The Colima fir tree's distribution has been reduced to the area surrounding the Nevado de Colima volcano. Agustín del Castillo
By Agustín del Castillo
For 20 years, the Colima fir tree (Abies colimensis) has been at the heart of many disputes to conserve the temperate forests of southern Jalisco, a state in central Mexico. Today, the future of this tree rests upon whether the area's avocado crops will advance further and whether neighboring communities will unite to protect it.
<p>The Colima fir tree's distribution has been reduced to the area surrounding the Nevado de Colima volcano. In November 2019, Mexican authorities included the tree on a list of endangered species.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDE4My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNTQ4NTkyNn0.KbdlAZi115V1gl5qsjO8lutvuL9qVTip6BckTlf6xJ0/img.jpg?width=980" id="28084" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e704ae81d931c8aa1c46fa12c4119796" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The Nevado de Colima volcano stands 4,260 meters (13,976 feet) above sea level. Agustín del Castillo
<p>According to biologist José Villa Castillo, the director of Nevado de Colima National Park and Nevado de Colima Cloud Forest State Park, it is imperative to stop the commercialization of the tree's timber and to create policies that conserve the forests in which it lives. Villa Castillo also supported the inclusion of the tree on the endangered species list.</p><p>Villa Castillo acknowledged the enormous challenge of conserving this tree, and he said the pressure to exploit its timber without sustainable management is far from the only problem. The expansion of the nearby avocado industry also threatens its survival.</p><p>When allowed to grow, the Colima fir tree can become monumental: It can reach 60 meters (196 feet) in height and 2 m (6.5 ft) in diameter. To protect this giant, specialists and communities often promote ecotourism and conservation projects inside the national and state parks that surround the Nevado de Colima volcano.</p>Fires That Clear Land for Avocado Crops
<p>In 2012, a group of researchers from the University of Guadalajara proposed to the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) the recognition of the <em>A. colimensis</em> as a unique species to differentiate it from the sacred fir (<em>A. religiosa</em>), which is the dominant fir tree in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, a collection of volcanoes in central Mexico.</p><p>The Colima fir tree "has extremely low genetic diversity; it has the lowest known genetic diversity among all the species in the Abies genus in Mesoamerica and one of the lowest among all the species of trees on the planet," according to the authors of the proposal to recognize the tree as an endangered species. The area it occupies "is very limited": just 15,002 hectares (37,071 acres), or 0.007% of the territory of Mexico.</p><p>The Nevado de Colima volcano, which stands 4,260 meters (13,976 feet) above sea level, is one of only eight peaks that exceed 4,000 m (13,123 ft) in Mexico. It is only 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Pacific Ocean and is considered an "evolutionary island" because the ecosystems in its high-altitude areas drive unique adaptations in species and are cut off from other ecosystems by hundreds of kilometers. The Colima fir tree is an example of the area's biological differentiation, according to Libertad Arredondo, a researcher and expert on the ecology of high mountains.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDIwNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5NDc3NzUzNn0.uuB3C_3SSGj_Z803tuicfTAJ-R8y32ZpXBZHDBpvIJ0/img.jpg?width=980" id="dd32b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8b7cab21f2d425be9b26bbfc8ba8d3c2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The fir forests are mainly located in the middle of slopes or in ravines. Agustín del Castillo
<p>Even though the tree has remained on that "evolutionary island," its situation has become increasingly complicated by the impact of deforestation, which was propelled by the issuance of permits for forest exploitation. Fires, started to convert the land to agriculture or other uses, also present a threat to the ecosystem, according to the experts who suggested the tree should be considered endangered.</p><p>The researchers said the tree's future prospects are further complicated by its slow growth rate, its high degree of genetic erosion, the effects of climate change, and the movement of clouds to higher altitudes. The position of clouds is crucial because they act as an essential source of moisture for fir trees.</p><p>Villa Castillo, an expert in pine genetics and reproduction, said the Colima fir tree has never been successfully reproduced in nurseries, which would likely make it impossible to conduct reforestation efforts to help repopulate the species.</p><p>The forests that contain the Colima fir tree are in cold, humid climates, with very little light reaching the understory, and they're mainly located in the middle of slopes or in ravines. The species thrives when surrounded by oak trees, coniferous trees and other types of vegetation common in mountainous cloud forests. The tree also requires a primary habitat with little disturbance from humans.</p><p>According to Villa Castillo, fire kills most Colima fir tree seedlings, as it kills seedlings of other species in the <em>Abies</em> genus. In recent years, more fires have been started in the forest to clear the way for avocado trees.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDIxMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzk3MTEwOX0.64tgWzkAL5LncEph0-1zgn_VtRe2lPbY9FuoTMZhLAI/img.jpg?width=980" id="41a84" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="63c0cc86433f2d39c6f9fe918f7f2d0e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A tree and other vegetation in the cloud forest surrounding the Nevado de Colima volcano. Agustín del Castillo
<p>Sonia Navarro Pérez, a researcher from the University of Guadalajara who has monitored and conducted biological inventories in the area, has seen firsthand how the growth of the avocado industry has led to the loss of important forested areas.</p><p>She described the case of the indigenous community of San José del Carmen, which is in the municipality of Zapotitlán de Vadillo, near one of the patches of forest.</p><p>"We were working with them to establish productive alternatives that are good for nature," Navarro Pérez said. "But when the avocado came, it overwhelmed us completely."</p><p>Since 2013, the coniferous forests around the Nevado de Colima volcano have lost nearly 6,600 hectares (16,300 acres) due to illegal logging, livestock rearing and intentionally set fires, according to Mexico's deforestation risk index developed by the <a href="https://www.gob.mx/inecc" target="_blank">National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change</a>.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDIxNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQzOTc5N30.6VB34nDy9awxDLN1ftu7_sO903Rr3nL4OTB3xI4LLRc/img.jpg?width=980" id="09ad2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8deae8560a4c134576d8d7db6c41ed68" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A section of cloud forest in San José del Carmen, inside the state park created in 2009. Community members have been protecting the forest voluntarily for over two decades. Agustín del Castillo
<p>"[What was once] an original area of 7,000 hectares [17,300 acres] of fir-specific forest is now cut in half," said Villa Castillo, the director of the Nevado de Colima national and state parks.</p><p>The expansion of the avocado crops is the most recent threat in a series of events that have negatively impacted the conservation of the forests in the area.</p><p>Between the 1940s and the 1990s, the Atenquique Industrial Company had exclusive rights to use the timber from these forests under a concession from the Mexican government. The result was "that the forests were skimmed — that is, they took the best parts," Villa Castillo said.</p><p>When the concession expired in 1995, the forests did not experience a transition to a sustainable timber extraction method. Those who, along with landowners who held small plots, had rights to the shared land were limited to selling the forested areas, at very low prices, to the new logging industries located in Ciudad Guzmán. "Then, there were many abuses against the communities. The money was given to the caciques" — families who have always controlled the shared land — "alms were left for the community, and our forests were very poorly managed," said Rafael González Merín, the former president of Huescalapa, a collective of communally owned farmland known as an <em>ejido</em>.</p><p>As a result, many residents of the community believe the solution is to conserve the forests with productive projects.</p>Communities Pitch in to Save Their Trees
