Oaxaca: Saving Forests with a Sense of Place

Saving Forests with a Sense of Place

While visiting Oaxaca's forestry cooperatives, Kristian Beadle considers the link between remembering the dead and managing living resources — including new climate policies to reduce deforestation.

I was in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca during one of Mexico's best-known traditions, the Day of the Dead.

The somber Panteon General, Oaxaca City's largest cemetery, had been transformed into a carnival. A mariachi band played next to walls covered in candles reflecting the dead; yellow marigold flowers called cempasúchil decorated grave sites and adorned the altars that sprung up around the city. Offerings of food and drink for ancestors, who appeared in fading black-and-white photographs, were everywhere.

Although part of the Catholic All Saints and All Souls days, the creativity of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) arises from indigenous traditions. "Similar to Halloween," noted an American friend, watching the costume parade heading to the cemetery, "but with more heart, less sex and candy." Indeed, the intention of the ceremony is to invite the spirit of relatives past to celebrate with the living. The taboos surrounding mortality emerge from the dusty closet … "Just as our relatives died, so will we." It can be an oddly relaxing thought.

I considered the social implications of this collective mentality. With heightened awareness of past and future generations, might people's reason for living go beyond themselves and today? Are they more motivated to care for their community to ensure the well-being of the future?

Meanwhile, I had sat under a tree of epic proportions just 20 minutes from Oaxaca City. The Arbol de Tule, at least 1,500 years old, is the most ancient living being I've ever seen. Reportedly the widest tree in the world (its diameter is 38 feet, with a circumference of 119 feet), this particular Montezuma cypress, or Taxodium mucronatum, makes human lifespans seem like blips.

With all this in mind after the early November holiday, I drove into the mountains above the valley of Oaxaca, where several forestry cooperatives are becoming famous for their conservation of forests and balanced community development.

"About 60 percent of Mexico's forests are community-owned, and Mexico is now a world leader in sustainable forest management," explained Luis Ubiñas, the president of the Ford Foundation, addressing one of the main themes of the Cancun conference on climate change. "These forests aren't guarded by signs that prohibit use, but rather by giving local communities rights to the property and its management."

The mountain villages of Sierra Madre in the state of Oaxaca are amidst some of the most biodiverse pine-oak forests in the world. According to World Wildlife Fund, the area contains nearly 40 percent of endemic vertebrates of Mesoamerica, the bio-cultural region stretching from central Mexico to northern Costa Rica. This diversity comes from radical topography and climatic differences: the rugged terrain climbs from 3,000 feet to a peak of 11,000 feet, while rainfall varies from 28 inches to 80 to 160 inches a year.

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Communities here rely on corn, cattle and forestry — creating an inherent tension over deforestation and survival. Although a lack of access helps keep the forests relatively well preserved, there is also a conscious philosophy of conservation.

In these mountains sits the tidy town of Ixtlán de Juarez, which international forestry experts say has "become the gold standard of community forest ownership and management," as The New York Times has written. I met the general manager of the town's forestry cooperative, the well-spoken Jesus Paz. He showed me their factory on a Saturday morning, which was quiet except for the wind howling outside. Paz explained that when the state-run company's concession expired in 1983, the community regained autonomy of a nearly 50,000-acre forest.

Now they have one of the most advanced wood processing plants in Mexico, and both the logging operation and on-site furniture factory are certified with the Forestry Stewardship Council, the highest industry standard for sustainability. "The certification cost is high, but it has improved our efficiency with erosion control, tree-planting and safety," Paz said. "Plus, it was the right thing to do."

Their efficiency allows them to preserve the vast majority of their forest: a reserve of nearly 40,000 acres. Although certified wood doesn't fetch a higher price in Mexico, the government agency that contracts them to build school furniture was sold on the idea and now requires certification for new contracts — a new competitive advantage.

The cooperative is run by an assembly of 384 comuneros, or communal owners, who elect managers and make decisions democratically; they are drawn from the indigenous Zapotec people. The majority of the comuneros  also work for the company, which has now expanded into seven businesses, including a furniture store, ecotourism resort and a high-tech nursery. The comuneros are the original owners or owner-heirs of the forest land, based on post-Mexican Revolution (1912-1918) land reforms that began granting land ownership to millions of peasants.

