Thirty-five years ago on a sweltering April night which stands 1,939 meters (about 6,360 feet) tall dominates the horizon of the Mexican community of Juanacatlán neighbors and relatives to climb the mountain and put out the fire “Our disappointment was that while we were fighting the fire or members of an ejido] who had been dividing the parcels were burning them to … plant agave,” says Cárdenas This experience left an impression on Cárdenas says he decided to organize with his neighbors and fight to conserve the forests that surround their home of Juanacatlán on that night in 1988 They have managed to protect 1,600 hectares (about 3,954 acres) of forest and stop the installation of a thermoelectric plant and a gas pipeline that would have further damaged the already-degraded ecosystem in the state of Jalisco located in western Mexico Juanacatlán is located 30 kilometers (about 19 miles) from Guadalajara This small community of 30,855 residents is surrounded by mountains like El Papantón Temperate forests cover these mountains and arehome to species like the Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica) another oak known as the encino in Spanish (Quercus crassifolia) the peacock flower (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) and the European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) one can also see the monkeypod tree (Pithecellobium dulce) the purple morning glory (Pharbitis purpurea) the mesquite tree (Prosopis spp.) and the sweet acacia (Acacia farnesiana) Part of the Indigenous population of Juanacatlán has roots with the Coca Indigenous people and historians believe that they may have mixed with the Nahuatl community This would explain why the word “Juanacatlán” derives from the Nahuatl word Xoconoxtle or Xonacatlan which refers to a “place where onions are abundant” or “place of onions.” The fields and mountains of this region are home to a plant resembling a small jicama or cebollita Teacher Cárdenas says the environmental decline and the fires in Juanacatlán began in the late 1980s The municipality is divided into six ejidos some members of the community burned their parcels in these ejidos to change the use of their land They also sold or transferred some of their land to agave producers who then burned the land to harvest this valuable plant a 79-year-old farmer and friend of Cárdenas since childhood they also extinguished fires inside pathways between crops that had been neglected by bean farmers who lived in the nearby community of El Platanal They also reported mule drivers and loggers who took timber or set fire to the forest to later sell it as charcoal “We asked for support from the town council to conserve the forests but we were constantly rejected,” says Cárdenas Cárdenas and other residents of Juanacatlán made a vital decision: During an assembly they created a civil association called El Roble or “The Oak.” They chose the name because the tree is representative of the region “was to defend the forests because our natural territory is mainly forested.” The community of Juanacatlán comprises an area of 141 square kilometers (about 54 square miles) 20.5% rainforest and wetlands and 54.7% agricultural land according to data from the Institute of Statistical and Geographical Information of Jalisco (Instituto de Información Estadística y Geográfica de Jalisco The El Roble civil association has 45 members Among its active participants are teachers María Tiburcia Cárdenas and Angelina Cárdenas (the sisters of Enrique Cárdenas) brothers Remigio and Benito Gómez (retired teachers from the elementary school in Juanacatlán) Antonio Huerta (a car repair expert) and de Anda (the director of El Roble) These environmental guardians saw that the forests of Juanacatlán were gradually during the “agave rush,” they noticed their trees were being replaced by crops of Agave tequilana called “Weber Azul.” The reason for this land-use change was due to economics: A hectare of agave is worth three times more money than a hectare of corn a 54-year-old homemaker and resident of Juanacatlán she stopped going to the stream near the El Saucillo mountain a natural space where she once enjoyed picnics with her family during rainy times when the stream was high I saw cans of pesticides floating in the stream and a gasoline-like substance dripping out and I quickly took my children out [of the water] The worst part is that cows continued to drink water from it,” says Mancilla Urban developers also entered the forests to build roads the amount of hunting in the area increased drastically “Hunting is something very disagreeable,” says de Anda explains that to mitigate the damage to forests El Roble has organized groups to tour the forests and make a record of damages “We walk at least 50 km [about 31 mi] per month and we record the damage left by the fires and logging sand and minerals was done and [where] the drilling of deep wells [was done] We also make a note of where orchids and sweet potatoes are harvested when the fire is less intense,” says Remigio Gómez adds: “We destroy the hunters’ shelters and the water dispensers that they leave as traps to kill animals We clean the dams so that the wild animals can drink water.” De Anda says they also plant endemic tree seeds and check germination rates after it rains After feeling abandoned by local