<p>Unlike the communities that have been overtaken by the avocado industry, Huescalapa has largely managed to resist its arrival. The community of shared land, which spans more than 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres), is home to pine and fir trees within its shady temperate forests.</p><p>The residents of Huescalapa have also set aside the proposals they've received from the forestry industry, which has expressed interest in buying their trees.</p><p>According to Gerardo Bernabé Aguayo, logging activity in this area of Jalisco "has been very negative because the industry has managed delicate areas — with very limited species — poorly, so we are supporting and launching projects with the communities." Bernabé Aguayo is the president of the board of trustees of Nevado de Colima and Adjacent Basins, a civil association created about 20 years ago after being promoted by the government of the state of Jalisco. To support the conservation of the national and state parks, the board has financing from the regional private sector.</p><p>The board manages about 6 million pesos ($268,000) contributed by the federal government in 2020. With resources from the private sector, it has been able to access an additional 1.5 million pesos ($67,000).</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDIxNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDc1NzAzNH0.IGnOfze7tn8ggoT5P8TX8NYcWyaXM7PMP7EVuNT6tck/img.jpg?width=980" id="4f30b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4664a45293f4fa01bad588872bd03388" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
An area of fir trees that has been destroyed by logging. Agustín del Castillo
<p>Rodrigo Cantera Hernández, the president of the El Alcázar Ecotourism Center, said that in Huescalapa, the caciques removed timber from the fir forests, "but they did not report any money to the other community members, so we fought to eject them and were able to do so a couple of years ago."</p><p>In Huescalapa, three main conflicts over timber have taken place in the past 20 years. First, in 1999, a group of community members sold part of the forest to a forestry industry from Ciudad Guzmán. A movement led by citizens put an end to the logging five months later.</p><p>Next, in 2012, environmental authorities granted permission for forest exploitation in these areas, so fir trees continued to be cut down. An opinion by the <a href="https://www.ideaac.org.mx/" target="_blank">Institute of Environmental Law</a>, a civil society organization, cited scientific evidence that demonstrated the uniqueness of mountain fir trees and forced SEMARNAT to withdraw these permissions.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDI2NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5NzE0NDE5NH0.OpE-rKHn1WJuLaP0KGq7Wu6SpRdk6Lxm9bZAXtLcSm8/img.jpg?width=980" id="85844" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d7eaf947673709bdedf1c79bed771bd7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The citizens of Huescalapa formed a cooperative to launch the El Alcázar Ecotourism Center. El Alcázar Ecotourism Center
<p>Then, in 2015, a federal judge suspended a new authorization to exploit timber in the cloud forest.</p><p>For communities like Huescalapa to have economic options that do not involve the use of timber because of the detrimental effects that this may have on the remaining population of Colima fir trees, ecotourism and similar activities are promoted.</p><p>According to Bernabé Aguayo, the goal is for the natural forest to be conserved as "a key area for contemplation, enjoyment, the preservation of environmental services, and research."</p><p>In 2019, the cooperative in El Alcázar received 1 million pesos ($44,600), which allowed it to have the basic infrastructure for the ecotourism center. The cooperative may receive an additional 3 million pesos ($133,800) in 2020 to purchase more equipment and improve the roads, but support for this funding was blocked in a community assembly. "They have not understood that it is for the benefit of everyone, that it is not money for our pockets," said Cantera Hernández, the president of the cooperative.</p><p>In Huescalapa, one of the challenges that interferes with efforts to promote the ecotourism center is the division that exists between community members. Many seek to use the timber, but others are already convinced of the importance of conservation.</p><p>Villa Castillo, the director of the Nevado de Colima national and state parks, emphasized that projects similar to the El Alcázar Ecotourism Center are being promoted in San José del Carmen and Zapotitlán de Vadillo, which are very close to the border between the states of Jalisco and Colima.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDI2Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMjYyNjIwNX0.hgqt0rg7HWUZzfKxnsi9Rdeuic2MNP4wvKC9tbYlV8c/img.jpg?width=980" id="704c2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d1df2e0214b93333f8f043c67328ece2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
María de la Luz Cortés Reyes, the leader of the Amixtlán cooperative, which was created in San José del Carmen. Agustín del Castillo
<p>The Amixtlán Ecotourism Center is located in the community of San José del Carmen. A cluster of cabins marks the entrance to the cloud forest, designated a state park since 2009.</p><p>"We decided to protect our forest long before they declared the state park, 20 years before then," said María de la Luz Cortés Reyes, a community leader in San José del Carmen. She recalled that when loggers came with offers to buy the forest, members of the community believed that they offered very little payment and that "the damage [that the loggers left] was too much." For that reason, they decided "not to touch the forest, because it produces water for the crops and for our houses."</p><p>Cortés Reyes said the community was able to construct the ecotourism center because it had resources managed by the Nevado de Colima Cloud Forest State Park and by the Board of Trustees of Nevado de Colima and Adjacent Basins. However, she said it is important that more promotion is given to the area and that urgent problems, such as those with the water supply system, are resolved.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDI2OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxODM3MTMzMX0.VlaW4PcaYRS7RxRPby3MmUyUgrnjZ3iZkOp8Hyn3r5s/img.jpg?width=980" id="57891" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f5cdd396882f38e3de1b9cda55cd3852" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/how-mexican-communities-are-helping-to-save-a-fir-forest/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>A view of the Nevado de Colima volcano from the Amixtlán Ecotourism Center in San José del Carmen. Agustín del Castillo
<p>In the community of Zapotitlán de Vadillo, citizens also promoted the Puerta de la Hacienda Ecotourism Center, where administrators support the biocultural production of mezcal, an alcoholic beverage made from agave. The drink is made by two <em>mezcaleros</em>, or people who are experts in creating mezcal: Marcario Partida from Zapotitlán de Vadillo, and Rosario Pineda from Tetapán, a small community in Zapotitlán de Vadillo.</p><p>Other productive projects that are promoted in the communities include the organic production of eggs, such as by Efigenia Larios, a small producer from the community of El Tecuán. Additionally, the shared land communities of Zapotitlán de Vadillo, San José del Carmen and Huescalapa are provided with equipment for fire prevention and materials to help restore the forest soil.</p><p>Artists have painted murals that shine a spotlight on forest conservation in San José del Carmen and Zapotitlán de Vadillo.</p><p>The intention of these efforts is to allow those who own land or have rights on this fragile mountain to "understand that there are other options besides logging, and that they, too, can generate development," said Arredondo, the researcher who specializes in the ecology of high mountains.</p><p>Despite the strong pressure for land use changes brought by the avocado agroindustry and fostered by the high level of impunity that often prevails in rural areas, many of the area's landowners continue to search for a model in which their forests can remain standing.</p><p>"Many neighbors say that we are foolish for not wanting to sell this beautiful forest that we have, but that money only lasts for a short time," said José Avalo Lino, a farmer in San José del Carmen. "We are so certain of [the importance of] preventing logging that, long before the declaration of the natural protected area, our community assembly had already decided to save this forest. We will continue to be 'foolish' in this decision."</p>
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Evacuated patients, medical workers and local residents on a street in Mexico City, Mexico, after an earthquake more than 400 miles away rattled the city on June 23, 2020. Francisco Canedo / Xinhua via Getty Images
A powerful earthquake rattled Mexico Tuesday, killing at least six people, Reuters reported.
