Abstract: Environmental Violence and the Socio-environmental (de)Evolution of a Landscape in the San Quintín Valley

 

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Environmental Violence and the Socio-environmental (de)Evolution of a Landscape in the San Quintín Valley

 

by  Nemer E. Narchi, Sula E. Vanderplank, Jesús Medina-Rodríguez, Enrique Alfaro-Mercado

"The social and environmental effects of industrial agriculture in the San Quintín Valley of Baja California are closely related. An environmental history of the valley from European contact to the present demonstrates that modern schemes of globalized agricultural production erode biological diversity while fostering labor exploitation. A critical model drawing on the concept of environmental violence— historically structured asymmetrical power relations that are reproduced and maintained to foster capital accumulation—describes how neoliberalism shapes and exploits agro-industrial landscapes and livelihoods in San Quintín to produce a crisis of underproduction.

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Exclusive, El proyecto de Ley General de Bodiversidad y su insensible afrenta al México Profundo

El proyecto de Ley General de Bodiversidad y su insensible afrenta al México Profundo

Nemer E. Narchi
El Colegio de Michoacán, A.C. / Red Temática sobre Patrimonio Biocultural, CONACyT

México, además de ser un país mega-biodiverso, es la cuna de 63 culturas originarias y una multi-tud de comunidades rurales mestizas igualmente importantes.  Al convivir por largos tiempos, la riqueza biológica y el ingenio cultural, que se mezclan en una constante relación etnobiológica , han forjado una síntesis biocultural. La expresión más significativa de esta síntesis bien puede verse representada por la vasta agrodiversidad mesoamericana. No obstante, la síntesis biocultu-ral apreciada en México no está limitada a los cultivos que se han generado en el continente y su importancia radica en la constante generación de: modos de vida, identidades étnicas, tradiciones culinarias, cosmovisiones, sistemas de creencias, sistemas medicinales y de salud, estrategias de manejo de recursos naturales y, por último, la generación de numerosos agroecosistemas. En suma, la síntesis biocultural que por miles de años ha ocurrido en el territorio mexicano, como en muchos otros, genera un diverso e invaluable patrimonio.

La existencia de este patrimonio es en extremo importante, no solo para sus directos poseedores y salvaguardas, sino para todo aquel que goce y disfrute de los servicios ambientales y de calidad de vida que los paisajes bioculturales generan.  Lamentablemente, el derecho de las comunidades rurales e indígenas a gozar y manejar la naturaleza se ha visto amenazado en últimas fechas. La amenaza es producto de una nueva iniciativa de ley: “El proyecto de Ley General de Biodiversi-dad”, impulsada por la senadora Ninfa Salinas a finales de 2016.

Aunque la senadora afirma que la iniciativa intenta proteger la biodiversidad con un enfoque mo-derno, distintos organismos académicos y de la sociedad civil ven en esta ley un retroceso en el manejo de los bienes comunes y un intento de despojo hacia las sociedades originarias y campe-sinas. Por principio, la iniciativa, con sus 237 numerales  y 11 artículos transitorios, se enfoca en distribuir la competencia en materia ambiental ente distintas instituciones gubernamentales, de-jando de lado lo tocante al reconocimiento de los derechos de los ciudadanos para gozar y explo-tar la biodiversidad. Otro problema es que omite los derechos humanos de los pueblos indígenas, y en general de los ciudadanos, ya antes establecidos en acuerdos y tratados internacionales, en-tre los que rescato el Artículo 2 constitucional y el Convenio 169 de la Organización Internacional del Trabajo. Por último, representa una afrenta a la propiedad intelectual asociada con el manejo local de la biodiversidad.