authorities the members of El Roble decided to file complaints before the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) beginning in 2001 This is the federal agency in charge of monitoring compliance with environmental laws after receiving continual complaints from El Roble officials from PROFEPA suggested that community members be trained by the Participatory Environmental Monitoring Committee (Comités de Vigilancia Ambiental Participativa This program seeks to combat environmental crimes through community monitoring and protection “A person from PROFEPA came here to Juanacatlán and talked to us about rules regulations and environmental laws; they focused on issues like forestry They showed us how to fill out monthly reports the incidents and the damage to flora and fauna,” says teacher Remigio Gómez Participatory Environmental Monitoring Committees are organized groups of people committed to the care and defense of the natural resources in their communities They are eager to participate by monitoring the forests Participants are accredited and trained by PROFEPA itself PROFEPA trained 1,129 people as part of the “Environmental Impact” program nationally in 2021 The “Forestry” program included 1,142 trainees who learned about land-use changes and combating undocumented logging The “Wildlife” program trained 2,095 people on topics like the hunting trafficking and illegal sale of flora and fauna This program also discussed a lack of respectful treatment toward wild animals the introduction of exotic species and fragmentation of habitats due to disordered population growth PROFEPA formally recognized 28 people from El Roble as environmental guardians PROFEPA trained 917 people between 2019 and March 2023 when the members of El Roble were designated as environmental guardians de Anda delivered monthly reports prepared by the group to PROFEPA annually These reports contained information on poaching the coordinates where logging took place and the damaged flora and fauna These reports allowed PROFEPA to review and closure or 36-hour administrative detention as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,the PROFEPA offices closed the 28 members of El Roble no longer submit descriptive reports on the environmental damage benefit from training or receive recognition as environmental guardians Although PROFEPA is aware of the environmental degradation it has not taken sufficient action to protect the environment but those warnings have not definitively stopped the fires or the logging We turned to them because of our need to report the deterioration that we see,” says Enrique Cárdenas or the Lugar de las Mariposas (“Place of the Butterflies”) El Papantón lost 12.1 km2 (about 4.7 mi2) of forest in 45 years This is equivalent to about 1,466 soccer fields as revenge for the complaints that de Anda loggers and people who plant illegal crops used agrochemicals to burn the parcel that he had loaned for corn De Anda says this group also set fire to his beehives and shot at the door of his brother — and fellow member of El Roble — Miguel’s house the group attempted to run over Pedro de Anda with a car and threatened to kill him when 30 members of El Roble traveled up to El Papantón to stop machinery that was cutting down dozens of trees an ejidatario told them he would continue logging because he had money also shares that they prefer not to report the crimes and threats suffered by the members of El Roble because of their distrust of the authorities and the impunity that prevails in the country “But our presence in these natural areas has managed to inhibit poaching Those who are acting with evil intentions or damaging the environment should think twice because we are after them The pressure that we exert also sometimes forces the authorities to go and act,” says Remigio Gómez “Our ancestors instilled in us the love of the land Our parents never thought about selling or dividing the parcels for profit and we are following in their footsteps,” says Angelina Cárdenas She was the first woman to be the commissioner of the ejido which is home to 918 people and has 30 ejidatarios who participate in the assemblies During Angelina Cárdenas’ time as commissioner from June 2019 to June 2022 and with support from her siblings — María Tiburcia Cárdenas and Enrique Cárdenas — and the other members of El Roble coal sellers and other community members of the importance of conserving their natural resources The Ex-Hacienda de Zapotlanejo ejido has 900 ha (about 2,224 acres) of crops and 1,600 ha (about 3,954 acres) of common land This common land is home to the El Taray forest and the La Peña y La Mina natural area During Angelina Cárdenas’ three-year term as commissioner there were no records of fires or felled trees in the 1,600 hectare forest there was an intentional fire to create charcoal and in 2022 there was a fire that came from the municipality of Zapotlán del Rey El Roble managed to suspend the operation of the La Charrería thermoelectric plant that would have been installed on 25 ha (about 62 acres) of land in Juanacatlán and a gas pipeline 326 km (about 203 mi) long that would have fed this megaproject This achievement was due to the partnership that they had formed with the civil organization Un Salto de Vida which is a collective that works to defend the land in the municipality of