<p>Mexico's national seismological service said the quake had a magnitude of 7.5 while the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) put it at 7.4, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/world/mexico-earthquake.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. It struck around 10:29 a.m. local time and was centered about 14 miles off the Pacific Coast of the southern state of Oaxaca.</p>
<div id="b7545" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b1a86095c21c60b10764f0438784d609"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1275455094117371906" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">SISMO Magnitud 7.5 Loc 23 km al SUR de CRUCECITA, OAX 23/06/20 10:29:02 Lat 15.57 Lon -96.09 Pf 5 km https://t.co/8uuY2um91w</div> — Sismologico Nacional (@Sismologico Nacional)<a href="https://twitter.com/SismologicoMX/statuses/1275455094117371906">1592927165.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Around 200 houses near the epicenter were damaged, a local official told Reuters, 30 severely so.</p><p>"We lost everything in one moment to nature," Vicente Romero, a stationary store owner whose home was significantly damaged, told Reuters. "This is our life's work."</p>
<div id="c4b7f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0090fcb75028a8f9fcf9b02d7c29defb"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1275468925401042945" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#BREAKING: A magnitude 7.4 earthquake strikes Mexico. Look at this video of a building in the area where the earthq… https://t.co/YX3LDJwOnk</div> — Michael Ikahihifo (@Michael Ikahihifo)<a href="https://twitter.com/Mike_Ikahihifo/statuses/1275468925401042945">1592930463.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>One of the deaths occurred at state-run <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil" target="_self">oil</a> company Pemex, when a worker fell off a refinery structure, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/23/mexico-earthquake-75-magnitude-tremor-hits-oaxaca-state" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. The earthquake also sparked a fire at a Pemex refinery in the Pacific city of Salina Cruz. It injured one worker before it was snuffed out.</p><p>Another person died when a building collapsed in Huatulco, Oaxaca and a third when a house collapsed in the village of San Juan Ozolotepec. A fourth man was killed when a wall collapsed on him in the village of San Agustín Amatengo.</p><p>Despite these individual tragedies, the overall damage was relatively minor.</p><p>"Fortunately there was no major damage," Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said in a Twitter video reported by The New York Times.</p>
<div id="145c6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="db62988154edbe68d9172f965e88ae6a"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1275480806534701057" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Tercer mensaje al pueblo de México tras sismo. https://t.co/5Kn9jPVmu3</div> — Andrés Manuel (@Andrés Manuel)<a href="https://twitter.com/lopezobrador_/statuses/1275480806534701057">1592933296.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Obrador said there had been 147 aftershocks as of early Tuesday afternoon.</p><p>"I hope and I wish with all my soul that there will be no more damaging aftershocks," he said.</p><p>Some of the buildings that were damaged included hospitals, The Oaxacan Health Services said, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/23/weather/mexico-earthquake-southern-coast-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. Two of the damaged hospitals had been treating <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> patients.</p><p>"We are verifying [damages] because this hospital is also tending Covid cases on the Oaxacan coast," Oaxaca state Gov. Alejandro Murat said, as CNN reported.</p><p>The earthquake was felt in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador and rattled buildings in Mexico City, more than 400 miles away.</p>
<div id="b04a8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="309c61b1c6d1ee369064ac531c583042"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1275602437475315712" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">LOOK: A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake swayed buildings in Mexico City and sent thousands fleeing into the stree… https://t.co/eoUXH3XN4t</div> — Bloomberg QuickTake (@Bloomberg QuickTake)<a href="https://twitter.com/QuickTake/statuses/1275602437475315712">1592962295.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"It really moved," Francisco Aceves, who owns an import-export firm in Mexico City and was on the 22nd floor of an office building when it started, told The Guardian.</p><p>Two people in Mexico's capital were injured and more than 30 buildings were damaged, Reuters reported.</p><p>Mexico is one of the most seismically active countries in the world, according to CNN, because it sits atop three tectonic plates.</p><p>Tuesday's quake comes less than three years after a 2017 earthquake killed hundreds in Mexico City and rendered thousands homeless, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-latin-america-53160460" target="_blank">BBC News pointed out</a>.</p><p>Also in 2017, Mexico was struck by the strongest earthquake to rattle it in a century when an 8.2 temblor was recorded off the Pacific Coast, according to The New York Times. That earthquake killed at least 90 and mostly impacted the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas.</p><p>Eunice Pineda, a 26-year-old teacher in Juchitan, told Reuters that Tuesday's quake "was two minutes of torture," but she also had adopted a philosophical outlook about the earthquakes that rattle her home.</p><p>"We learn to appreciate, to treasure every moment," she said.</p>
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Dyed wool at a weaver's home in the Oaxaca region of Mexico. Wolfgang Kaehler / LightRocket / Getty Images
By Tracy L. Barnett
High up in the southern sierra of Mexico's state of Oaxaca, an innovative nonprofit business inspired by Mohandas Gandhi is helping Indigenous Zapotec families to weather the economic storm that COVID-19 has brought to the Mexican countryside.
<p>San Sebastian Rio Hondo, a Zapotec highland village like many others, has traditionally supplemented its agrarian way of life through the wool industry. Long famous for its rich tradition of Indigenous handwoven textiles, Oaxaca has nevertheless fallen on hard times, along with most of rural Mexico, partly because of policies promoting urbanization and undermining the traditional rural way of life.</p><p>In San Sebastian, the hardship has been severe: <a href="http://www.microrregiones.gob.mx/catloc/LocdeMun.aspx?tipo=clave&campo=loc&ent=20&mun=347" target="_blank">as of the 2010 census</a>, 55% of the population lived in extreme poverty, more than a third had not completed primary school, and more than two-thirds did not have a high school education. Unemployment continues to be high, compelling a high rate of migration out of the state and out of Mexico. Among the women, job opportunities were practically nonexistent.</p><p>This was the context that Eliseo "Cheo" Ramírez was born into. In his parents' and grandparents' time, villagers grazed sheep and helped cover expenses by making woolen textiles. In the 1970s and '80s, however, the Mexican government initiated a program to plant pine trees for lumber, and the pastures and native forests began to shrink. The industrial clothing industry began producing cheap synthetic yarns. Spinning and weaving, once a staple in every home, fell by the wayside. The children of weavers and farmers began making their way north to work in the U.S. as meatpackers and migrant farmworkers.</p><p>Ramírez' prospects for employment were so grim that he set off from home in 2006 at age 16 for the U.S., crossing the Sonoran Desert and nearly dying of thirst. The experience proved so traumatic that he never made the attempt again. Now 32, he has good reason to remain home: he's the chief operating officer and head of sales and part of the core team of <a href="https://khadioaxaca.com/" target="_blank">Khadi Oaxaca</a><a href="https://khadioaxaca.com/" target="_blank">,</a> a farm-to-garment nonprofit textile enterprise aiming to regenerate the village way of life in a sustainable way. He no longer harbors illusions of an American Dream; his dream nowadays is to help generate opportunities that keep more of his people at home with their families.</p><p><span></span>Khadi Oaxaca follows what is known as the Gandhian economic model in three ways: It focuses on producing gainful employment for many instead of big profits for a few; it strives to build local autonomy and resilience at the village level, building in a cash supplement that supports the traditional agrarian life; and it follows the Gandhian strategy of making clothing from scratch, with workers spinning their own thread from organically grown cotton. And now, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic causing jobs to dry up everywhere, this handspun thread has become a lifeline for the local economy.</p>
<p>Khadi Oaxaca is the brainchild of the Mexico-educated son of a U.S. industrialist, Mark "Marcos" Brown, and with his wife, Kalindi Attar. Brown had traveled to San Sebastian as a teenager in 1974 and developed a lifelong relationship with the village. He later spent time in India, where he learned about khadi, a handspun cloth that became a cornerstone of the Indian independence movement. He lived for two years in Gandhi's ashram, studying under one of the Mahatma's last living disciples, and learned about how Gandhi's satyagraha movement used khadi as a sign of Indian national pride and resistance to the exploitative practices of the British clothing industry.</p><p><a href="https://www.esperanzaproject.com/2020/latin-america/mexico/a-little-bit-of-gandhi-in-oaxaca/" target="_blank">As Brown studied Gandhi's movement</a>, the connections to the <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2018/05/31/why-fast-fashion-needs-to-slow-down/" target="_blank">wasteful global "fast fashion" industry</a> quickly became apparent, in the ways it has contaminated the planet and degraded the lives of millions of sweatshop workers. He vowed to live his values, learning to spin and to weave, making his own clothing, and thinking of ways in which khadi might serve the poverty-stricken people of the Oaxaca countryside that he'd come to love.</p><p>So when Brown returned to San Sebastian in 2010, he brought with him a charkha, or Gandhian spinning wheel, and a plan. Less than 1% of the thread market was handspun at that time—a dramatic contrast to his first visit in the 1970s, when many families spun their own woolen thread. In 2010, a kilogram of thread, the quantity per month that average households can spin in their spare moments, sold for just 400 pesos—about USD $18, nowhere near enough to incentivize the practice of spinning.</p><p>"Gandhi would say, you have to create a thread standard—like the gold standard used to be," Brown said. "The idea of a standard is that a woman can spin and actually survive on that spinning; she can make enough for her family to live on and meet their basic needs. Can you imagine that, spinning, where the standard can meet your basic needs of survival, where it takes you out of hunger? And that gives you a sense of security and well-being?"</p><p>Brown put the village carpenter to work duplicating the charkha. He found a supply of organic cotton, and he set about teaching the young Ramírez and his wife, Felipa, how to spin. Brown then put Ramírez in charge, and soon a team of 20 women—mostly grandmothers—were spinning, a loose affiliation of home-based businesses now seeing their labor turned into a variety of textiles and sold across Mexico and the United States. The revenue flows back to the spinners, weavers, embroiderers, and other artisans working in the village, and to the cotton growers they purchase from on the coast.</p><p>Remigio Mestas, a Zapotec textile artist, entrepreneur and cultural promoter in Oaxaca working to revive the Indigenous textile traditions, agreed to buy all the thread the women produced, which he supplied to weavers who sell through his stores. That was the beginning of a business that now, a decade later, helps to sustain nearly 500 people in the village, including cotton growers, spinners, clothing designers, and marketers. </p>
