FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Amy Selbach
Illegal
logging DEVASTATING Mexico’s Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
prompts non-profit to launch MoreThanMonarchs.org
-Website
offers community members an opportunity to voice concerns to Mexican
government-
San Diego, CALIFORNIA, February 20, 2007— As monarch butterflies
begin their extraordinary migration from Mexico north to lay their
eggs, illegal logging syndicates gear up to destroy the forest that
serves as their winter sanctuary. The monarch’s amazing 3,000-mile
journey from Canada to Mexico may prove to be in vain in years to
come, if action is not taken to preserve the federally protected
Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, approximately 80 miles west
of Mexico City in Central Mexico.
Outraged
by the destruction of this critical habitat and the civil strife
it is causing in the region, the San Diego based non-profit ECO-LIFE
Foundation has launched www.MoreThanMonarchs.org
(www.masquemonarcas.org
in Spanish). The website is a unique online communications forum
created to support the efforts of indigenous communities to stop
illegal logging practices in the region. MoreThanMonarchs.org provides
a one-of-a-kind platform for villagers, community leaders, government
officials, and other interested parties to expose key issues surrounding
the devastating impact of illegal logging on the environment and
local communities in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.
Bill
Toone, founder of the ECO-LIFE Foundation explains, “By making
this issue public
and telling the real story from communities’ point of view,
MoreThanMonarchs.org hopes to persuade the Mexican government to
enforce the existing laws set up to protect these forests. The wholesale
theft of these trees from local communities can be equated to someone
stealing from your long-term savings account, something most of
these people can ill afford.” The site leverages the communication
power of the Internet directly for the communities, so there is
no room for third party interpretation or distortion of their individual
perspectives.
On
the site, visitors can read first-hand accounts of the effects illegal
logging has on villagers’ livelihoods and natural resources.
The documentation of various issues through letters and a discussion
board creates accountability for the Mexican government and local
law enforcement. According to letters posted by indigenous community
members, individuals who try to intervene and stop the logging are
being threatened and coerced by armed logging syndicates. To date,
the Mexican government has failed to adequately address these illegal
activities and take action against the illegal loggers.
Bruce
Babbit, former Arizona governor and former United States Secretary
of the Interior, Carter Roberts, World Wildlife Fund US CEO and
President, and Lincoln Brower, Yale Ph.D and internationally acclaimed
expert on Monarch butterflies, are also concerned about the situation.
They will be traveling to the region in February to investigate
solutions to end the deforestation of this habitat.
According
to the World Wildlife Fund, (WWF) Illegal Logging Report 2005-2006,
results indicate that deforestation rates are now more than eight
times higher than they were five years ago. Researchers found in
a 28-year period study, the average size of the conserved patches
of forest decreased nearly 90 percent, from 5,000 acres to 500.
At
the current rate of destruction, the integrity of the Monarch Butterfly
Biosphere Reserve may be degraded to a point where it cannot sustain
the monarchs’ habitat beyond 20 to 50 years from now. “If
we act now to put pressure on the Mexican government to enforce
existing laws protecting the reserve, there is still a chance to
salvage this habitat from irreparable damage,” Toone says.
About
ECO-LIFE Foundation
ECO-LIFE
is an international, non-profit conservation organization committed
to protecting nature and natural resources while improving quality
of life for people who depend upon those resources. The non-profit
was founded by Bill Toone, a conservation biologist with more than
25 years of experience in domestic and international conservation.
Learn more by visiting www.MoreThanMonarchs.org
and ECO-LIFE |