El Salto which is 2 km (about 1.2 mi) from Juanacatlán Un Salto de Vida was formed in December 2005 who have been highlighted for their reports of environmental crimes committed in El Salto and Juanacatlán These municipalities are linked by the Santiago River It flows through the streets of these two municipalities giving off a nauseating odor and foaming with white bubbles as a result of the pollution Un Salto de Vida has demanded cleanup of the Santiago River stoppage of the overexploitation of aquifers and penalties for the polluters. The organization has demonstrated the ineffectiveness of current treatment plants shown an increase in kidney disease in the population living close to the river and named several companies that pollute Many members of Un Salto de Vida have also received threats and suffered harassment because of these actions an economist and graduate student in political ecology and alternatives to development — who has been a member of Un Salto de Vida for 10 years — says the fight to stop the installation of the thermoelectric plant began in January 2019 The thermoelectric plant would have been installed in Juanacatlán mainly on the San Luis Charolais private ranch It would have also covered a small area of the La Guadalupe ejido and the Ex-Hacienda de Zapotlanejo ejido High-voltage lines would pass through this land to connect the thermoelectric plant to the nation’s electrical system Carmona adds that most of the gas pipeline would also go through the ejido of Juanacatlán Eight hundred million dollars was pledged for the project which was sponsored by the Spanish company Fisterra Energy with financing from Blackstone Energy Group Carmona recalled that in the first months of 2019 they were in charge of collecting information and asking for support from environmental specialists health experts and lawyers to gain an in-depth understanding of the consequences of the installation of these megaprojects plaza and ranch in the ejidos of La Guadalupe Juanacatlán and Ex-Hacienda de Zapotlanejo They handed out brochures and shared information about potential environmental effects since the operation of the thermoelectric plant would lead to land-use chanes a local temperature increase and consumption of clean water This clean water — which would be used to operate and cool the turbines — is lacking in the region who was the commissioner of the Ex-Hacienda de Zapotlanejo ejido at the time stood up to the pressure of some ejidatarios who wanted to force her to sign in favor of the installation of these projects I visited the ejidatarios to tell them about the environmental problems Others were more interested in the 70,000 pesos [about $3,960] that the company had promised them They had been told that once the thermoelectric plant was installed ‘I am leaving my position if you want to damage the environment and our health.’ And in mid-2019 the majority rejected the project,” says Angelina Cárdenas which is in charge of the thermoelectric plant made an appearance in the main plaza of Juanacatlán and offered free classes in English they submitted more than 3,000 signatures to the town council in opposition to the thermoelectric plant and the gas pipeline They also carried out three large mobilizations in the streets and main plaza of Juanacatlán and showed evidence to Fisterra Energy that the plant would only create 34 jobs They inspired the creation of the Local Ecological Law Program (Programa de Ordenamiento Ecológico Local in Spanish) — which did not exist in Juanacatlán at the time — and managed to use a public consultation process to prohibit high-risk regional and industrial infrastructure including thermoelectric plants and gas pipelines In order to have a voice — and a vote — against authorities the members of Un Salto de Vida and El Roble formed the Xonocatlán Indigenous Council (in Juanacatlán) in July 2019 They are now seeking legal certification as a Coca Indigenous community This certification is essential for the defense of their territories The Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 169) of the International Labor Organization established that Indigenous communities have the right to free-and-informed prior consultation about any megaprojects that may be installed on their territory in order to take action and influence any government’s decision they presented four complaints to various courts and named 25 authorities responsible for the approval of the thermoelectric plant that would affect their environment culture and identity as an Indigenous community They were granted a suspension for the duration of the trial the expert evidence that we submitted to the judge regarding environmental health anthropology and cartography is being shared,” says Carmona who hopes that the megaprojects will be suspended definitively in 2023 María Tiburcia Cárdenas and Antonio Huerta two guardians of the forest in Juanacatlán connecting with experts and uniting with other organizations has strengthened them They add that their motivation is the love that their ancestors instilled in them and their hope that future generations will be able to enjoy the nature surrounding them This story was reported by Mongabay’s Latam team and first published here on our Latam site on Apr The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa as protected areas become