<p>"It's a very interesting and laudable project," Mestas said. "It could be an example for many; if it were to spread, it could address our problems of unemployment and hunger in the countryside."</p><p>Mestas also connected the group with Margaret MacSems, who co-founded a project with Mixtec farmers on the coast working to revive native coyuchi cotton production. MacSems would eventually join the Khadi Oaxaca team, becoming director of sustainability, thus connecting the enterprise with coyuchi farmers. Mestas also put Brown in touch with teachers who trained Ramírez and others how to weave with the upright pedal loom, and how to work with natural dyes.</p><p>The team has been able to raise the pay rate from 400 pesos per kilo of handspun thread to 1,500 pesos, or nearly $70 in today's dollars—a standard that makes a meaningful difference in a village economy. The thread has become the foundation of a cottage industry, now employing 350 spinners.</p><p>In the past few years, Khadi Oaxaca had seen an exponential growth in sales. Attar, as head designer, and Ramírez attended fashion expos, where she was struck by the way people would react to their displays. "They'd walk right past top designers and stop at our little stand," Attar said. "It's been amazing to me the way people have responded. It seems that doing every part of the process by hand is such an attractive quality for people."</p>
<p>"As (Gandhi) would always say, when we talk about village economics, if it comes from a place of nonviolence, of a truly sacred economics, then you don't need any commercialism; you don't need to market that which has its essence and its beginning in goodness," Brown said.</p><p>Now, however, the pandemic has shut down not only the expos but the entire Mexican tourism industry, which is what drew shoppers to the tourist-destination boutiques across Mexico that featured Khadi Oaxaca's unique products. That's put the group's model to the test. Less fabric is being woven, and Khadi isn't stocking finished garments, is reducing work for the sewers, stitchers, and embroiderers, and the group's core staff took a pay cut to reduce the economic impact on the artisans. Only the spinning hasn't been cut back; rather, Khadi has expanded its roster of spinners by 100 people.</p><p>The company quickly started expanding its online presence. Ramírez began posting photos of the existing stock on an already lively Instagram account, and orders began to flow in from the United States. Online sales jumped from an average of $1,300 USD per month before the pandemic to $6,500 in May. And international sales shot up from 5% of the total before the outbreak to 60% now, mostly from the U.S., MacSems said.</p><p>That growth has all come about through Khadi's Instagram account, which isn't a sales portal. The next projects are an online catalog and a shopping cart on the company website, and working to expand their presence on other social media.</p>
<p>Despite the cutbacks, 20 families are supporting themselves weaving cloth with upright pedal looms—fathers such as Juvenal García, who used to spend his days cutting down the pine forests in the region for lumber, and Carlos Vargas, who used to travel to the U.S. for seasonal landscaping work. Even if they had wanted to leave home, the pandemic shut down those options; but both said they much prefer to stay home and work with their families.</p><p>The largest part of the operation, however, is still the spinning. The network of spinners now extends far beyond San Sebastian into the rancherías, the tiny rural settlements where families still live in the traditional agrarian way. For Eugemia Velázquez, a 38-year-old mother of six, Khadi has provided a degree of dignity and comfort that were previously unthinkable. Before she started spinning for Khadi, Velázquez was a wool artisan like her mother and grandmother; she knitted little hats, dolls, and tortilla warmers, and every two weeks would leave them with the street vendors in the next town, who would pay her a small advance and then pay the rest later if the pieces were sold. But sometimes, none of them did, making her family's economic situation precarious.</p><p>These days, Velázquez has been content knowing that she can deliver a pound of thread every two weeks and earn enough to buy her children school supplies and other items she can't make or grow herself. </p>
<p>Sales doubled at Khadi from 2018 to 2019, and that was without even concentrating on online sales. This has been possible, Brown said, in part because people are willing to pay the actual cost to produce ethically and regeneratively fabricated products, and also because Khadi Oaxaca has been able to receive grants from private foundations in the U.S.</p><p>Based on the growth in sales before the outbreak of COVID-19, the business was on track to be independent of grant funding by mid-2022; now that's less certain, MacSems said. Overall sales have plummeted 56% since February. But she said she's optimistic, given the potential of online sales and the burgeoning interest in this kind of project. Meanwhile, during the pandemic, thread production has doubled, with some families saying it's their only source of income. Grant funding has allowed Khadi Oaxaca to continue buying the thread that has become a mainstay for local families.</p><p>"What we've found is that it is possible to care for each aspect of the supply chain, be ecologically mindful, empower local communities and create unbelievably beautiful textiles," Attar said. "COVID is painfully helping us globally to wake up to the fact that our Earth is indeed suffering; we are all interdependent. Our goal is to be a model and live the change we want to see in the world. May we look toward great souls like Mahatma Gandhi for guidance."</p>
<em><span></span></em><em><a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/authors/tracy-l-barnett/" target="_blank">TRACY L. BARNETT</a> is a Mexico-based freelance writer and the founder of The Esperanza Project, a magazine covering social movements in the Americas.<br/><br/></em><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/economy/2020/06/17/coronavirus-mexico-indigenous-families-handspun-thread/" target="_blank">Yes! Magazine</a>.</em><u><em></em></u><table><tbody></tbody></table>
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View of a windmill farm in the Tehuantepec Isthmus region, Mexico, on July 27, 2017. PATRICIA CASTELLANOS / AFP / Getty Images
By Sam Edwards
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico is one of the windiest places on earth. Hemmed in by two mountain ranges, the flat strip of land between the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico is a natural wind tunnel. A single gust can flip over cars. It's the perfect place for turbines.
<p>The unique geography of the isthmus has brought it mixed fortunes. Union Hidalgo, once a sleepy, agrarian town, is among the predominantly indigenous communities in the area that began experiencing a "wind rush" in the 2000s. Some dubbed it "La Nueva Conquista" — the new conquest — as large, often European, corporations hurried to harness the isthmus' natural power.</p><p>Like so many in this area, Guadalupe Ramirez's home in Union Hidalgo is dwarfed by seemingly endless rows of wind turbines.</p><p>In 2009, Ramirez, an indigenous Zapotec housewife-turned-activist now in her 60s, signed a 30-year lease for her land to be used for a wind power project. She has been fighting ever since to ensure others are better informed than she was before making a similar deal.</p><p>"We want people to be informed of what will come [with new wind parks], to know that it won't just bring benefits but also many problems," she told DW. "When people have all the facts, it won't be so easy to convince them."</p><p>Ramirez and other activists argue that Mexico's wind farms bring little or no economic benefit to the local community. They also compete for space with small-scale farming, the main source of income for many in the town.</p><p>The principle problem, though, lies with the fraught consultation process. Under Mexican law indigenous communities should be given a deciding vote on projects but in practice, activists say, the information they are given beforehand is often incomplete or misleading, and those opposed to new developments sometimes face harassment and intimidation.</p><p>Ramirez is now placing her hopes on an ongoing legal battle that could shape the course of clean energy in Mexico by halting the latest controversial project before construction begins.</p>
Clean Energy at a Price
<p>The Gunaa Sicaru wind park is planned to be built next to Union Hidalgo. Run by French energy giant EDF, it would provide 252 megawatts of power. But first it needs approval from locals through an ongoing public consultation. And as for many multinational-backed wind parks in Oaxaca, that's proving a challenge.</p><p>In a country historically reliant on oil revenue, wind power and other renewables could bring a transition to cleaner energy. But Alejandra Ancheita, director of NGO ProDESC, warns green power must not replicate the environmental harm and mishandling of local communities typical of the global fossil fuel sector.</p><p>"Renewable energy projects can't be justified solely on the basis they are creating clean energy," Ancheita told DW. "It's not 'clean energy' if it isn't developed with a strict respect for the local communities where the project will be built."</p><p><span></span>ProDESC's legal team represents a group of Union Hidalgo residents in an injunction against EDF and local authorities, alleging violations of the consultation process. The NGO claims the local authorities and EDF failed to provide accurate information on the project's impacts and distributed misleading translations from Spanish to Zapotec.</p>Community Conflict
<p>Ramirez and other local activists say oil runoff from the turbines that already dominate the landscape pollutes waterways, while the sound of the wind farms — many of which are close to towns — disturbs residents and local birdlife.</p><p>But while Ramirez and others fight to prevent further damage to their land, some in Union Hidalgo support the development, particularly those who can earn a steady income from leasing their land.</p><p>"It's creating a lot of division in our community," Ramirez said.</p><p>According to a report by the Berlin-based <a href="https://www.ecchr.eu/fileadmin/Publikationen/ECCHR_PP_WINDPARK.pdf" target="_blank">European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights</a> (ECCHR), conflict in the community escalated in 2018, after critics of the project were condemned as "enemies of development" in the EDF consultation meetings.</p><p>ProDESC and ECCHR said in a formal letter last year, that the company needed to do more to prevent conflict in the community.</p><p>EDF told DW it had met its obligations in the consultation process for Gunaa Sicaru but it was the Mexican authorities who ultimately bore the responsibility for ensuring residents were informed and free to make a decision. EDF has received no reports of threats against critics of the Gunaa Sicaru project, the company added.</p><p>The Oaxaca state government did not respond to DW's request for comment.</p>Future of Clean Energy
