21 de julio de 2008
- El valor anualizado del capital natural de una hectárea de manglar a diez años, es más de 600 veces el valor que fija el gobierno mexicano para este ecosistema
San Diego, California.- Un grupo de científicos mexicanos y extranjeros (1) demostraron que los manglares del Golfo de California mantienen más de 26 pesquerías de alto valor económico y proporcionan beneficios del orden de los 700 mil dólares por hectárea para cada generación poblacional en México(2).
Los investigadores determinaron que una hectárea de mangle rojo (el manglar de franja que está directamente en contacto con el mar) en el Golfo de California mantiene una productividad pesquera anual de unos 37 mil dólares. Anualizando esta productividad pesquera como parte del “interés” que arroja el capital natural, los investigadores calcularon el valor de largo plazo del ecosistema de manglar rojo para una generación poblacional (30 años), como superior a los 700 mil dólares, 600 veces más que el valor que fijado por el gobierno Mexicano para este ecosistema.
A través de una combinación de estudios de campo, análisis geográficos, y valoraciones económicas, también encontraron que trece regiones costeras del Golfo de California produjeron un promedio de 11,500 toneladas de peces y jaibas derivados de los manglares por año, entre 2001 y 2005, generando alrededor de 19 millones de dólares para los pescadores locales.
Los manglares del Golfo de California son el hogar de una variedad de especies de peces, moluscos, y crustáceos, y proveen refugio para los juveniles de especies de valor comercial como pargos, robalos y lisas. Según el estudio, más de 30 por ciento de las pesquerías artesanales de esta región están formadas por especies que pasan parte de su ciclo vital en los manglares de la zona.
El valor anual de los servicios ecosistémicos que proveen los manglares a nivel mundial para las poblaciones humanas está estimado en más de 1,600 millones de dólares. Estos servicios incluyen regulación climática, mantenimiento de la disponibilidad de agua, control de la erosión, captura y tratamiento de contaminantes en el agua, producción de alimentos, y usos recreativos. A pesar de su valor, el Instituto Nacional de Ecología (INE) y la Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (Conabio) han señalado que los manglares de México vienen disminuyendo desde hace décadas a un ritmo de 2.5 por ciento anual (3).
“Aunque la densidad de asentamientos humanos es aún baja en los manglares del Golfo de California, hay presiones crecientes para transformar los manglares en granjas camaronícolas y desarrollos turísticos. El valor encontrado por el estudio representa sólo un límite inferior en los servicios ambientales de los manglares, porque sólo se utilizaron los valores de las pesquerías y sin incluir los beneficios provenientes de la regulación hidrológica, la protección de las costas, el uso recreativo o el turismo ecológico”, dijo Octavio Aburto, investigador de la Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur y del Scripps Institution of Oceanography/ UC San Diego.
“El desarrollo costero sin ordenamiento ecológico efectivo está amenazando de manera creciente todas las costas mexicanas y las de los mares tropicales en general. Este estudio es un primer esfuerzo interdisciplinario para evaluar los servicios ambientales que proveen los manglares para el mantenimiento de las pesquerías, y los autores esperamos que sirva para subrayar la necesidad urgente de proteger los manglares mexicanos y de evaluar de manera seria los servicios ambientales que provee el riquísimo y vasto capital natural del país”, explicó Exequiel Ezcurra, director del Centro de Investigaciones de la Biodiversidad de las Californias en el Museo de Historia Natural de San Diego.
“Todo el Golfo de California es importante para la conservación, pero los manglares de la región son una parte vital del patrimonio biológico del Golfo y no deben escatimarse esfuerzos para protegerlos.” aseguró Gustavo Danemann, director de Pronatura Noroeste A.C.
“Los bosques de manglar son esenciales, en el largo plazo, para el bienestar de las poblaciones costeras cuyo modo de vida depende de las pesquerías artesanales y de ecosistemas integrales y sanos”, señaló Enric Sala, investigador asociado de la National Geographic Society e investigador del Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes, en Cataluña, España.
“Debido a que los derechos de propiedad para ecosistemas críticos como los manglares no han sido claramente definidos, es necesario establecer y resaltar los beneficios económicos que brindan a los pobladores de áreas costeras”, dijo Jason Murray, egresado del departamento de economía de la Universidad de California, San Diego, y actualmente profesor de la Universidad de Carolina del Sur.