This apparently has created a private incentive for stewardship. As cited in a 2010 report to the United Nations Forum on Forests, "151 communities are protecting over a half million hectares of forests, almost half of which are in Oaxaca."

Beyond the town square and church was the road leading to Ecotur-Ixtlán, the cooperative's ecotourism center. The mountain air was cutting through my double layer of sweatshirts, the sky piercing blue through the canopy of pine trees. One of the guides, Rodrigo, told me about his work: taking tourists on hikes to the Mesophyllic Forest, an area of near-permanent humidity in a nearby summit containing unique species.

"I used to work in logging, but I like this better," Rodrigo told me from beneath a frayed beanie. "I learned the trade by sneaking into presentations by ecologists staying at our lodge. For sure, it has changed how I think, and my decisions in the assembly. We want to do what's best for future generations, but sometimes we don't know how." Being a comunero himself, Rodrigo soon excused himself. The assembly meeting was at 5 p.m., and I was left to ponder his meanings under the trees.

Although it has become trite in some circles, the Great Law of the Iroquois still holds weight: "In every deliberation, we must consider the impact on the seventh generation … even if it requires having skin as thick as the bark of a pine." The multi-generational philosophy of indigenous people, it is said, makes them better stewards of the land for the benefit of all. Yet, how much of that statement is true, and how much is based on the romantic ideology of the "noble savage"?

The forestry comuneros I spoke to constantly mentioned their desire to preserve the forest for future generations. "It was the right thing to do," Paz said about certifying their operation with the Forest Stewardship Council. That essential philosophy is shared by other cooperatives in the Sierra, collectively called the Alianza EcoForce.

Genuine empathy for multiple generations is present in many cultures, and may not be reducible to indigenous ethics. The fishing cooperatives I visited in Baja's Vizcaíno Peninsula, for example, also showed a remarkable vision of resource conservation.

By virtue of their community orientation and legal status, the fishing and forestry cooperatives share a common sense of long-term ownership of their resources. They have an incentive to sustainably manage their region's marine life and forest life because they feel secure about retaining rights to zone into the future. Another element that helps build multi-generational thinking is the length of time people plan to spend in a community. The indigenous worldview that sees interconnections in natural processes also helps this thinking; but in itself it may not be sufficient to foster long-term stewardship.

REDD and Financing Forests

Enter the international discussion on forestry and climate change, strongly present in the ongoing U.N. Climate Change Conference in Cancun. Early in September, Oaxaca City was host to a forestry workshop for Latin America and the Caribbean, serving as a preliminary to the Cancun conference. The workshop focused on climate policies of REDD, the emerging system for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, which is basically a way to value and finance forest preservation.

Burning forests accounts for roughly 12-17 percent of yearly global greenhouse gas emissions, almost as much as the transportation sector (a 2009 study published in the journal Nature indicates the contribution is about 15 percent when peatland degradation is included). The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change — the body running the Cancun conference — considers it the most viable climate mitigation option in the short term.

REDD seeks to value the carbon stocks of forests to make them more profitable alive than dead — that is, not cleared for a palm oil plantation or cattle farming. To be successful, carbon prices need to infuse more dollars per acre (measured in carbon tons) to be paid to locals for keeping forests standing, instead of being chopped for agricultural uses. This approach doesn't count the biodiversity effects of preserving forests, which would be a tremendous collateral benefit.

One concern is finding a common language between multinational financiers and forest dwellers, so that equitable benefits go to locals and foreigners. Another concern is whether the price of carbon is sufficiently stable, achievable under a regulated market, but less likely in today's voluntary carbon market. Despite these speed bumps, the market is taking notice of forest conservation. As described in Yale e360, Merrill Lynch has invested $9 million one Sumatra project, and Brazil is creating mechanisms to raise $21 billion by 2021.

Forestry workshop participants in Oaxaca visited and were likewise impressed by the cooperatives in the Sierra but wondered if their successes can translate to other places. After all, the unique communal ownership that emerged from Mexico's particular agrarian reforms (despite its flaws and limitations) plays a key role in these cooperatives' business structure, and may not be replicable.