<p>Mexico, one of the world's top 15 carbon emitters, has committed to producing 35% of its electricity from clean energy by 2024. Renewables have drawn significant interest from investors since a reform opened the sector to private investment in 2013. Both the solar and wind sectors reported record growth last year.</p><p>But observers fear the future of renewables is uncertain under President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrado. Lisa Viscidi, from think tank The Inter-American Dialogue, told DW that regulatory changes under the current administration are undermining incentives to invest in the sector. Winning consent from communities in Oaxaca has been another significant challenge. A 2019 report authored by Viscidi on Mexico's first clean energy auction found several projects had been delayed due to a failure to get the community on board.</p>Alternative Development
<p>The challenges of wind energy in Oaxaca are not unique.</p><p>The transition to renewables will be an "epochal shift" in most countries, says Cymene Howe, an anthropologist with Rice University in Texas and author of a book about wind energy in Oaxaca. That's because energy infrastructure will move into parts of the planet untouched by fossil fuel industries.</p><p>"[It will be] a fundamental shift in how we imagine landscapes, what land is to be used for, who lives there and who has responsibility," she said. "This is a new frontier."</p><p>In Union Hidalgo, Ramirez says the conflicts over wind parks have already forced some people to move elsewhere searching for work or new land to farm. She fears that if Gunaa Sicaru goes ahead, the town will soon be bordered on most sides by wind turbines and unable to grow.</p><p>"No one is coming here to force us off our land. [But] one day we'll have to leave ourselves because we won't be able to handle being surrounded," Ramirez said.</p><p>For her, it is not about stifling wind power development, but empowering locals to shape it — for example through community-owned wind parks that would funnel profits back into the local community.</p><p><span></span>"Development can take many forms," Ramirez said.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Crew members sail in the Gulf of California, Mexico, on March 8, 2018, as part of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's operation to save the critically endangered vaquita porpoise. GUILLERMO ARIAS / AFP / Getty Images
By Elizabeth Claire Alberts
Marine conservation group Sea Shepherd has made the difficult decision to suspend its campaign to protect the critically endangered vaquita porpoise in Mexico's Upper Gulf of California.
<p>"We haven't had much choice because we're dependent upon getting fuel from the Mexican government to do the patrols, and we weren't able to get the fuel," Captain Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd, told Mongabay. "We have to send the vessels back to Mazatlán, and once we get there, of course, then we're not allowed to leave because of the [COVID-19] quarantine."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkzMjU5Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNjY4MDgzMn0.fU7HvOn8sxcQDkRpVjejO-KfY1jHCvUIsaoebw2UEk8/img.jpg?width=980" id="cfd47" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="983c6ef9e8fe65bcee919ac584191f0c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Two of the Sea Shepherd ship that patrol the vaquita refuge. Jack Hutton / Sea Shepherd
<p>Vaquitas (<em>Phocoena sinus</em>), which are endemic to the Sea of Cortez in the Upper Gulf of California, are on the brink of extinction, although there are different estimates of how many are left. A recent <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.190598" target="_blank">study</a> calculated there to be fewer than 19 vaquitas left as of the summer of 2018. Another <a href="http://www.iucn-csg.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/CIRVA-11-Final-Report-6-March.pdf" target="_blank">report</a>, conducted by the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA), suggested only about 10 individuals remain, although it also stated that there's a 95 percent chance that 6 to 22 individuals continue to exist.</p><p>The biggest threat to the vaquitas is the illegal fishing of <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22003/9346099" target="_blank">totoaba</a> (<em>Totoaba macdonaldi</em>), which, like the vaquita, is classified as a critically endangered species by the IUCN. The totoaba's swim bladder is believed to have special medicinal qualities in traditional Asian medicine, despite there being no scientific evidence to support this. The bladders, which are used to make a "curative" soup, <a href="https://awionline.org/content/vaquitas-and-totoabas" target="_blank">can fetch prices up to $14,000 USD</a>, according to the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), and they're regularly trafficked in the global wildlife trade.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkzMjU5Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNzU5NzQ1Nn0.NEC6XKDE-LBdr0pMy8Si29-Vl_aG1SbrHzrviIorIZY/img.jpg?width=980" id="30066" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7b8ee20c89b2b102fce90ba61f70ceae" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A vaquita surfacing in the Sea of Cortez. Sandra Alba / Sea Shepherd
<p>Since totoabas are about the same size as vaquitas, vaquitas easily get caught in the gillnets meant to capture totoabas. Gillnets are also used to catch shrimp in the Sea of Cortez, which wreaked further havoc on the vaquita population.</p><p>In 2015, the Mexican government placed a two-year ban on gillnet fishing in the Sea of Cortez, and in 2016, it announced a <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/mexico-bans-gillnets-to-protect-rare-vaquita-porpoise/" target="_blank">total ban on gillnet fishing</a>. Despite these legislative efforts, fishing has continued in the area. During a patrol in October 2019, Sea Shepherd reported seeing <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/rampant-fishing-continues-as-vaquita-numbers-dwindle/" target="_blank">more than 70 fishing boats</a> in the vaquita's critical habitat.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkzMjYwNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNjgzMzg3NX0.oqur4XctnX1ASgD6U1hRx8skY1gKRz7oUc9_NAMLIN0/img.jpg?width=980" id="913cc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="281fb95de4abf5897628682385514b02" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A dead vaquita floating in the ocean. Robbie Newby / Sea Shepherd
<p>Last month, the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2020-04692.pdf" target="_blank">announced</a> that it would ban all imports of Mexican shrimp and other seafood caught in the vaquita's refuge, an action taken under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). Conservationists hope this latest step will provide enough protection to help the vaquita survive.</p><p>"This is exactly how the law protecting marine mammals is supposed to work: if Mexico's fisheries kill vaquita at a rate that violates US standards, the US must ban imports," Zak Smith, senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), said in a statement. "Mexico has no choice but to eliminate the destructive fishing taking place in the northern Gulf of California that is driving the vaquita to extinction. It's the only hope the vaquita has for survival, and it is required if Mexico wants to resume exporting these products to the United States."</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkzMjYwNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MzYyMDE3Mn0.kWizFUTRvG07o9QQQcUITJJ0_Agio-EFyxzyh0LsP60/img.jpg?width=980" id="d18f4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7c0528407ff76c5848d97b3b23800ea9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Sea Shepherd crew members removing illegal gillnets from the Upper Gulf of California. Robbie Newby / Sea Shepherd
<p>Sea Shepherd has spent the last six years patrolling the vaquita refuge, often with scientists and photographers on board to collect data on the vaquitas and to conduct acoustical monitoring. The group has also retrieved 1,200 pieces of illegal fishing gear from the vaquita habitat, according to a <a href="https://seashepherd.org/2019/09/09/expedition-to-sight-critically-endangered-vaquita-porpoise-a-success/" target="_blank">statement</a> on its website.</p><p>While Sea Shepherd isn't able to be in the Sea of Cortez right now, the Mexican navy will be monitoring the waters, Watson said. Fshing activities may decrease during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it's also possible that poaching will continue — or even increase. "Poachers take advantage of opportunities," Watson said.</p><p>Sea Shepherd crew will return to the vaquita refuge as soon as it can.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjkzMjYwNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NjAwNzg0M30.zLCR6hqVOJVcTWpQq9noTSkSpO76qCst0vl3mt3cn5E/img.jpg?width=980" id="8580d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="406bf4d12fae4bbb3c96fcccc91095f6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p class=""><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> Captain Watson has clarified his comment to say that Sea Shepherd is not actually dependent on the Mexican government for fuel, and that the organization has been unable to obtain fuel because of ports being closed and resources not being guaranteed during the COVID-19 crisis.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/covid-19-forces-sea-shepherd-to-suspend-patrols-to-protect-last-vaquitas/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>Illegal fishing activity taking place in the Sea of Cortez. Sea Shepherd
<p>The vaquita may be fighting for survival, but Kate O'Connell, marine wildlife consultant at AWI, believes there's still hope.</p><p>The vaquita sightings demonstrate that vaquita remain, and those that have been spotted appear healthy," O'Connell said. "New <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.190598" target="_blank">research</a> … shows that vaquita may reproduce annually, which would increase the species' potential to recover from its current low numbers. While the situation is daunting, other marine mammal species have come back from extremely low numbers, including the northern elephant seal, which was nearly exterminated in the 19th century, and has rebounded from less than 100 individuals to well over 100,000."</p>From Your Site Articles
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picture alliance / San Diego Union-Tribune / C. Neuman
By Andreas Knobloch
The U.S. has acquired quite a liking for the Mexican dip guacamole. Especially on the day of the Super Bowl, Americans devour the avocado-based dip in immense quantities. According to the Avocado Producers and Exporting Packers Association of Mexico (APEAM), 120,000 tons of avocados were imported by the U.S. for consumption during this year's Super Bowl alone. That's 20 percent more than in the previous year and four times the quantity of 2014.
