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Subject: [acn-l] Gypsum mining closed in Cuatro Cienegas - thank you for
letters
Interested parties (and especially those who wrote letters regarding
this
issue),
In December of last year, I posted a note to a number of lists urgently
requesting letters in support of the Mexican government's closure of
gypsum mining in the Protected Area of Cuatro Cienegas, Coahuila,
Mexico. The conservation issues prompting that closure were explained in
my message (more about Cuatro Cienegas at
http://www.utexas.edu/depts/tnhc/.www/fish/dfc/cuatroc/), but the issue
had moved into the courts where the owner of the mine had managed to
have the government's closure over-ruled. The government needed support,
and many of you provided that. IN NO SMALL PART AS A RESULT OF THE MORE
THAN 200 LETTERS RECEIVED IN SUPPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT'S CLOSURE OF THE
MINE, I am happy to copy below the communication from Dr. Rodolfo Garza
G., Director of Ecology for the state of Coahuila. Dr. Garza concludes
with "APPARENTLY EVERYTHING INDICATES THAT WE HAVE TRIUMPHED! Monday
January 23 at 2:00 PM the last truck left the dunes apparently forever."
Since this closure was imposed by the Mexican federal Attorney General
for the Environment at the request of the federal Secretary of the
Environment, it is very unlikely that such a high level decision will be
over-ruled.
For those interested in details but who do not read spanish, I'll
provide a brief paraphrased translation, followed by the original
message from Dr. Garza.
THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR HELP! Please pass this to friends and colleagues
to whom you may have forwarded the request for letters. I am posting
this to DFC-L, Consbio and ACN-L, the three lists where I originally
posted the request for letters, but I know others circulated it beyond
those lists.
Dean Hendrickson
* more than 200 letters were received supporting the government's
closure of the mine.
* the court hearing had been postponed, and most recently moved to Feb
4.
* On 13 January the federal judge, the state delegate of SEMARNAP, the
delegate of PROFEPA and the state Director of Ecology met to bring
together information relative to the Feb 4 hearing.
* On the same day there was a meeting with the ejiditarios (rural
community of 26 persons) who own the dunes, to inform them of the
closure. They informed that PROYESO, the mining company, paid them $450
US per month (to split among 26 persons) in 1996 for rights to remove
the gypsum from their property. The fee they received from 1993 - 1995
was $64 US. per month. Before that the dunes were mined for 20 years
without payment to the locals.
* On Friday January 20 Secretary Carabias gave final orders to the
federal Attorney General for the Environment to do everything in his
power to suspend exploitation of the dunes.
* Four months after the first closure and subsequent re-opening of
exploitation by PROYESO the dunes were again closed.
The original communication from Dr. Garza follows:
>* Se han recibido mas de 200 cartas apoyando al gobierno en la clausura de
>las mina de yeso
>* Debido a que la ultima audiencia con el juez federal que estaba prevista
>para el 27 de diciembre no se llevs a cabo y se pospuso para el dma 4 de
>febrero,
>* El pasado dma 13 de enero tuvimos una junta con el juez federal el
>Delegado de la SEMARNAP, el delegado de PROFEPA y el Director de Ecologma
>del estado, para aportarle informacmsn que pueda ser de beneficio en la
>desicisn de la audiencia del 4 de febrero,
>* El mismo dma 13 de enero se tubo una reunisn con los ejidatarios dueqos
>de las dunas, para informarles de la situacisn legal de la clausura y nos
>informaron que la empresa PROYESO les ha estado pagando $ 3,500.00
> ( $450 Dlls ) mensuales para 26 ejidatarios. Esta fui una oferta que
>les hicieron en 1996, despues de que les estaban pagando $ 500 pesos/mes ( $ > 64 Dlls/mes ) de 1993 a
1995. No le pagaron nada en los 20 aqos >anteriores !
> * El viernes 20 de enero la Secretaria Julia Carabias tuvo una reunisn con
>el Procurador federal del Medio Ambiente y le dis ordenes terminantes (al
Procurador) de
>ejercer toda su autoridad para que se suspendiera la explotacisn de las >dunas.
>* Despues de 4 meses de que reabris PROYESO la explotacisn de las dunas y
>que saques el area habiendo efectuado un destrozo irreparable,
> EL LUNES 23 DE ENERO A LAS 2 PM. SALIO EL ULTIMO CAMION DE LAS DUNAS
>APARENTEMENTE DE MANERA DEFINITIVA
>* lAS MAS DE 200 CARTAS DE APOYO FUERON UN FACTOR IMPORTANTE PARA EJERCER
>PRESION EN LAS AUTORIDADES DE EJECUTAR LA ACCION DE LA JUSTICIA EN
>BENEFICIO DE LOS RECURSOS NATURALES DE CUATROCIENEGAS, QUE SON PATRIMONIO
>DE LA HUMANIDAD
>* APARENTEMENTE TODO PARECE INDICAR QUE ! TRIUNFAMOS !