battlegrounds over history and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins and trying to forge a path forward […] The super middleweight champion of the World Boxing Council Saúl ‘Canelo’ Álvarez was honored with a statue in his honor in his hometown an event he attended and was very happy and pleased by this recognition The sculpture was placed on the boardwalk of the municipality of Jalisco and was made by the plastic artist Sigifredo Islas who took a couple of months to create the work of two and a half meters high Thanks to everyone who made it possible and to my family who is always supporting me granted him the status of ‘distinguished son’ in addition to giving him a recognition called the ‘Municipality Foundation Cross’ Canelo Álvarez has a record of 58 victories Privacy Policy / Cookie Policy This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page A new movement is afoot to clean up Jalisco’s Rio Santiago widely considered one of the most — if not the most polluted river — in Mexico And the charge is not being led by environmental activists but by a group of economists the University of Guadalajara’s Center for Economic Sciences (under the leadership of Gustavo Padilla and Margarita Hernández) has teamed up with his colleagues in the International Society of Ecological Economics to issue a clarion call to government Shame!” they are crying out over the toxic waste and raw sewage that flows through what used to be one of Mexico’s most beautiful rivers before it was contaminated by an overwhelming number of toxic chemicals coming from one of Mexico’s largest industrial zones The Santiago River flows westwards from Lake Chapala via Ocotlán through the states of Jalisco and Nayarit to empty into the Pacific Ocean The sad state of the Santiago made headlines in 2008 when 8-year-old Miguel Ángel López of El Salto waded into the river to retrieve a soccer ball and died 18 days later not from drowning but from having swallowed a mouthful of river water containing 400 times the amount of arsenic a human being can tolerate The public outcry resulted in the construction of the Ahogado sewage treatment plant in 2012 That reduced the amount of fecal matter in the river but did little about the more than 1,000 contaminants — including chrome These heavy metals and synthetic compounds come from the second largest industrial zone in Mexico there are 600 plants producing everything from chemicals and steel to textiles and powdered milk Many of them are owned by foreign companies there have been numerous campaigns to stop these companies from polluting the river and the people who live alongside it in El Salto are paying the price They breathe the aerosols generated by the moving water The incidence of cancer is several times higher in the municipality of El Salto than elsewhere in Mexico “See that street?” local resident Enrique Enciso says in the excellent documentary about the Santiago, “Silent River.” “There are eight houses on this block The harm that the river’s contaminants are doing to the people of El Salto have made headlines for years but no one has succeeded in cleaning up what many call “The River from Hell.” So how is it that economists have now taken on this task “We call this ‘shame economics,'” he says we want to demonstrate with satellite maps and with local sensors the deplorable state of the river basin and how it’s affecting people’s health and we want to calculate the cost of it all.” These economists are calculating the cost of the services residents are not getting; the cost of the harm being done to nature “the cost of so many people losing their kidneys; the cost of conjunctivitis; the cost of cancer,” Peniche explains They are interested in measuring all of these factors scientifically “which is why we are working with satellite image experts people who will help us get measurements — hard scientific data that we can present through the media.” these economists want to quantify the scale and costs of the problem and give the public the scientific evidence it needs to act “What we are trying to do is to generate awareness here,” Peniche says ‘The silence we have kept greatly resembles stupidity!’” Perhaps the best way to come to an awareness of this problem is to participate in what the people of El Salto call “El Tour de Terror.” This is a visit to the Ahogado creek and dam where raw sewage and industrial waste collect and work their way down to the river Stop number one is at a point where Guadalajara’s Periférico meets the main highway going to the city’s international airport At the corner of two streets quaintly named Biblia and Rosario we pulled up next to what looked like a drainage ditch We stepped out of the car to be hit by a stench that nearly gagged us This was the natural bed of the Ahogado creek and raw sewage from countless houses all around us was flowing into it Our next stop was a spot only 100 meters north of the airport Here we found great gobs of garbage floating on the creek’s surface worn-out tires and “icebergs” of Styrofoam we spotted the bloated corpse of a dead dog the river flows right into a grim-looking swamp called the Ahogado dam All around it are located hundreds of factories and most of them seem to be spilling their residues into the smelly bog munching on the water hyacinths growing in the muck Finally we went