“Nuestros resultados sugieren valores superiores para los manglares, comparado con evaluaciones anteriores, lo cual puede ser muy relevante en las decisiones futuras para el desarrollo del Golfo de California; si los manglares serán transformados por algún tipo de desarrollo, deben ser compensados los usuarios y pobladores que dependen de los servicios que prestan”, concluyó el profesor Murray.
Notas:
1. Los autores son: Octavio Aburto-Oropeza* ,†,**, Exequiel Ezcurra‡, Gustavo Danemann§, Víctor Valdez§, Jason Murray¶, y Enric Sala*,††
* Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, EUA. † Departamento de Biología Marina, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur, México. ‡ San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego, CA, EUA. § Marine Conservation and Sustainable Fisheries Program, Pronatura Noroeste Ensenada, Baja California, México. ¶ Department of Economics, Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, Columbia, EUA. †† Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CSIC), Blanes, España.
2. Los Manglares del Golfo de California incrementan la Producción Pesquera publicado en: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 21 de julio de 2008.
3. Evaluación preliminar de las tasas de pérdida de superficie de manglar en México. Instituto Nacional de Ecología. Septiembre 2005.
Más información con Octavio Aburto, Tel. en San Diego: 001-619-985- 9945, email: maburto@ucsd. edu
Juan Carlos Cantú
Director de Programas
Defenders of Wildlife de México
tel. 5596 2108
fax. 5245 8300
e-mail jccantu@defenders. org
Showing posts with label Baja California. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baja California. Show all posts
03 April 2007
Baja California LNG terminal cancelled
World War Four report
Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Mon, 04/02/2007 - 15:17.
Talli Nauman writes for Mexico's El Universal, April 2:
Environmentalists are rejoicing over the cancellation of a liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal project that the federal government had licensed Chevron Texaco to undertake adjacent to the Coronado Islands proposed protected area near Ensenada on the Pacific Coast of Baja California state.
The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) announced March 26 that it would refrain from its investigation of a citizens' complaint over the megaproject after the Mexican Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat (Semarnat) revoked permission for the construction 11 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. The revocation was a response to Chevron Texaco’s Feb. 15 notification to Semarnat that it would not pursue the proposal. The secretariat had approved the company's environmental impact statement on Sept. 15, 2004.
Some 25 environmental organizations had sued over the plant, which would have used sea water to heat super-cooled liquid gas from far-off lands to its natural state for transfer to the U.S. pipeline grid. They were unable to fetch a remedy in Mexican courts due to an exorbitant bond of US$6.4 million set for appeals hearings. So activists demanded the CEC investigate Mexico’s alleged law breaking in granting the permit.
They noted that Semarnat’s National Biodiversity Commission (Conabio) has classified the Coronado Islands as an "Important Area for the Conservation of Birds" and a "Priority Maritime Region." On July 3, 2003, the Congress mandated federal agencies promote a decree to create a natural protected area for the Baja California Pacific islands, including the Coronado Islands.
Opponents say the LNG terminal would negatively impact the islands' species with light pollution; potential for a catastrophic explosion; disturbances from construction, operation, and supertanker supply routes; increased likelihood of spills and discharge of petroleum products; greater chances of rat introduction to the islands; as well as intake, chlorination, and discharge of 188,000,000 gallons of seawater per day. Of particular concern was the effect on the endangered Xantus' murrelet, a penguin-like seabird whose largest known breeding colony is on the Coronado Islands.
By locating the terminal in Mexico, Chevron Texaco would avoid stringent U.S. and California state laws. "In this respect, and in many others, the terminal is an energy maquiladora project reminiscent of the pre-NAFTA flight of environmentally destructive projects across borders to avoid environmental safeguards," petitioners' legal representatives at the University of Denver's Environmental Law Clinical Partnership stated. Their briefs were filed on behalf of The Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace Mexico, Alfonso Aguirre of the Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas, Shaye Wolf, American Bird Conservancy, Los Angeles Audubon Society, Pacific Environment and Resources Center, and Wildcoast.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was ratified on the condition that it be accompanied by an environmental side accord, which created the CEC. The commission is charged with overseeing comparable environmental laws and enforcement in the signatory countries of Mexico, the United States and Canada.