Nevertheless, the elusive concept of "forestry governance" may boil down to some down-to-earth principles: As outlined above, when a sense of long-term ownership is combined with sound organizational structure, the basic incentives for resource stewardship are in place.

A 2009 study analyzed 80 forests in Asia, Africa and Latin America and concluded that when local communities manage and own forests (which they call "rule-making autonomy and ownership"), there is more carbon sequestration and forest protection. That approach may be just as effective as managed protected areas, but with fewer costs. The study helped dispell the myth that local communities are unable to manage their resources (i.e. are dependent on outside companies and "experts"). I believe this is part of a shift in thinking toward more local control of natural resources.

The cooperatives' long-term well-being requires the conservation of their forests.

This lesson can be applied beyond forestry and discussions of REDD. I drove the long, windy road back to the coast, wondering if the principles from Mexico's cooperatives — long-term ownership and local management — might influence the future of forests globally.

Perhaps the principles that unite stewardship with community values can work in elsewhere. Like the meanings of the Day of Dead, even if they are not universal, they are at least inspirational, and may help us see through the "smokescreen" of forest management.

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What will 10/10/10 add up to?

What will 10/10/10 add up to?

Say you're an alien anthropologist studying human behavior on Earth.

Understandably, you are perplexed by the events of Oct. 10, 2010.

Dutch women partying in their old wedding dresses to celebrate re-using and recycling.

One-hundred-sixty eighth-graders in Cape Town walking the length of the beach leaving only one set of footprints to symbolize their future commitment to reducing waste.

A hilarious visual collage: "What can one person do when 6.8 billion are frying the planet?"

And then there were the "carrot mobs," where businesses — like an ice cream shop in California and a pub in Scotland — were invaded by throngs of people patronizing the enterprises for both their products and for their altruism. (Both the ice cream shop and pub owners had pledged to use the extra revenues from that day toward energy efficiency and renewable power generation for their stores, reducing their respective carbon footprints.) The communities thanked them with their purchasing power, using a "carrot," not a "stick," to foster change.

In southern Argentina, schoolchildren cleaned their coastline. Currents disburse trash from far north. (Courtesy 350.org)

This "carrot philosophy" governed not just the carrot mobs, but roughly 7,000 other interconnected events occurring around the globe that same day. Nearly every nation on the planet was represented: 188 countries, with exceptions of North Korea, Andorra, Equatorial Guinea and San Marino. Every state in the U.S., Canada and Mexico participated. (To see a list of the best 10/10/10 events, click here.) It was an orchestrated, worldwide event to tackle climate change, but it wasn't about pointing fingers or protesting.

Instead, stuff was getting done: Trees were planted in Kansas, mangroves in the Maldives, trash was picked up in Argentina and India, 500 bikes were built in Boston to send to Uganda, and the White House that week announced it would install solar panels. (And for full disclosure, I organized a work party where I live in Oaxaca.)

So, as alien anthropologist, it was a Global Work Party, masterminded by the group 350.org. But as an honest observer, you ask, "Was it just a social media stunt, or can it catalyze change across planet Earth?"

A Diffuse Environment
Thirty years ago, few would have guessed that climate change, a cause so indirect and amorphous, its effects indirect, far off and hard to predict, could spark such widespread mobilization. After all, people with diffuse interests, no matter how great their number, struggle to unify their voice and overcome small groups of people with specific, shared and entrenched interests.

The "environment," broadly speaking, failed to have a voice until its deterioration caused direct, immediate impacts. Health was the trigger: Toxic contamination caused cancer, rivers caught on fire, oil spills devastated beaches. In the 1960s, a huge amount of legislation was passed when the connection was established between environment and health. Even endangered species, an abstract interest to most people, were given priority over economic interests in the Endangered Species Act partly thanks to the science of ecology informing us that biodiversity underlies many of our life-support systems.

Retirees in Massachusetts collected compost from the kitchen for their garden. (Courtesy 350.org)

The rabbit hole for the environment goes deeper. New pollutants create subtle new problems, which only become obvious later or on large scales. Fertilizers, for example, were hailed as the solution to end world hunger; they have managed to foul waterways and deplete soils. We also realized that CFCs, at first miracles for refrigeration, ended up damaging the ozone layer and thereby increasing the incidence of skin cancer. Greenhouse gases are also subtle pollutants and avoided detection as serious problems until fairly recently.

