There is a war on nature. Dom Phillips was killed trying to warn you about it

‘To my mind, Dom was a 21st century war correspondent as well as a witness to a crime that probably led to his death.’ Dom Phillips, photographed by his friend Jonathan Watts, in Brazil. Photograph: Jonathan Watts/The Guardian

Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira have been killed in an undeclared global war against nature and the people who defend it. Their work mattered because our planet, the threats to it and the activities of those who threaten it matter. That work must be continued.

The frontlines of this war are the Earth’s remaining biodiverse regions – the forests, wetlands and oceans that are essential for the stability of our climate and planetary life-support system.