-- Dean A. Hendrickson, Curator of Ichthyology, Texas Natural History Collection, R4000, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712-1100, U.S.A.; phone/FAX (512)471-9774 / 9775; e-mail: deanhend at mail.utexas.edu; http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~deanhend/ TNHC data bases etc.- http://www.utexas.edu/depts/tnhc/.www---
Auch: fruehere message:
Cuatro Cienegas mining round 2 - letters requested (fwd)
>From springs at imap2.asu.edu Organization Arizona State University Date Tue, 17 Dec 1996 10:10:08 -0700 Newsgroups rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc,sci.bio.fisheries, Message-ID <Pine.A32.3.91.961217100533.19904B-100000 at research3.asu.edu>
Sorry for crosspostings. The court date has been delayed until December 27, 1996. Any further submissions will help to protect this valuable resource. Please forward to other interested parties. Please read on.
---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 01 Dec 1996 18:10:03 -0600 (CST) From: Dean A. Hendrickson <deanhend at mail.utexas.edu> To: DFC-L at mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu Subject: Cuatro Cienegas mining round 2 - letters requested
Interested parties,
This is an URGENT request for letters supporting the closure of gypsum mining in the Mexican National Protected Area of Cuatro Cienegas, Coahuila, Mexico. For those of you unfamiliar with this case, you'll find more information below, but for those aware of the situation, here's "the bottom line" first - On December 4, the Mexican Federal Agency PROFEPA must plead its case for closure of gypsum mining in the Mexican Federal court in Torreon. In support of their case, Dr. Rodolfo Garza, Secretary of Ecology for the State of Coahuila, has once again requested letters from interested parties. Please help by e-mailing your letters (IMMEDIATELY) to Dr. Garza at rgarza at technet.net.mx. Even very brief notes will be helpful. Also, please pass this request for letters on to others you feel may be interested.
Now for some background - In early July of this year I circulated a request for letters supporting the closure, by Mexican Federal and State Government agencies, of gypsum mining in the valley of Cuatro Cienegas. This small desert valley with its thousands of springs and diverse aquatic and terrestrial habitats was declared a National Protected Area in November 1994, but mining was continuing inside the protected area boundary. Many responded to this plea, and their letters were in large part responsible for imposition of the closure by the Federal government. Since then, however, the owner of the mine objected and filed suit, and despite this being a National Protected Area, and despite the pleas of the Federal and State Environmental agencies, as well as the many letters from many NGO's and private individuals supporting the closure, the courts again opened the area to mining and miners are now back at work 7 days a week.
The unique gypsum dunes of Cuatro Cienegas, home to a number of endemic plants and of great scenic beauty, are already severely depleted and at present rates of exploitation it will not be long before they are completely gone. Local residents are very much interested in conservation of their valley, with it's highly endemic, and much-studied, fauna and flora, yet lack economic resources. Development of ecotourism to promote conservation and support the local economy is a very real possibility. The scenic gypsum dunes would likely be a key attraction for tourism, so mining is not only impacting the endemic biodiversity, but also the long term prospects for a sustainable local economy. The Federal court rejected the closure apparently on the basis of arguments by the mining company that it unfairly impacted economically on the unemployed miners (about 90 of them). The Coahuila State Ecology office of Dr. Garza, had, however, committed to employing the same miners in dune restoration and other activities for a minimum of a year while also helping them find other jobs. Letters can help demonstrate to the court that ecotourism may be a viable, long term economic benefit of conservation action in Cuatro Cienegas.
More information on Cuatro Cienegas may be found at:
http://www.utexas.edu/depts/tnhc/.www/fish/dfc/cuatroc/
and in an article (Mexico's Desert Aquarium) in the October 1995 National Geographic magazine.
Thank you once again for your letters,
Dean Hendrickson
-- Dean A. Hendrickson, Curator of Ichthyology, Texas Natural History Collection, R4000, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712-1100, U.S.A.; phone/FAX (512)471-9774 / 9775; e-mail: deanhend at mail.utexas.edu; http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~deanhend/ TNHC data bases etc.- http://www.utexas.edu/depts/tnhc/.www
---Cuatro Cienegas Fische (u.a.):
POECILIIDAE - Livcbearers / Vivmparos Gambusia longispinis Minckley - Cuatro Ciinegas gambusia / guayacsn de Cuatro Ciinegas Gambusia marshi Minckley & Craddock - robust gambusia / guayacsn de los Nadadores |P| Xiphophorus gordoni Miller & Minckley - Cuatro Ciinegas platyfish / Espada (o Platy) de Cuatro Ciinegas |A| |P| FUNDULIDAE - Topminnows Lucania interioris Hubbs & Miller - Cuatro Ciinegas killifish / sardinilla de Cuatro Ciinegas |A| CYPRINODONTlDAE - Pupfishes / Cachorritos Cyprinodon atrorus Miller - bandfin pupfish / cachorrito del Bolson |A| |P| Cyprinodon bifasciatus Miller - twoline pupfish / cachorrito de Cuatro Ciinegas
[siehe: http://www.utexas.edu/depts/tnhc/.www/fish/dfc/cuatroc/cclife.html]
---- Ich kann fuer Sie immer noch Literaturrecherchen fahren. Message genuegt!