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Photo: Ana Rodríguez Carrington (CC BY 2.0)Victory: Biosphere Reserve in Baja California Saved from Toxic Mine
Known as an “ecological treasure house,” the Sierra La Laguna Biosphere Reserve at the southern tip of Baja California will not be spoiled by toxic mine waste, thanks in part to AIDA’s advocacy.
The reserve was once an island, so it’s home to rare plant and animal species. Canyons, swimming holes, and hot springs can be found in its granite mountain range and lowland tropical forests.
Thanks to AIDA and our partners in Mexico, the Mexican government denied an environmental permit for the Paredones Amarillos gold mine, halting the project for the time being. To protect the biosphere reserve, AIDA helped educate community groups and decision makers about the mine's risks. This helped to build the political momentum necessary for the government to deny the permit.
To extract gold from the mountains, the Canadian company Vista Gold proposed to carve out huge quantities of rock—each ton containing a mere gram of gold–-grind it into sludge, and treated it with cyanide. The company planned to dump massive amounts of toxic waste (called “tailings”) behind a dam intended to store it forever. Unfortunately, tailings dams can break for various reasons, as happened at Bolivia’s Porco mine in 1996. When that dam collapsed, more than a quarter million metric tons of tailings flooded the river and contaminated 500 miles (800 km) of waterways in Bolivia, Argentina and Paraguay.
The mine could also cause acid mine drainage. When sulfur-containing rocks are exposed to air and water, sulfuric acid forms, which causes toxic heavy metals to dissolve and drain into the watershed. The risk of acid mine drainage in Sierra La Laguna was significant and the human and environmental cost would have been tremendous: thousands of people and countless wildlife in the reserve rely on its water for survival.
Depleting freshwater is a further threat because mines use tremendous quantities of water. Owing to the scarcity of water in the reserve, Vista Gold proposed to build a plant on the Pacific coast to remove salt from sea water in a highly energy-intensive process, and then pump the water 45 km to the mine site. The desalination plant posed a threat to the endangered leatherback sea turtle.
Singly and together, the mine’s impacts would have devastated a rare jewel, a unique and lush paradise worth saving for future generations.
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AIDA Calls for the Effective Protection of Wetlands in the Americas
The Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA) calls on the Member States of the Ramsar Convention to effectively protect wetlands in the Americas. The Contracting Parties of Latin America must protect and promote the wise use of coral reefs, mangroves and high Andean wetlands in their territories. To achieve this vision, we demand that the Contracting Parties engage in proper management of their wetlands, and commit to undertaking adequate assessments of environmental impact. This is particularly important in regions with tourism development, port and hydroelectric projects, and extractive industries, such as mining and hydraulic fracturing. We ask for the inclusion in the Montreux Record of several of the region’s key wetlands: Panama Bay (Panama), Marismas Nacionales and the Veracruz Reef System National Park (Mexico), as well as Otún Lagoon and the Cienaga Grande de Santa Marta (Colombia). We encourage the Contracting Parties to extend existing mechanisms of participation to ensure that civil society is included in wetlands management.
Read moreStatement by NGOs at Ramsar COP12
By World Wetland Network The non-government NGO sector and civil society greatly appreciates this opportunity to address the 12th Conference of Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on wetlands. We have worked together to prepare this statement through the World Wetland Network, an international alliance of NGOs and civil society organizations, many of whom are focused on one or two wetlands in their local area. These organizations reflect their local cultures and communities and are a considerable force for Ramsar wetland conservation. All present understand the values of wetlands for life on earth. For NGOs and Civil Society groups, these values are very close to our heart, our life’s work. Sometimes even a matter of life and death. Wetlands supply us with fresh, clean water. They are essential to food security, providing water for irrigation, rice and fish to sustain us. Wetlands store carbon to mitigate climate change and reduce the impacts of disaster risk by slowing and storing floodwater. They support a wealth of plants and wildlife that make our world a richer place. Wetlands are our home, sustaining us spiritually and culturally. And we in turn are their custodians. Our stewardship ethic inspires us to work on wetland conservation through many activities: on-ground work, research, monitoring, advocacy, education and community engagement. We now know that our earth has suffered the destruction of 64% of all wetlands at the hands of human development since 1900. NGOs and Civil Society fully support the Ramsar goal to slow, stop and reverse the trend in wetlands loss and degradation world-wide. In 2014, World Wetland Network conducted a global survey of NGOs to explore their relationship with the delivery of Ramsar wetland conservation goals. 