Evidence of a connection between climate change and our health grows daily, through quiet scientific research and catastrophic weather events. This year, headlines were filled with crop failures in Russia from the hottest temperatures on record, floods in Pakistan, torrential rains in Mexico and the eastern United States. However, most people don't experience the brunt of problems firsthand, and many see the connection as just conjecture by scientific models — or worse, a scientific conspiracy.

Those who do care are those personally affected and those who are aware that the well-being of society and ecology are inseparable. These groups of people are not necessarily in the same community and may share little else other than their concern on this issue. As writer Malcolm Gladwell might say, they are linked by "weak ties" around the world, and in his view weak ties are not the ties that bind.

Conquering Weak Ties with Social Media
In a recent New Yorker article, Gladwell downplayed the importance of Internet and social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc) in creating social change, since their main benefit is linking people who share weak ties.

Gladwell argues that discipline and strong ties are necessary for change and warns digital activists not to put social media on a pedestal just based on the numbers who show up for an hour or a day. It is a great networking tool for mobilizing people, but it doesn't create the structure needed for the collective strength of diffuse interests to overcome entrenched interests.

In Harlem, roofs were painted white —an easy way to reflect heat and cool down cities (and the planet). (Courtesy 350.org)

Pointing to the U.S. civil rights movement, he shows that the "high-risk activism" that catalyzed change — boycotts and powerful sit-ins — required disciplined structure and strong ties. In that case, it was African Americans and some allies connected through church groups and close friendships.

Vigorous responses to Gladwell's essay streamed through the Web. The Huffington Post was critical and mentioned the successes of the "Text Haiti" fundraiser by the U.S. Department of State that raised $25 million in eight days, and Barack Obama's election to presidency aided by youth-led social networking. Discussions on the New York Times included how weak ties are helping China's civil society and how the Internet can expose repression. Nevertheless, Gladwell's statement that the weak ties of social media fail to instigate high-risk activism survived the criticism — well, the examples above all seem pretty low-risk to me.

Despite its widespread appeal, the 10/10/10 Global Work Party was not about high-risk activism. People were not asked to chain themselves to trees or risk their lives. They didn't even risk verbal brickbats. Even non-environmentalists can nod in approval at old folks in a Massachusetts retirement community working on their food garden, solar panels being installed at an educational center in Namibia, of more than three tons of acorns being gathered for reforestation in Moscow to replace oaks lost in the devastating forest fires this summer, or of roofs being painted white in Harlem to increase the albedo effect and reduce the "urban heat island" effect.

The brilliance of the Global Work Party was exactly that it was low risk and beneficial — and therefore compatible with the social media platform that it used. The appeal of these events reached enough people that behavior can change from the bottom up. The group 350.org succeeded in that role with a simple structure and strategic backbone for the event.

Oct. 10, 2010 marked the occasion of Frances' (she's in the green shirt) 90th birthday, so she planted trees with friends. (Courtesy 350.org)

But what about action from the top down, that is, legislation or policy changes that raise efficiency standards? Gladwell says high-risk activism is the key to change, and as I argue, climate change is unlikely to generate that activism. But the status quo lies somewhere between where the top-down meets the bottom-up — and so even low-risk endeavors can create lasting change.

Still, Gladwell's warning should be heeded: Strategy and discipline, not just mass numbers, are the best ingredients for meaningful results.

Environmentalism has evolved in the last 40 years: from protesters using the stick to pressure polluters, to groups using the carrot to lure businesses into improving standards. It has evolved to deal with these increasingly diffuse issues, and social media has come to the rescue to bring people together. The Global Work Party was a product of this evolution — not high risk but with tangible and good results.

After 10/10/10, it feels like we're in a new era, one in which people are taking climate issues into their own hands. May the leaders follow.

