Graphic by Ahjali Rao-Herel ’22
BY CORRINE CELUPICA-LIU ’23
In Ocampo, a small town in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua, concerns about the future of keystone forest grounds is attracting wide attention.
The forests of Ocampo provide many important ecological services to the area. They help maintain the prosperity of mountain springs that provide fresh water to multiple towns in the surrounding area. Additionally, the Ocampo forests are the site of an annual mass migration of monarch butterflies, which spend winter there before heading north.
These forests are currently under pressure from a multitude of sources. The illegal logging industry threatens to decimate these forests faster than their replenishment rate. The presence of multiple cartels in the area fighting to dominate the lucrative illegal logging industry has added increased strain on the persistence of these forests, on top of preexisting stress from the ecologically-taxing avocado industry.
Local activists have attempted to bring attention to the value of these forests by convincing locals to replant trees on previously cleared land, as well as through leading marches and demonstrations to keep loggers out of the forests. However, many of these activists face dangerous opposition from cartels and other special interest groups. With the complexity of cartel groups, government inactivity and the lack of protection for environmental activists, many are concerned not only about the future of these forests, but for the future of environmental activism in the area as well.
“A concern of mine, personally, is that when environmentalists of color are silenced and threatened, our expertise is diminished and our histories are lost,” Professor Olivia Aguilar from the Mount Holyoke environmental studies department said.
“The death of activists seems to be spreading this fear and belief that activists will be murdered if they get too loud,” Joan Kang ’23 said. “It pushes a choice on activists: do I continue fighting for the environment even if it means I risk harm to myself, family and community?”
Another area of concern is how the Mexican government should respond to the lack of employment opportunity for local citizens, as well as cartel influence in the forests.
“The government’s ‘kingpin’ strategy of going after the leaders of major cartels has only had the effect of splintering them into many smaller groups that are hard to combat and fight each other, and that has led to civilian self-defense militias to form to fight them. Professor of Politics Andrew Reiter said. “In areas of the country like this, you have lots of different armed actors fighting for control of territory, and the government doesn’t have a strong enough presence there to control it.”
“As long as there is a market for illegal logging, it will not stop their practices because we live in a world where capitalism is the main drive, despite many ecological and political injustices,” Paola Granados ’22 said. “Many poor people are driven to this in desperation. There should be more environmental education and training for both citizens and the government to teach people how important these ecosystems are to the long term sustainability of our planet.”