190 individuals responded from 52 counties, giving us the chance to hear the collective voice of local people. The survey findings are offered now so that Ramsar Parties can successfully deploy both government and non-government resources to ensure the greatest gain for wetlands, wildlife and people. The survey overwhelmingly showed that NGOs are committed to Ramsar and want to do more. Supporting and enabling volunteers and NGO staff to be engaged in wetland conservation requires resources, but small inputs create big outcomes, leading to better programs for Ramsar sites. Ramsar’s Communication, Education, Participation and Awareness activities require greater advocacy, technical and financial support. Many NGOs have skills that could be more actively used in this process. NGOs are concerned that some governments appear to discourage strategic Ramsar site designations. A means for civil society to highlight potential nominations would be welcomed. Some governments do not actively use Ramsar as a tool to protect wetlands. NGOs reported government inactivity, reduced financial resources and reduced involvement of public officials. NGOs are concerned about inaccurate reporting in the national Ramsar reports. Contracting parties should take responsibility to ensure accurate reporting of wetland status to inform effective decision-making. More needs to be done to enforce site protection. Based on the broad findings of our survey, the World Wetland Network offers the following recommendations for Ramsar consideration: a) Recognize that NGOs often create a longer-term and more continuous link for Ramsar sites than Government Representatives. b) Develop more structured guidance for Ramsar Parties, and National Focal Points, on how to engage civil society. c) Explore options to include more NGOs and civil society organisations in the decision-making process for Ramsar at international, regional and country levels. d) Create avenues for NGO and civil society input into reporting on the state of wetlands, Ramsar site nominations and the Montreux Record. e) Prioritize funding and support for NGOs and civil society organisations that are working on Ramsar listed wetlands. Finally, full and effective collaboration between civil society and contracting parties is critical to achieve wetland conservation at the local level. With regard to the draft resolutions for Ramsar COP12, NGOs are calling for stronger linkages to the NGO and civil society sector in DR2 – the Strategic Plan and DR 9, the CEPA program. We trust that this Ramsar COP12 meeting will help civil society, corporate sector and government partners to work together to protect, restore and promote wetlands.
Read moreThe Montreaux Record: Saving Essential Wetlands
Contamination, deforestation and accelerating urban growth pose serious threats to the health of the world’s wetlands. No tool aimed at protecting these valuable ecosystems should be wasted. The Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental treaty, promotes national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands. The 168 countries that signed the Convention inscribe ecologically essential wetlands within their boundaries on the List of Wetlands of International Importance. By doing so, nations become obligated to protect these sites. Sometimes, however, their commitment is not enough to ensure that ecosystems remain intact. For this reason, the Ramsar Convention created the Montreux Record, a tool to protect, as a manner of priority, wetlands that are or will be gravely threatened by technological development, pollution or human activity. The Record includes sites that are listed as Wetlands of International Importance. Far from being a blacklist or a negative mark for a country, the registry is an opportunity for governments to demonstrate their accountability for protecting natural resources that require urgent attention. Five primary points demonstrate the importance and effectiveness of this tool: Cooperation for Conservation By including a wetland in the Montreaux Record, a country calls attention to the importance of taking measures to conserve the ecological characteristics of the site through national and international cooperation. Prioritization The Montreaux Record is a quick way for countries to assign high priority to a wetland site and obtain the technical support and financing to conserve it. Support and Technical Advice To obtain this special protection, the government must formally solicit the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention and complete a questionnaire with information about the wetland. If it’s determined that the inclusion of the site on the Record is necessary to promote its adequate protection, Ramsar undertakes an advisory mission to the country to provide support and technical advice on appropriate conservation actions. Points for Progress The country may request that the wetland be refused registration once the threats that lead to its inclusion are gone, if it considers that the objectives have been met and the site has regained its environmental balance. The country must request a new advisory visit to the site and complete a survey to show the progress made. Restoring Balance The support received by the Ramsar Secretariat adds to the conservation efforts the country is already developing on a national level. Thus, an at-risk wetland under international protection becomes a key site for restoring the ecological balance of the country. Throughout the Americas, various governments have opted to attract international attention for the conservation of their vulnerable wetlands: Costa Rica has included Palo Verde National Park in the Record, the United States has included Everglades National Park, and Chile has included the Carlos Anwandter Sanctuary. As part of our participation in the 12th Conference of Parties of the Ramsar Convention, taking place in Uruguay this week, AIDA will advocate for the inclusion of two threatened wetlands in the Montreaux Record: the Panama Bay Wetlands and the Veracruz Reef System, important ecological sites threatened, respectively, by urban development and port expansion.
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