It's All in the Numbers

The 350 in the 350.org refers to 350 parts per million, the amount of carbon dioxide scientists believe is a safe level in the atmosphere. Antarctic ice core records reveal that in the past 800,000 years, CO2 levels have never been as high or have changed nearly as fast as today's rate. As of September 2010, it was measured at 386 ppm and rising at about 1.9 ppm per year. Under business-as-usual scenarios, it is expected to surpass 450 ppm by 2050, raising global temperatures more than 1 degree. On the present course, the increase in temperatures by 2100 would be 2-3 degrees, which hasn't been seen on Earth since the Pliocene Epoch, when trees grew in the Arctic and sea level was 25 meters higher than today. Forecaster Mark Lynas notes that when the climate used to be 1 degree higher, Nebraska was largely a desert.

by Kristian Beadle

October 14, 2010

(Note: this post was originally published in Miller McCune magazine)

Mexico's Celebration: Cutting through the Doom and Gloom

Mexico's Celebration: Cutting through the Doom and Gloom

Walking the streets of Mexico's capital on the occasion of the nation's 200th birthday, Kristian Beadle sees both chest-thumping and hand-wringing.

On the night of Mexico's bicentennial celebration, an old man was strumming his acoustic guitar. He was on a dark avenue surrounded by the din of crowds, festive cries and police sirens. His guitar had no amplification, and the bowl at his feet only had a few coins, but he was playing so intently that I stopped to listen. I had to get really close to hear the melody, but it was worth it. Like a rowdy family gathering that goes quiet because Grandpa starts to tell a story, the din around me faded.

The crowds kept moving and nobody stopped to listen, and I don't blame them. There were so many things to see and hear this Sept. 16: a massive float car parade with dazzling colors, beautiful dancers dressed in fantasy costumes and a dizzying landscape of red, green and white celebrating the Mexican flag. Earlier in the day, I saw the BBC News interview with event organizer Ric Birch, producer of Olympic opening ceremonies in 1992 and 2000. He said this might be one of the biggest and boldest events in recent memory, and indeed, the spectacle did not disappoint.

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The Real Revenge of Montezuma: Voyage Conclusions

The Real Revenge of Montezuma: Voyage Conclusions

Now that the trip is over, I look back and speculate on the connection behind "traveler's belly" and Mexico's ailments.

Location: In Mazunte, just north of Huatulco. Through scattered clouds, the morning sun shines on the bay, whose centerpiece is a pair of jagged boulders. The rocks are frothy with crashing waves and soft backlight. The bay is surrounded by swaying palm trees and a snaking wetland.

Conditions: From inside my swinging cot, hanging freely from a roof covered by a mosquito net, I can tell the morning air is starting to warm up. It's 8 a.m., and the septic tank truck is already pumping sewage and someone is running a drill. Fishermen are pushing their pangas past the tiny waves.

Discussion: On the return from Huatulco, we veered off the rainy highway and navigated the potholes, overhanging tree branches and yelping dogs until reaching Mazunte. It is a blissed-out beach town that attracts French backpackers and yoga students with its fairy-tale scenery and psychedelic bars with names like "Siddhartha." That is where my friend Nando, who I brought in tow for his flamenco music collection and Spanish humor, revived his old enemy, the stomach flu.

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The Balance of Evil-Doing: Kiri's Impacts

The Balance of Evil-Doing: Kiri's Impacts

Perhaps a little hypocrisy doesn't hurt - if you're aware of it?
I look at the footprint of my trip, and hope it was all worth it.

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Sustainable Tourism en Masse: Huatulco's Attempt

Sustainable Tourism en Masse: Huatulco's Attempt


On the final military checkpoint of my trip, the camouflaged officers asked me a familiar set of questions, starting with, “De donde viene?” Where are you coming from? I’m from Santa Barbara, California, I told them — heading to Huatulco, which is just a few miles away. After getting the thumbs up, I drove into town with the curious anticipation of arriving after 5,000 miles and three months of travel. That was slowly displaced by a peculiar feeling. From what I could see, I had come full circle, and two realities were merging.

The wide boulevards had center dividers, the lawns and trees were neatly groomed. Missing from view were packs of yelping dogs, iconic of most towns I’d seen in Mexico; or makeshift signs made out of car tires. Generous parking lots were in front of shiny stores. Everything looked so organized and easy to find. … I couldn’t help thinking, “This looks like my brother’s neighborhood in Aliso Viejo.” It was like a sliver of Southern California’s Orange County dropped into tropical Mexico.

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Artists of Restoration at Playa Viva

 






























Artists of Restoration at Playa Viva

Location: Watching a tropical storm from inside a palapa in Playa Viva, just south of Ixtapa, in the state of Guerrero. I marvel at how the woven palm fronds that make up the roof keeps such vast quantities of rainwater out.