<p>The Americans' craving for avocado is increasingly forcing taco stalls in Mexico to serve their meat-filled tortillas with fake guacamole. The fake variety still contains the base ingredients of tomatoes, chili oil, salt, garlic and cilantro, but the avocados are substituted by a type of Mexican squash. The dip retains its green color and has a similar consistency and taste to the original. Nevertheless, "it still hurts," the online portal Chilango said.</p><p>Recipes akin to one published by food blogger Alejandra de Nava have been in circulation for years now. The uproar around fake guacamole, however, stems from the skyrocketing prices for avocados, making their use in guacamole almost a luxury. </p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMDAwMjI3NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMDY2MjQ2OX0.mu2bTFGKXyYLHe6bYlh8J0wiX17mgi5PojhzBfS5_wg/img.png?width=980" id="182b4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3dcaa48ee6002d53fcfbd32db5ce94cf" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Measly Harvests and Rising Demand
<p>A decline in harvest yields and the rising demand from the U.S. are the culprits, avocado producer Pedro Bucio told the regional newspaper Diario de Coahuila. Supply and demand determine the price. "There are fewer avocados here in Mexico and this shortage has caused the increase in prices," Bucio explained. At the end of June, one kilo of avocados cost up to 100 pesos ($5.24, €4.67).</p><p>But Mexico's agriculture minister, Victor Villalobos, blames speculators for the rise in prices. The numbers, however, tell a different story.</p><p>The production of avocados in the first five months of this year was down 1.2 percent or 10,000 tons compared to that in the corresponding period last year. Exports, meanwhile, were up by 7.6 percent. In the last ten years, exports have quadrupled. Much of the demand originates from the U.S., where the consumption of avocados is increasing by about 15 percent every year.</p><p>In the U.S., avocados are considered "superfoods," which are rich in unsaturated fats, potassium and vitamin E. They also help keep cholesterol levels in check, strengthen the immune system and do not cause significant weight gain despite being a calorie bomb.<span></span></p><p>While four-fifths of all Mexican avocados are exported to the U.S. today, they were kept away from U.S. markets until 1997 for fear of pest infestations. Mexico sold $2.5 billion worth of avocados to the U.S. in the past year; that's more than the export of oil brought in.</p><p>Germany, on the other hand, imports its avocados predominantly from Peru, Chile, Spain and Israel.</p>Drug Cartels Join the Mix
<p>Even Mexican drug cartels seem to want a piece of the avocado business. Due to its weather and geography, the Mexican state of Michoacan has become a hub for the production of synthetic drugs and, simultaneously, a "paradise" for the cultivation of avocados.</p><p>While drug cartels routinely threaten and extort money from farmers, avocado shipments are also often being attacked. </p><p>The situation has led some leading producers to form their own security services, the so-called <em>autodefensas</em>, which is a private paramilitary force.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMDAwMjM3MC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNDUxMzc0MH0.4n2xNMtPskRDDkTgZukqUMy_SlrsACRbGhE4BMi4o8I/img.png?width=980" id="6a193" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b70a34b86d6be2da9b1bfda3931c9579" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>Demand for more acreage has caused an increase in illegal deforestation. Moreover, the cultivation of avocados requires vast amounts of water, which is a scarce resource in the region to begin with and supplies have become increasingly limited due to changing climate patterns.</p><p>The problem of rising prices is not entirely new. Two years ago, bad harvests and huge international demand caused a dramatic increase in prices. After all, avocado consumption had increased not just in the U.S., Canada and the EU, but also in China and Japan. Mexico, as the world's largest exporter and the country with the highest per capita consumption of avocados, had even thought about importing the fruit. The average Mexican consumes more than seven kilos of avocados a year.</p><p>The importance of Mexico's avocado imports became even more apparent when U.S. President Donald Trump in May threatened to impose punitive tariffs on all Mexican imports, should Mexico not intensify its actions concerning migrants. He then called off his plans at the last minute after Mexico responded with a threat to drastically jack up import costs of avocados, painting a picture of a Super Bowl without guacamole. The downside: Many Mexicans have to content themselves with fake guacamole because of the overwhelming U.S. demand.</p>
<p> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/mexico-facing-a-guacamole-crisis/a-49703429" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/core/dashboard/editor/2639314081?#/" target="_self"></a></em><em></em></p>
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A deluge of hail engulfed the outskirts of Guadalajara on Sunday, half-burying vehicles in ice and damaging nearly 200 homes.
The freak hail storm in one of Mexico's largest cities came as summer temperatures hovered around 31 degrees Centigrade (88 degrees Fahrenheit) in recent days.
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTYzNDE2Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDQ2OTU1M30.zOriOPECK7ht6EyRXYPumXlDOjVPfYTW8Z9YX8urBDA/img.jpg?width=980" id="544d0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="52bdf795a7e8b3b4c5eb7e094cb11043" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>"I've never seen such scenes in Guadalajara," said the governor of Jalisco state, Enrique Alfaro. "Then we asked ourselves <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/g20-summit-world-leaders-agree-on-climate-deal/a-49408651" target="_blank">if climate change is real</a>. These are never-before-seen natural phenomena," he said. "It's incredible."</p><p>At least six neighborhoods were covered in ice up to two meters (two yards) deep. </p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTYzNDE3MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNjcxMjUwN30.Pv1dMsRWJZupBKUrc8kVPP5ehGemDn6HaPtq4atXS1Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="f10cc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="375e43933afb4a01b6907c4b613e14c7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>Children were seen playing in the ice and throwing snowballs at each other in the middle of summer, while people stood around near piles of ice wearing t-shirts.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTYzNDE3NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNTUxMDU3MX0.eojP4cbA-jOlWQCqZWZzs7NzTC9EIc45c5eXw7I5K_Y/img.jpg?width=980" id="a35da" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2396a04eab4d49279762a94c9b10adce" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>Civil Protection personnel and soldiers brought out machinery to clear the roads.</p><p>Civil Protection office said nobody was injured, but two people showed early signs of hypothermia.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTYzNDE3NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMzM2NDAzNn0.ob-N6xP5pdm-v4Xap7WIxu2KJacOxzO9Pk5TnAZESBQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="51f98" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8e877eb94fec2d11ffd770081abf58b2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Do You Remember Normal <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Weather?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Weather</a>? Scientists Say Most of Us Don't <a href="https://t.co/nalC5uCNQx">https://t.co/nalC5uCNQx</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/350?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@350</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ClimateNexus</a></p>— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) <a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/status/1100968918531928064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/hail-storm-buries-parts-of-mexican-city-of-guadalajara-in-ice/a-49424481" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Shrimp fishing along the coast of Nayarit, Mexico. Tomas Castelazo / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA
By Paula Ezcurra and Octavio Aburto
Thousands of hydroelectric dams are under construction around the world, mainly in developing countries. These enormous structures are one of the world's largest sources of renewable energy, but they also cause environmental problems.
