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dam-l Fw: Request for urgent action (fwd)
Chihuahua, Chih. March 31, 2000
To all international human rights and environmental organisations and
concerned individuals: We request that you send this request for urgent
action to other individuals and organizations that may be interested in
helping to defend the forest of the Sierra Tarahumara.
Currently accounting for approximately 25% of the country's total timber
production, the Western Sierra Madre of the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, is
now Mexico's largest source of timber. The region is also known for its
unique endemic species, its remarkable microclimates, the indigenous groups
that live there. Furthermore, it is the source of water for the principal
river networks in Northeastern and Northwestern Mexico, not to mention the
fact that the Conchos River basin contributes 20% of the Río Grande's
water, forming the natural border separating Texas from Mexico.
The Western Sierra Madre is also known as the Sierra Tarahumara because the
Tarahumara are the largest indigenous group living there. It is also home
to the Tepehuán, Pima, and Guarojío, all of whom live off the land, and
cultivate beans, corn, and other vegetables.
>From 1996 to 1999 411 complaints for crimes against the forest were lodged
with the Federal Attorney General for the Environment (PROFEPA), the
institution charged with prosecuting and sentencing those who destroy the
environment). From 1998 to 2000, the Commission of Solidarity and Defence
of Human Rights, A.C. (COSYDDHAC) has followed more than 12 cases and
appeals lodged by Tarahumara and Tepehuán indigenous communities and
mestizos for the illegal felling of timber. On March 11, 2000, the
Tarahumaran Governors who met in Cuiteco, in the Municipality of Urique,
presented ten more complaints for the same offence.
PROFEPA has not passed judgement on any of the cases lodged in 1998-1999,
and the statute of limitations is about to run out, which means that these
cases will only pile up in the filing cabinets and appear as statistics.
This voluntary inefficiency is combined with an increase in cutting, meant
to supply the lumber, plywood, paper, moulding, and conglomerate industries
with the raw material they require. The absence of environmental justice
and the increase of cutting have created impunity and anarchy in the
Sierra, and the environmental and cultural integrity of this region is in
grave danger. For this reason we ask you to write letters and send them via
FAX or email to officials in the SEMARNAP (Secretariat of the Environment,
Natural Resources, and Fish) and the PROFEPA urging them to:
1. Temporarily suspend further forestry permits starting in April 2000,
until an in depth environmental impact study is undertaken for the region,
2. Scientifically evaluate the environmental impact of the lumber industry
in the ecosystems of Chihuahua's Sierra Madre in order to reconsider the
immediate future of the forestry industry, and carry out a reclassification
of the territory which would include areas not to be cut, old growth areas
to be protected and conserved, and corridors of biodiversity,
3. Process the existing forestry cases pending in the PROFEPA and
sentence those found responsible for the abuses,
4. Audit the Forestry Management Plans and cutting permits granted
in 1998-1999 in order to see if environmental norms have been complied
with. The results of the audit must be available to all citizens'
organizations that request this information.
An initial report regarding the impacts of the forestry industry in the
Sierra
Tarahumara will soon be available in English. When the report is posted on
the web, we will send you the address in the event that you would like to
know more.
Please send copies of your letter to the following people and addresses:
Mtra. Julia Carabia Lilo
Secretaria de SEMARNAP
FAX: 011 52 5 628-0643
jcarabias@semarnap.gob.mx
Mtro. Antonio Azuela de la Cueva
Procurador de la PROFEPA
Fax: 011 52 5 528- 54-09
azuela@buzon.semarnap.gob.mx
Comisión de Solidaridad y Defensa de
los Derechos Humanos A.C. (COSYDDHAC)
kwira@infosel.net.mx
FAX: 011 52 14 15 04 86
Francisca Jiménez Altagracia Villarreal
Presidenta Vicepresidenta
Person responsible for this campaign: María Teresa Guerrero
______________________________________________________
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