to the most infamous point on the Santiago River once a huge tourist attraction nicknamed “The Mexican Niagara.” How is it possible [that] all of us have permitted a catastrophe of this magnitude!” he said “We aren’t aiming at confrontation here need to work together in the recuperation of the river basin.” proposes the imposition of a universal tax — or as they refer to it a duty — onto all factories near the river based on their individual revenues: a “Collective Industrial Victim Impact Compensation Cost” (a CIVIC Duty) “This financial levy,” say the two economists “should be sufficiently painful to incentivize behavior change in the polluters as the river’s environmental qualities improve “I think the public will like this,” adds Peniche “because we are not blaming anybody in particular ‘Either we move full steam ahead on this or we’re all going to suffer.’” Coming soon: Río Santiago: the Heavenly River — about the extraordinary natural beauty of the Santiago River and the loss in tourism dollars that its pollution has caused The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, since 1985. His most recent book is Outdoors in Western Mexico, Volume Three. More of his writing can be found on his blog ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC two stations of Line 1 of the Mexico City Subway reopened: Salto del Agua and Balderas Metro Balderas reopens on Line 1 of the Metro September 13 you will be able to travel the section from Pantitlán to Balderas As part of the works on Metro Line 1, several stations have been closed for several months. From Friday Isabel la Católica Salto del Agua and Balderas will be fully open so now you can transfer freely to Line 8 and 3 of this means of transport different changes will be applied both in the Metro and in the provisional service As of this Friday there will be 19 trains that will run from Pantitlán to Balderas (nine more than the ones that were running until today) it is expected that the wait between trains will be a maximum of three minutes the RTP will now offer three circuits from Balderas: Meanwhile the Metrobus running from Alameda de Tacubaya to Paris will continue to provide service Tacubaya and Observatorio stations will continue to be closed Un impresionante dispositivo de seguridad fue desplegado para el traslado de los pistoleros a las instalaciones de la procuraduría capitalina tras su detención en la colonia Portales los inculpados aceptaron estar ligados a la organización del narcotráfico Entre los aprehendidos hay ex militares; el grupo era comandado por El Chilango quien opera en esta capital Foto La Jornada Roberto González y Antonio Castellanos El mandatario prueba en el valle de Napa una de las bebidas producidas por los "reyes" del vino mexicano en California pero alejado de los jornaleros que recolectan las uvas Foto Reuters Más información en la sección de Política Autoridades utilizaron cañones de agua contra decenas de trabajadores de la construcción que se manifestaron en la capital panameña por la muerte a tiros del dirigente sindical Airomi Smith a manos de la policía en la ciudad de Colón Al menos 193 personas fueron arrestadas y 10 agentes resultaron heridos en los enfrentamientos Las muestras de inconformidad en el país centroamericano han aumentado por la carestía y la falta de medidas de seguridad para obreros Foto Ap Ángel Bolaños Sánchez ¿Cuántos mexicanos perderán su hogar o su negocio durante el catarrito del secretario Carstens Decomisan en el DF arsenal del cártel de Sinaloa; siete detenidos Trece muertos y 12 levantones en siete estados, saldo de la jornada violenta Caen en Tamaulipas dos de Los Zetas y un arsenal Morosidad en la banca se extiende a sectores empresarial e hipotecario Promulga Bush plan de estímulo económico a dos años; aplicará 152 mil mdd en 2008 México, paraíso fiscal para que la IP genere electricidad Apoyo total a ExxonMobil en su reclamo de compensación: Departamento de Estado Enfrentamiento entre trabajadores de la construcción y policías en Panamá Ordena Garzón la prisión incondicional de 11 de los 14 líderes vascos detenidos el lunes Reabrirán Asarco Greg Sánchez, alcalde de Benito Juárez Reconoce la Conagua rezagos de infraestructura en Chiapas El Zócalo no pasará a manos del gobierno federal: Ebrard El INAH advirtió en 1994 que el predio de Regina 97 estaba en ruinas El próximo año se complementará con agua tratada el caudal del acuífero Ningún país aplica a cabalidad medidas contra el tabaco: OMS Intenta el PAN albazo en el Senado para reformar la ley de vida silvestre: PRD Siguen estancadas las negociaciones entre autoridades y gremio de la UAM El hallazgo de un fósil ayuda a resolver enigma sobre murciélagos El Velafrons coahuilensis es el fósil de dinosaurio más completo hallado en México “Siento increíble gratitud por la libertad con la que hago música” Integran el arte de Leonora Carrington a la vida cotidiana de la capital Aumenta la presencia de las galerías latinoamericanas en la feria Arco El risotto con pétalos de rosa hará crecer la pasión este San Valentín “Antes los delincuentes tenían ética; eran unos caballeros” Organiza la UNAM festival de jazz; comienza mañana Pachuca masacró 6-1 a Tigres y provocó la renuncia de Gallego Será un fracaso tremendo no clasificar a Pekín: Compeán Propone la Codeme a Guevara para comisión reorganizadora