Conditions: Cool and windy, with occasional rain squalls. The ocean is a turbulent mess, the landscape swaying with the wind, even the mountains seem to move as the clouds roll around them. By afternoon, the sun burst into view, the wind died down and everything relaxed.

Discussion: I’m not much of a bird-watcher, but the colorful ducks at Yarumi lagoon made me stop.
“This used to be filled with invasive grasses. After we dredged and restored waterflow, the shrimp returned, which attracted the ducks – and many other birds,” Odin Ruz, head of permaculture at Playa Viva, told me. Although it sounds like a restoration project, this is a private hotel. “One of our business goals was to increase biodiversity,” said David Leventhal, the resort’s owner. “We wanted to enhance our guests’ experience besides just doing the right thing.”

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Making Sense of Collapse

Making Sense of Collapse

Location: In the northern part of the state of Guerrero, camped next to a mangrove. Two river mouths form a broad delta in this area. In a palapa near the beach, women prepare tamales over a wood-burning oven.

Conditions: The lovely mangroves unfortunately spawn lots of mosquitoes, which force a decision: whether to use chemical repellent DEET, hide under long-sleeve clothes in the sweaty heat or be bitten and risk the possible dengue fever advertised in warning posters around local towns? Perhaps I should seek higher ground.

Discussion: Perceptive readers have probably wondered about the strange mix of topics we've covered — ranging from floods and fisheries to tourism development and drug production. What is the relationship between these issues and their significance to this voyage's theme of "exploring the effects of climate on Mexico's coastline?" This might be a good opportunity for a bird's-eye view, using island examples and past societies for perspective.

The original inspiration for this trip came from low-lying atolls, such as Kiribati.  In those atolls, climatic pressures including sea-level rise and reduced rainfall are turning decades of poor resource management (e.g. freshwater extraction and waste disposal) into a full-blown crisis. Many small island states such as Kiribati, Vanuatu and the Maldives are talking about evacuations of their populations as "climate refugees" in the next 50 years. Are they simply victims of the First World's thirst for fossil fuels, or do they bear responsibility for putting themselves in a precarious condition?

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The Barricades of Michoacán's Bandito Alley

The Barricades of Michoacan's Bandito Alley

Location: At Rio Nexpa, in the southern end of Michoacán, where muddy water from recent rainstorms dirties the turbulent ocean. Under coconut trees, palm thatch huts line the perimeter of the riverbank.

Conditions: The northerly breeze covers everything in salt spray. The air is pleasantly cool after the sporadic downpours.

Discussion: As I drove south, the landscape kept changing in surprising ways. Around Puerto Vallarta, the dense jungle and verdant coastal mountains rising out of Banderas Bay is like a perfect capsule of the tropics. It inspired Hollywood producers to shoot movies like John Huston's The Night of the Iguana (which put the nonexistent Vallarta on the map), the pirate movie Swashbuckler, and Arnold Schwarzenegger's Predator. Along the way, I asked about road conditions south and got various reports ranging from "OK" to "rough" to "dangerous."

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The Big Friendly Giants of Escuinapa

The Big Friendly Giants of Escuinapa

Big projects — one to preserve and one to promote coastal Mexico — bring with them both dreams and nightmares.

In mid-May of this year, an entire town moved to the beach for five days of partying. School was canceled and work was deferred for the thousands attending the annual Fiesta de Mar de las Cabras. They came mostly from Escuinapa, a town located one hour south of Mazatlán and 20 minutes inland from Playa Cabras.

According to organizers, it is the 105th year of the event, which had roots as an indigenous "pagan" festival to celebrate the sun god Yequi. Kids, parents and grannies listen to live music on the isolated beach. There is nothing around for miles except coconut trees and two impressive neighbors: the biggest wetland on the Pacific coast of Mexico, called the Marismas Nacionales; and the largest tourist "mega-project" in Mexico, which is about to hit high gear.

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The Drug Destruction of Mexico, Part 2

The Drug Destruction of Mexico, Part 2

Beyond the human carnage of Mexico's drug conflict, another innocent bystander — the environment — has long been a victim.