Former President Vicente Fox’s administration tried to block the CEC's international inquiry and cover up the very existence of the investigation attempt. However, in the new administration of President Felipe Calderón, the CEC Secretariat announced Jan. 18 that it would go ahead with the review. It was shortly afterward that Chevron Texaco thought better of its plans and dropped them, nipping the environmental law query in the bud.
Unfortunately, similar threats loom around the country as other LNG terminal proposals proceed. They include Sempra-Shell's Energía Costa Azul in Ensenada; Shell's in Altamira, Tampaulipas; the Federal Electricity Commission's in Manzanillo, Colima; Repsol YPF's in Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacan; the port authority's in Topolobampo, Sinaloa; and Sonora Pacific's in Puerto Libertad, Sonora.
Stakeholders should take every opportunity to voice their opinion on the advisability of these schemes, especially considering that cleaner, more reliable sources of domestic, renewable energy are viable options in many cases.
Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Mon, 04/02/2007 - 15:17.
Talli Nauman writes for Mexico's El Universal, April 2:
Environmentalists are rejoicing over the cancellation of a liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal project that the federal government had licensed Chevron Texaco to undertake adjacent to the Coronado Islands proposed protected area near Ensenada on the Pacific Coast of Baja California state.
The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) announced March 26 that it would refrain from its investigation of a citizens' complaint over the megaproject after the Mexican Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat (Semarnat) revoked permission for the construction 11 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. The revocation was a response to Chevron Texaco’s Feb. 15 notification to Semarnat that it would not pursue the proposal. The secretariat had approved the company's environmental impact statement on Sept. 15, 2004.
Some 25 environmental organizations had sued over the plant, which would have used sea water to heat super-cooled liquid gas from far-off lands to its natural state for transfer to the U.S. pipeline grid. They were unable to fetch a remedy in Mexican courts due to an exorbitant bond of US$6.4 million set for appeals hearings. So activists demanded the CEC investigate Mexico’s alleged law breaking in granting the permit.
They noted that Semarnat’s National Biodiversity Commission (Conabio) has classified the Coronado Islands as an "Important Area for the Conservation of Birds" and a "Priority Maritime Region." On July 3, 2003, the Congress mandated federal agencies promote a decree to create a natural protected area for the Baja California Pacific islands, including the Coronado Islands.
Opponents say the LNG terminal would negatively impact the islands' species with light pollution; potential for a catastrophic explosion; disturbances from construction, operation, and supertanker supply routes; increased likelihood of spills and discharge of petroleum products; greater chances of rat introduction to the islands; as well as intake, chlorination, and discharge of 188,000,000 gallons of seawater per day. Of particular concern was the effect on the endangered Xantus' murrelet, a penguin-like seabird whose largest known breeding colony is on the Coronado Islands.
By locating the terminal in Mexico, Chevron Texaco would avoid stringent U.S. and California state laws. "In this respect, and in many others, the terminal is an energy maquiladora project reminiscent of the pre-NAFTA flight of environmentally destructive projects across borders to avoid environmental safeguards," petitioners' legal representatives at the University of Denver's Environmental Law Clinical Partnership stated. Their briefs were filed on behalf of The Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace Mexico, Alfonso Aguirre of the Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas, Shaye Wolf, American Bird Conservancy, Los Angeles Audubon Society, Pacific Environment and Resources Center, and Wildcoast.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was ratified on the condition that it be accompanied by an environmental side accord, which created the CEC. The commission is charged with overseeing comparable environmental laws and enforcement in the signatory countries of Mexico, the United States and Canada.
Former President Vicente Fox’s administration tried to block the CEC's international inquiry and cover up the very existence of the investigation attempt. However, in the new administration of President Felipe Calderón, the CEC Secretariat announced Jan. 18 that it would go ahead with the review. It was shortly afterward that Chevron Texaco thought better of its plans and dropped them, nipping the environmental law query in the bud.
Unfortunately, similar threats loom around the country as other LNG terminal proposals proceed. They include Sempra-Shell's Energía Costa Azul in Ensenada; Shell's in Altamira, Tampaulipas; the Federal Electricity Commission's in Manzanillo, Colima; Repsol YPF's in Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacan; the port authority's in Topolobampo, Sinaloa; and Sonora Pacific's in Puerto Libertad, Sonora.
Stakeholders should take every opportunity to voice their opinion on the advisability of these schemes, especially considering that cleaner, more reliable sources of domestic, renewable energy are viable options in many cases.
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