Federico Reyes Heroles
I listen to the relentless official spots, echoes of September 15: the great Mexico, “…the land where we all help each other,” naturally supportive. Now the Navy Secretariat is trying to mitigate the harsh blow. How much do they cost us? Do they really strengthen us as a nation?
Last Sunday, Excélsior published a solid and heartbreaking article on the destruction of the “Great Water Forest,” as it is called. It is made up of territories from three entities: Mexico City, Morelos, and the State of Mexico. It is an area of privileged forests and lakes that constitute a wooded corridor. Ajusco and its mountain range are the great representatives of this forest. It watches us silently from the south of the capital. The wealth of the Great Forest spreads towards Cuernavaca and, in particular, to the Chichinautzin Protected Natural Area in Morelos, that beautiful mountain range that descends from Tepozteco towards the hot lands. Malinalco, located in the State of Mexico, also belongs to this privileged corridor, which serves not only as a lung for tens of millions of people but also as a generous recipient of water that arrives through open and underground rivers. It is a treasure of those Mexicans whom the government holds up as angelic beings.
For decades, Ajusco has been crying out in desperation: illegal logging has left us with a growing treeless landscape. The highest point of this mountain range is almost 4,000 meters. The tree line of the Valley of Mexico and its surroundings is approximately the same, at 4019 m. We also see it in Nevado de Toluca, Popocatépetl, and Iztaccíhuatl. The humidity and temperature conditions vary between them. The dramatic thing is not being able to see the bare summit of Ajusco, where snow is (or was) visible from time to time. The drama lies in its rapid descent down its slopes.
Excélsior reports that the 235,000-hectare Bosque de Agua is home to 10% of our country’s biodiversity, comprising 3,000 species of plants, 350 species of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, and 195 species of birds. Deer, teporingos, hawks, owls, pumas, and axolotls. This “great natural sponge” is what allows the aquifers to recharge. It is estimated that the Gran Bosque de Agua supplies around 70% of the water for Mexico City, Cuernavaca, and Toluca. It also regulates the climate by capturing carbon dioxide. Morenista deputy Judith Vanegas Tapia, president of the Rural Development Commission of the capital’s Congress, denounced illegal logging and gave another alarming fact: because of it, “…in just 30 years, 40% of forest cover has been lost…” Illegal timber circulates on our country’s roads and highways and is traded without any control.
At the annual meeting of Transparency International, I attended an interesting presentation titled “Forestry and Corruption.” If I remember correctly, it was the representatives of Botswana, one of the nations that has made a real leap in its development, who presented their achievements. The key was a device, about the size of a music amplifier, that identified illegal timber. It was as simple as inserting a tiny sample of the transported wood, allowing the device to use DNA to determine whether it was legal or illegal.
The congresswoman spoke of coordinated efforts between government agencies, but nothing is stopping the logging. Alicia Bárcena, the head of Semarnat, whose ability and sensitivity few doubt, is promoting a collaboration agreement. Excellent. However, the budget for Protected Natural Areas has been cut once again. It is at its lowest level in 21 years, 10 pesos per hectare. In the destruction of the Great Forest, corruption is once again the central actor.
Why should we rend our garments, invoking national sovereignty in the face of phantasmagorical invasions, when the Mexican state ends at the Zempoala Lagoons?
The US is not going to invade us, but the angels of solidarity have already invaded us.
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