Pro esteros-4th post: Two major victories for conservation
Conservation crises occurred regularly in the 1990s, but there were two that would have had major negative impacts, which we fought with vigor and won victories in both cases. One was a proposed expansion of the saltworks in Guerrero Negro that would have extended south through the desert and into Laguna San Ignacio, with devastating impacts on the environment. The other was a large development planned for the peninsula at San Quintin which would have included a resort with 3 golf courses, bridges across the bay to the barrier beach, marinas scattered round the bay, and large-scale commercial and residential development on the peninsula.
The saltworks expansion became a world-wide issue and the Natural Resources Defense Council was a major player. Robert Kennedy Jr. was the lawyer for NRDC and Jacques Cousteau Jr. the voice of the environmental community. Here is an article from the pro esteros newsletter written by Patricia Martinez in the spring of 2001 that rejoices in the victory.
Pro esteros, the Main Player in the Biggest Victory of the World Conservation Movement
from the pro esteros newsletter, Spring 2000, Vol.12 # 1.
After an intense campaign that lasted more than 5 years, we can at last feel satisfied with our victory. We’ve stopped the construction of the largest salt evaporation plant in proposing to construct in San Ignacio Lagoon. The plans for construction at this human heritage site, whale sanctuary, migratory bird refuge and important zone in the Vizcaino Biosphere reserve were cancelled by President Zedillo on the second of March 2000.
Robert Kennedy, Jr. said during the celebrations of this “victory that this achievement is the most important triumph of the world conservation movement, and in the history of nature conservation”. In this case, we succeeded in not only stopping the government of Mexico, but also Mitsubishi, the largest corporation on the planet. As a representative of pro esteros I had the good fortune to actively participate in the entire campaign, to contribute my ideas, and assure that the concerns of the communities that live in San Ignacio were heard by everyone. On the Second of March the people of Punta Abreojos were no longer a community of isolated and often forgotten fishermen. By the third of March, the name of Punta Abreojos was on all the headlines of the major newspapers of the world.
Many have asked me over the past few weeks, “What was the key to this success?” I’ve always answered that I owe my thanks to everyone who has participated in this process. All of us were convinced that we needed to stop this project, which threatened not only the natural processes and ecosystems, but also the communities of fishermen that depend on them. We never doubted the validity of our concerns despite the fact that others doubted our cause and were opposed to our determination. One of the principal factors contributing to this triumph was that, for the first time in history, more than 70 non-governmental national and international united forces for one cause. For the first time, local communities found an enormous force that would fight to defend their rights, and all of those who participated believed from beginning to end that unity is power. For me, as well as for pro esteros, this has been the most significant victory in the 12 years that the organization has been running. Personally, I’ve learned a great deal working with organizations such as IFAW and NRDC, which have always believed in me as well as supported and respected my decisions. During the last few weeks, I’ve received an enormous quantity of calls and e-mails from our sympathizers and donors, expressing their most sincere congratulations for this victory and offering their support for the next phase. Now, after working closely with the communities of Punta Abreojos, I feel compelled to continue supporting their search for sustainable development alternatives which will benefit the natural resources which all inhabitants of San Ignacio lagoon depend on to survive.
Patricia Martinez Rios
The San Quintin development was cancelled by President Zedillo in the same week, and here is an article from the same newsletter that tells that story.
Victory in San Quintin
The very same week that President Zedillo cancelled the Salt Project at Laguna San Ignacio, INE (Mexico’s Department of Ecology and Natural Resources) denied a permit to the Cabo San Quintin project.
Pro esteros along with many other organizations, individuals, community members, and scientists, had long opposed the granting of the permit. As Dra. Silvia Ibarra put it, “the construction of three golf courses, commercial establishments and a residential zone would heavily impact the plants and animals of coastal scrub, sand dunes and salt marsh communities.”
Pro esteros first learned about the Cabo San Quintin project (and others being fronted around the same time) in January 1996, when a friend of pro esteros dropped off copies of a crude map showing the potential development, golf courses, bridges across the bay, and marinas studded here an there along the bay. The first response was utter disbelief: how could these North American developers possibly consider such a a large tourist development in an area that is close to four hours from the border, has no sources of fresh water, and is desperately windy and unpleasant a good deal of the year. But pro esteros did take the threat very seriously as did many other Mexicans. Joining forces with scientists from UABC (Universidad Autonomica de Baja California in Ensenada) and CICESE, the scientific research center, pro esteros helped with an ecological management plan for San Quintin. Both Laura and Patricia spoke with local officials to convince them of the need to plan the management.
Here are some of the projects pro esteros initiated and developed in San Quintin:
The Brant project, an educational project for middle school students and their families in San Quintin, was developed and enhanced each year.
Pro esteros worked with the oyster fishermen to help promote sustainability in the region. The co-founder of pro esteros, Silvia Ibarra, helped create a workshop on Bahia San Quintin that took place in February 1998, and attracted scientists from all over the world. Data were gathered on the agricultural and aquacultural systems, and a model created predicting the effects of pumping the aquifer.
A technical report (see our newsletter) was produced by pro esteros and others showcasing the biological values that would be threatened by this development. Our Baja California Wetland Inventory, coordinated by Eduardo Palacios, played a key role in supplying data for this technical report.
We were able to obtain copies of the developer’s environmental impact report that was submitted to the federal authorities in Mexico City. A group of us, led by Alfonso Aguirre and Alan Harper, wrote a comprehensive 50-page technical response to the environmental impact report demonstrating the obscene lack of analysis by the developers and the dire circumstances that could result from such a development. This report when received by the authorities in Mexico City seems to be the key reason that the permission to develop was denied. As far as we know, this is the first and only casein which the permit to develop was denied rather being sent back for revision.
Many people feel that this was one of the great environmental victories in Mexico because it showed that objective scientific analysis is used in evaluating environmental impact assessments!