<p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hydropower">Hydropower</a> dams <a href="https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Water_quality_degradation_from_hydropower" target="_blank">degrade water quality along rivers</a>. Water that flows downstream from the dams is depleted of oxygen, which harms many aquatic animals. The reservoirs above dams are susceptible to harmful algal blooms, and can leach toxic metals such as mercury from submerged soil.</p><p>We wanted to know whether dams also impact river systems farther away, at the coastlines where <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/rivers">rivers</a> flow into the sea. So we performed a <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau9875" target="_blank">natural experiment comparing four rivers</a> along Mexico's Pacific coast — two that are dammed and two that remain free-flowing. We found that damming rivers has measurable negative ecologic and economic effects on coastal regions more than 60 miles downstream.</p>
<h2>Feeding or Starving Coastlines</h2><p>We studied four river outflows along the Pacific Coast of Mexico in the states of Sinaloa and Nayarit. Two of these were from the San Pedro and Acaponeta rivers, which are relatively unrestricted, with over 75% of their flow unobstructed.</p><p>The other two outflows came from the nearby Santiago and Fuerte rivers, which have over 95% of their flow retained in reservoirs. In addition to restricting water flow, these reservoirs trap sediments — over 1 million tons per year along the two rivers combined.</p><p>In unobstructed rivers, sediment flows downstream and is eventually deposited along the coast, helping to stabilize the shoreline and sometimes even to build it up. We found that this was happening along the free-flowing Acaponeta and San Pedro rivers.</p><p>However, because the sediment from the dammed Santiago and Fuerte rivers is no longer carried downstream, wave action takes over at the coast. At the mouths of these two rivers, we found that waves were eroding up to 33 hectares of combined land — equivalent to about 62 football fields — each year, with widespread ecologic and economic effects on the surrounding regions.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTUzOTc3MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODg3MDY2MX0.64bEwSTZiIy4D-loe57hnKHBBK37cf4WBqj3UhECKyw/img.jpg?width=980" id="65759" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="30cd5fb4eaa720d8ba3b5d0f19e30cad" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The dammed Fuerto and Santiago Rivers show greater erosion where they reach the Pacific coast than the free-flowing San Pedro and Acaponeta rivers. Images at right show coastline changes during the two periods: blue indicates land accretion, red indicates erosion.
Ezcurra et al., 2019., CC BY-NC
<h2>The Ecology of Healthy Coasts</h2><p>Our field research clearly showed that coastal instability resulting from sediment loss at the mouths of the dammed rivers was harming ecosystems along the shore. For example, we found that coastal regions downstream of free-flowing rivers had significantly more plant diversity. Many of these plants were found only in coastal areas, and therefore had high conservation value.</p><p>Coastal erosion due to lack of sediment input from the rivers also reduces critical nursery habitat, such as mangrove forest, where many commercially important fish species <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0804601105" target="_blank">spend their juvenile stage</a>. We found that fishing activity at the mouth of the free-flowing San Pedro River was much higher than around the mouth of the dammed Fuerte River. This loss of fishing potential comes at a cost of around $1.3 million every year.</p><p>Reduced sediment flow also deprives coastal estuaries of nutrients. Lucrative shrimp and oyster fisheries in the region we studied rely heavily on nutrient inputs from rivers. In the San Pedro River region, these fisheries generate around $5.8 million yearly; near the dammed rivers, they have been all but abandoned.</p><p>Coastal mangrove wetlands also <a href="https://theconversation.com/mangroves-protect-coastlines-store-carbon-and-are-expanding-with-climate-change-81445" target="_blank">protect shorelines</a> from hurricanes and tropical storms, and serve as recreational areas and conservation habitat for <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a>. Knowing this, we calculated that the loss of these ecosystem services around the dammed rivers totals $3.9 million annually.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTUzOTc3My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNDgyMjkzOH0.U0KkN977V3rhqr8hdlp3bipE4sVS9CaA3EjR1wfTN30/img.jpg?width=980" id="d8f96" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fbc68acd316e52face024ee57ee5db0e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Vegetation profile of sandbars of the free-flowing San Pedro River (A) and dammed Santiago River (B), where receding black mangrove forest is being eroded away into the advancing coastline
Ezcurra et al., 2019, CC BY-NC
<p>Still another valuable function that mangrove wetlands perform is <a href="https://theconversation.com/mapping-the-worlds-blue-carbon-hot-spots-in-coastal-mangrove-forests-105793" target="_blank">storing "blue carbon"</a> in plant tissue and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/soil">soils</a>, reducing the effects of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a>. But when coastlines recede and mangroves are destroyed, this carbon is released. We calculated that mangrove loss in our study region represented a loss of around $130,000 in annual carbon trading potential for this region.<br></p><p>Adding up all of the ecological services that coastal ecosystems provide, we estimate that the economic consequences of shoreline loss around the Santiago and Fuerte rivers related to hydroelectric damming totaled well over $10 million yearly.</p>
<h2>Letting More Sediment Flow</h2><p>Because sediments are so essential to areas around river mouths, <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2013EF000184" target="_blank">reducing sediment trapping</a> behind dams could mitigate some harmful impacts on coastal areas. There are several ways to do this — notably, sediment bypassing, or diverting a portion of the sediments flowing from upriver around dams and allowing it to rejoin the river downstream.</p><p>This strategy can be included in new construction or incorporated into existing dams. In addition to reducing dams' environmental impacts, it also increases dams' service lives by reducing the rate at which their reservoirs fill up with silt.</p><p>To date, environmental impact assessments of large inland dams have often failed to properly analyze the impacts that these dams will have downriver on coastlines, estuaries, deltas and lagoons. Our study shows how important it is to fully account for dams' environmental and economic impacts along coasts and basins.</p>
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<p>Mexico may be at a juncture in its approach to hydropower. The Mexican government recently contracted with Hydro-Quebec, the world's largest hydroelectric power producer, to <a href="https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/english/hydro-quebec-boost-clean-energy-generation-mexico" target="_blank">revamp existing dams across the country</a>. And a recent study by a Mexican nongovernment organization, SuMar-Voces por la Naturaleza, <a href="https://aristeguinoticias.com/2702/mexico/hidroelectrica-las-cruces-no-es-necesaria-hoy-ni-a-futuro-revela-estudio/" target="_blank">reported</a> that a long-disputed proposal to build a new hydroelectric dam at Las Cruces is neither financially feasible nor needed to meet energy demand for the region, prompting national groups to call for the final cancellation of the project.<br></p><p>We believe that Mexico and all nations working to develop efficient, low-impact energy sources should take a holistic approach to future dam-related projects, so they can weigh their potentially harmful consequences. The coastal effects that we documented should be part of those reviews.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">How Removing One Maine Dam 20 Years Ago Changed Everything <a href="https://t.co/dvauyEIxBs">https://t.co/dvauyEIxBs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Conservation?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Conservation</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Dams?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Dams</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Endangeredspecies?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Endangeredspecies</a> <a href="https://t.co/Nm31Ot5X1W">pic.twitter.com/Nm31Ot5X1W</a></p>— Renewable Search (@RenewableSearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RenewableSearch/status/1095010843379490817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>
<em>Paula Ezcurra is a digital communications specialist with the Gulf of California Marine Program, University of California San Diego.<br/>
</em><em>Octavio Aburto is an a</em><em>ssistant professor of marine biology with the the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California San Diego.<br/>
</em><em>Disclosure statement: Octavio Aburto receives funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, UC MEXUS and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. Paula Ezcurra does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond her academic appointment.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://theconversation.com/hydropower-dams-can-harm-coastal-areas-far-downstream-114171" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
</p><script async="async" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114171/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" type="text/javascript"></script>From Your Site Articles
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‘This Is Not Like a Fence in a Backyard’ — Trump’s Border Wall vs. Wildlife
12 April 2019
Insights + Opinion
Layers of Concertina added to existing border wall near Nogales, Arizona. Robert Bushell / U.S. Customs and Border Protection
By John R. Platt
How will Trump's border wall affect wildlife in the U.S. and Mexico?