Dejo al calce la opinión de la Red Temática sobre Patrimonio Biocultural del Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, de la cual soy orgulloso miembro. Invito a los lectores a recoger otras opi-niones acerca de esta iniciativa, principalmente las de la Red Nacional de Áreas Naturales Prote-gidas (RENANP) , El Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA)  y la opinión del Dr. Eduardo Corona del Centro INAH-Morelos

Abstract, The Yasuní-ITT Initiative: Toward New Imaginaries by Matthieu Le Quang

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The Yasuní-ITT Initiative: Toward New Imaginaries 
by Matthieu Le Quang

The Yasuní-ITT (Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini) Initiative consisted of leaving the oil underground in a part of Yasuní National Park in the Ecuadorean Amazon, one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. The financial compensation was to be invested in renewable energy, protection of biodiversity, and conservation of 44 protected areas. This initiative proposed a change of imaginaries. One of its most important contributions was questioning the fundamental role of oil in our capitalist and productivist society. With this project, which was linked to the National Plan for Living Well, Ecuador was moving toward a post-petroleum-based society and the pursuit of better living standards through bio-knowledge.

Abstract, The Yasuní-ITT Initiative: Toward New Imaginaries by Matthieu Le Quang

:::::: Abstract ::::::

The Yasuní-ITT Initiative: Toward New Imaginaries 
by Matthieu Le Quang

The Yasuní-ITT (Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini) Initiative consisted of leaving the oil underground in a part of Yasuní National Park in the Ecuadorean Amazon, one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. The financial compensation was to be invested in renewable energy, protection of biodiversity, and conservation of 44 protected areas. This initiative proposed a change of imaginaries. One of its most important contributions was questioning the fundamental role of oil in our capitalist and productivist society. With this project, which was linked to the National Plan for Living Well, Ecuador was moving toward a post-petroleum-based society and the pursuit of better living standards through bio-knowledge.

Political Report # 1049 Corrupted Idealism: Bolivia's Compromise Between Development and the Environment

Featured Photo: Marcha Tipnis en San Francisco  By: Candelaria Herrera Vasquez By: Kevin Munoz, Research Associate at the Council on Hemispheric Aff

June 8 marked a decisive policy shift for Bolivian President Evo Morales' government:  lawmakers passed legislation allowing for increased hydrocarbon exploration in the country's few remaining "protected areas," most notably the Madidi National Park.[1] Transnational and foreign petroleum concessions already overlap 75 percent of Madidi National Park, prompting fears over increased environmental degradation in the country.[2] The controversial implications of such a law have precipitated a debate over whether President Morales has prioritized economic growth over a previous emphasis on environmental and indigenous preservation. The unprecedented growth and stability under the administration of Morales and his party, Movement for Socialism (MAS), give legitimacy and support for such environmentally dangerous legislation. Most noteworthy, extreme poverty has shrunk from 35 percent of the population to just 18 percent since Morales took office in 2006.[3] Still, his conflicting economic and environmental policies have led to devastating environmental consequences for Bolivia.  A policy both environmentally sustainable and economically promising may be challenging to implement, but is by no means impossible and by all means necessary.  The (Almost) Championing of Mother Earth Bolivia-President Morales in particular-used to be a beacon of environmental activism.  At the 2009 Copenhagen Summit, Morales arose as a much-needed voice for environmentalists worldwide, making ardent calls to limit temperature increases in the next century to just 1°C.[4] Furthermore, Morales demanded that an international court on climate change be established-one whose primary function would be to prosecute the "greatest" criminals against the environment.[5] Moreover, in 2010, Bolivia's proposal to make access to water a universal right was approved by the United Nations (UN), situating Bolivia as a model of environmental activism.[6] The UN General Assembly went so far as to name Morales the "World Hero of Mother Earth," a grandiose title that precipitated the 2010 "Law of Mother Earth," a historic bill passed by Morales' government guaranteeing rights for the Earth itself.[7] The law specifically enshrines seven rights to Mother Earth: life, environmental diversity, water, clean air, equilibrium (or the right to a natural balance in the ecosystem), restoration, and pollution-free living.[8] Perhaps most groundbreaking is the right of an individual to bring forth an issue to court on behalf of Mother Earth.[9] However, the track record for this innovative legislation is less than stellar, making the so-called "World Hero of Mother Earth" an inconsistent environmental champion.