"When I grew up in Mazatlán, I'd hear people say, it's better to live five years rich than a lifetime poor," I was told by Daniel, who is studying law at a university in Mexico City. "Sometimes it would even be written on walls."

In a different context this phrase might be promoting righteous work for personal progress. But since we were talking about the drug cartels in Mexico, I knew the meaning was shady – it is a justification for what decent men resort to while dancing to the seductive song of the drug trade.

As the drug war escalates, more civilians are caught in the crossfire. There have been innocent bystanders for decades, far from the gun battles in cities: the damage of drug production to the land, water and air. The environment has been the forgotten victim, raped and pillaged without notice.

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The Drug Destruction of Mexico, Part 1

The Drug Destruction of Mexico, Part 1

Location: Near the Zona Dorada in Mazatlán, the hub of tourist pleasure.

Conditions: The breeze and cool ocean water wash off the hot, muggy air of the city.

Someone asked me in California, "You're writing about the environment in Mexico? I bet people are more worried about the drug war and staying alive." I would come face to face with this issue once I arrived in the mainland. Like an absurd nightmare, the guy's face appeared everywhere you looked in Mazatlán — on every street post, plastered on cars, billboards and buses. Like it was relentlessly stalking you, the advertising campaign for candidate Jesus Vizcarra, running for governor of Sinaloa (the elections were July 4th) gave new meaning to the word omnipresent. "As you eat lunch at the restaurant, you might discover his face on the plate through the rice and beans," laughed Edgar, a surfer I met on the beach. How in heaven is so much money spent on ads?

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The Pearls of La Paz

The Pearls of La Paz

Location: Near the beach at Balandra, southeast of La Paz; a bay and wetland complex that was submitted for protected area status by La Paz residents.

Conditions: Hot and dry winds are gusty at night and calm during the morning. The water is cool and pleasant for swimming. Isla Espiritu Santo glimmers in the horizon as sailboats go by.

Discussion: La Paz was once rich in pearls. Expeditions financed by Hernán Cortés in the 1530s came back with tales of pearls worn by indigenous tribes, who also had an unfortunate tendency of attacking the intruders. Only 60 years later during a voyage by Sebastián Vizcaíno was he able to make peace with the locals, naming the area as the "Bay of Peace" or Bahia de La Paz.

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Sustainable or Sick: The Growth of Loreto

Sustainable or Sick: The Growth of Loreto

Location: Hotel San Carlos in Loreto, southern Baja, two blocks from the waterfront.

Conditions: Outside, the sun is shining, but I'm lying in my room feeling nauseous, suffering through my first stomach bug this trip.

Discussion: Imagine saying, "Honey, the water truck is coming!" Then your husband puts down the breakfast cereal and bolts out the door to catch the truck, waving money to indicate he is worth the driver's time. Pamela Bolles, a Loreto resident for 11 years, explained: "The truck used to come three times a week, now it's every 10 days, if we're lucky. We need to be on our toes to get water."

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Childhood Dreams in Playa El Coyote

Childhood Dreams in Playa El Coyote

Location: Near the calm blue waters of Bahia Concepcion, an hour south of Mulege.

Conditions: Under the canopy of a few highly prized trees, sheltered from the hot sun, with just the slightest breeze over the water.

Discussion: I nudged Alyssum, saying, "You've got to see this." I had to interrupt my co-pilot's power nap to see the string of bays below us, shining in impossible colors. Each turn of the road winding along steep cliffs drew gasps. We finally chose our destination, Playa El Coyote.

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Are We Making Bigger Hurricanes

Are We Making Bigger Hurricanes?
In the south of Baja and mainland Mexico, summertime means tropical storms and hurricanes. In Mulegé, an unprecedented three floods occurred in four years, caused by rain-heavy hurricanes. People are claiming it is “global warming.” But is it?

After the 2005 record-breaking season of monsters like Katrina, Wilma, and Dennis, hurricanes became the poster child of climate change. An Inconvenient Truth’s image of a hurricane spewing out of a smoke stack seems to say: we are fueling our own self-destruction.

But I have to wonder, could my tailpipe emissions really create mega storms?  Read More...




 

Voyage of Kiri
Exploring the Effects of Climate on Mexico's Coastline
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