<p>As I discussed recently on the <a href="http://sciencentric.com/" target="_blank">Sciencentric podcast</a>, the wall's true impact becomes more evident when you envision all of the things that accompany it: Roads, vehicles, lights, and acres upon acres of cleared habitat. That's bad news for jaguars, bears, birds, bees and hundreds, if not thousands, of other species.</p><p>Check out the video interview below, where host Eric R. Olson and I also discuss The Revelator, my work on "<a href="https://therevelator.org/category/news/extinction/" target="_blank">Extinction Countdown</a>," and what technologies might work instead of a wall.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ad285e5141c6dc6c7f14e330620e8204"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sg3HxJxrow0?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit..."><a href="https://youtu.be/sg3HxJxrow0" target="_blank"><br></a></small>
</p><p><em><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/john/" target="_blank">John R. Platt</a> is the editor of The Revelator. An award-winning environmental journalist, his work has appeared inScientific American, Audubon, Motherboard, and numerous other magazines and publications. His "Extinction Countdown" column has run continuously since 2004 and has covered news and science related to more than 1,000 endangered species.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://therevelator.org/trump-border-wall-vs-wildlife/" style="" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>. </em><em></em></p>
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The fire that erupted after a pipeline explosion in Mexico Friday. FRANCISCO VILLEDA / AFP / Getty Images
A dramatic pipeline explosion in central Mexico Friday has killed at least 85 people, Mexican Health Minister Jorge Alcocer Valera said Sunday night, The Associated Press reported.
The explosion occurred in a field in the municipality of Tlahuelilpan as people rushed to gather fuel from the pipeline, which had been ruptured by suspected thieves. Many were covered in oil before a fireball shot into the air.
<p>"Hit the ground," one person yelled, according to video footage described by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/19/mexico-explosion-deaths-burst-pipeline-gasoline" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. </p><p>Fifty-eight people were injured and dozens are still missing, The Associated Press reported. The state and federal governments will cover all medical and funeral costs. </p><p>The piece of pipeline that exploded had been ruptured and repaired by thieves many times, according to locals.</p><p>"It was the popular tap," 22-year-old Enrique Cerron, who lives nearby, told The Associated Press. "You could pass by at 11 or 12 in the morning and see people filling up here."</p><p>The Associated Press described a festive atmosphere before the blast occurred: </p><blockquote>At first, the gasoline leak was manageable, residents say, emitting a tame fountain of fuel that allowed for filling small buckets at a time. But as the crowd swelled to more than 600, people became impatient.<br><br>That's when a man rammed a piece of rebar into a patch, according to Irma Velasco, who lives near the alfalfa field where the explosion took place, and gasoline shot 20 feet into the air, like water from a geyser.<br><br>A carnival atmosphere took over. Giddy adults soaked in gasoline filled jugs and passed them to runners. Families and friends formed human chains and guard posts to stockpile containers with fuel.</blockquote><p>Omar Fayad, the Governor of the State of Hidalgo, where the explosion took place, warned people on Twitter of the dangers of stealing fuel, according to The Guardian.</p><p>"What happened today in Tlahuelilpan should not be repeated," he said.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="36570" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4R2OQ71576664116"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1086461343094501377" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Hago un llamado a toda la población a no ser cómplices en el robo de combustible. Esto además de ser ilícito, pone… https://t.co/gUTkG6VbLo</div> — Omar Fayad (@Omar Fayad)<a href="https://twitter.com/omarfayad/statuses/1086461343094501377">1547867544.0</a></blockquote></div>
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<p>The incident comes as the government of newly elected President Andrés Manuel López Obrador attempts to cut down on fuel theft. The government has shut off pipelines, meaning gas stations around the country have been out of fuel for up to two weeks, and drivers have grown desperate, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/18/americas/mexico-gasoline-explosion-tlahuelilpan/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>.<br></p><p>The particular pipeline where the explosion took place had been offline for four weeks before fuel began flowing again, The Associated Press reported.</p>The pipeline belonged to state-run oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex. The company initially blamed thieves for the explosion, but an investigation is ongoing. General Prosecutor of Mexico Alejandro Gertz Manero said it was possible the blast was caused by static electricity from the synthetic fibers of the clothing of the people crowding around the pipeline.<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="5dfb0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="SA7TAS1576664116"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="952909011506139136" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">All Renewables Will Be Cost Competitive With Fossil Fuels by 2020 https://t.co/QectZLGqOF #renewables @350… https://t.co/9rc89HJlCz</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/952909011506139136">1516026187.0</a></blockquote></div>
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83% Decline of Freshwater Animals Underscores Need to Protect and Restore Freshwaters
30 October 2018
Animals
Terry Whittaker / WWF
This year's Living Planet Report shows that populations of animals—including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians—plummeted by 60 percent between 1970 and 2014. But those living in freshwater are experiencing a far more drastic decline: 83% since 1970. It's a sobering statistic and one tied directly to the ever-increasing pressures that people are putting on natural habitats.
<p>We can learn a lot about the health of freshwater habitats overall by studying the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/animals/">animals</a> that live in them. If freshwater animals are on the decline, that's a sign that the entire ecosystem is in trouble. Freshwater habitats face a host of threats, including increases in the amount of water we take from them; drainage of wetlands; pollution from industry, sewage and farms; invasive plant and animal species; <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a>; and infrastructure development in and along waterways. </p><p>Perhaps the most urgent threat to freshwater animals and their homes is the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dams">dams</a>, bridges, roads and other infrastructure that interfere with the natural flow and connectivity of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/rivers">rivers</a>. Many freshwater fish, for example, rely on free-flowing rivers to eat, reproduce and access nutrients necessary for their survival.</p><p>Connected rivers help people, too. Free-flowing rivers move sediment to floodplains and deltas downstream, providing nutrients and soil for floodplain agriculture, allowing for healthy fisheries and supporting the resilience of delta habitats under a changing climate.</p><p><strong>Keeping Rivers Connected and Flowing</strong></p><p>There are currently nearly 60,000 large dams on rivers around the world and more than 3,700 more hydro dams—structures that give us energy from the flow of water—are planned globally. While <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hydropower">hydropower</a> plays an important role in today's <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a> revolution, it must be carefully planned so as to minimize loss of river health. </p><p>This means considering the health of an entire river basin to find energy opportunities with the least amount of impact on the environment and people. Into the future, the dropping prices of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wind">wind</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar">solar</a> power, along with innovations in the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/battery-storage/">ability to store power</a>, provide the possibility for countries to meet energy demands with less hydropower and therefore fewer dams.</p><p>We can also set aside a certain amount of water in a river basin exclusively for the protection of nature and for people. Called a "water reserve," this concept requires a careful calculation of how much water people can use for energy, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/agriculture">agriculture</a> and other purposes and how much must remain in the river to sustain a healthy ecosystem. </p><p>This summer, Mexico authorized water reserves in nearly 300 river basins, including in one of the country's longest remaining free-flowing rivers, the Usumacinta. WWF worked with Mexico's National Water Commission to calculate how much water could be allocated to human activity and how much water should remain in the river to sustain a healthy ecosystem. This science-based planning and policies backing it up ensure water quality and quantity for 45 million Mexicans for the next 50 years—all while protecting the river's plants and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife">wildlife</a>.</p>
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<p><strong>You Can Help</strong><br></p><p>The decline in groups of freshwater animals is staggering, but we can help reverse the trend. <a href="https://support.worldwildlife.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=971" target="_blank">Join WWF's Freshwater Force</a> to take action to stop bad dams and infrastructure development in freshwater habitats, raise awareness of the importance of freshwater, and champion the wildlife and communities that depend on free-flowing, clean rivers for survival.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="2a9ef" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="DGC64O1576661888"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="978590006607536129" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Earth Hour 2018: Globe Unites to Celebrate People’s Connection to Planet https://t.co/B66o5zcVjS @GreenpeaceUK @wwwfoecouk</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/978590006607536129">1522149013.0</a></blockquote></div>
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