to threats and violence from organised crime groups due to his work defending land and territory.
