Environment Disadvantage -4wkj-ndi

Cuba

Cuban Biodiversity loss cause less clean water and fertile land

González 5/7 (Ivet Gonzalez, Co-editor of the Inter Press Service News Agency, “Cuba Wakes Up to Costs of Climate Change Effects”, May, 7, 2013, http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/06/cuba-wakes-up-to-costs-of-climate-change-effects/, MS)

“Climate change effects reduce biodiversity, cause a decline in quality of life, change landscapes and have enormous social consequences. But what does all this mean in economic terms?” asks Perdomo, a researcher at the Centre for Environmental Studies and Services in Villa Clara, 268 kilometres from Havana.¶ In an interview with IPS, she said that this kind of analysis should be given more attention when decisions are being made about how to protect the environment, and when planning ecological projects, defining environmental education messages and programmes and planning construction or other works that could harm vulnerable areas.¶ “One way of determining the value of a service, resource or ecosystem is to consider the cost of replacing it if it were not available,” she said. “What losses are caused by a tropical cyclone or a prolonged drought? How much would it cost to take clean water to arable lands left without water sources?”¶ Related IPS Articles¶ Greening Havana¶ Spreading Climate Literacy in Cuba¶ ENVIRONMENT-CUBA: 'Forest Ranger' Looks After Havana's Trees¶ In Cuba, as in other Caribbean countries, the effects of global warming will have the greatest impact on coastal areas, although the whole island will be increasingly affected by extreme weather events, such as heat waves, prolonged periods of drought and heavy rains. Potable water and fertile land will be scarcer and biodiversity will be diminished.¶ Some 80 coastal settlements are likely to be affected and 15 could disappear by 2050 if the Cuban government does not implement adaptation measures in response to the prediction that, by then, 2.32 percent of the national territory will be permanently under water, according to the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment.

Commercialism kills Cuban ecosystems

Dean 7 (Cornelia Dean is a science writer for the New York Times, where she writes mostly about environmental issues and science policy, “Conserving Cuba, After the Embargo” http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/25/science/25cuba.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&) BC

Through accidents of geography and history, Cuba is a priceless ecological resource. That is why many scientists are so worried about what will become of it after Fidel Castro and his associates leave power and, as is widely anticipated, the American government relaxes or ends its trade embargo.Cuba has avoided much environmental degradation in recent decades, but now hotel developments are seen extending into the water in Cayo Coco. More Photos >Cuba, by far the region’s largest island, sits at the confluence of the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Its mountains, forests, swamps, coasts and marine areas are rich in plants and animals, some seen nowhere else.And since the imposition of the embargo in 1962, and especially with the collapse in 1991 of the Soviet Union, its major economic patron, Cuba’s economy has stagnated.Cuba has not been free of development, including Soviet-style top-down agricultural and mining operations and, in recent years, an expansion of tourism. But it also has an abundance of landscapes that elsewhere in the region have been ripped up, paved over, poisoned or otherwise destroyed in the decades since the Cuban revolution, when development has been most intense. Once the embargo ends, the island could face a flood of investors from the United States and elsewhere, eager to exploit those landscapes.Conservationists, environmental lawyers and other experts, from Cuba and elsewhere, met last month in Cancún, Mexico, to discuss the island’s resources and how to continue to protect them.Cuba has done “what we should have done — identify your hot spots of biodiversity and set them aside,” said Oliver Houck, a professor of environmental law at Tulane University Law School who attended the conference.In the late 1990s, Mr. Houck was involved in an effort, financed in part by the MacArthur Foundation, to advise Cuban officials writing new environmental laws.But, he said in an interview, “an invasion of U.S. consumerism, a U.S.-dominated future, could roll over it like a bulldozer” when the embargo ends.By some estimates, tourism in Cuba is increasing 10 percent annually. At a minimum, Orlando Rey Santos, the Cuban lawyer who led the law-writing effort, said in an interview at the conference, “we can guess that tourism is going to increase in a very fast way” when the embargo ends.“It is estimated we could double tourism in one year,” said Mr. Rey, who heads environmental efforts at the Cuban ministry of science, technology and environment.About 700 miles long and about 100 miles wide at its widest, Cuba runs from Haiti west almost to the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. It offers crucial habitat for birds, like Bicknell’s thrush, whose summer home is in the mountains of New England and Canada, and the North American warblers that stop in Cuba on their way south for the winter.Zapata Swamp, on the island’s southern coast, may be notorious for its mosquitoes, but it is also known for its fish, amphibians, birds and other creatures. Among them is the Cuban crocodile, which has retreated to Cuba from a range that once ran from the Cayman Islands to the Bahamas.Cuba has the most biologically diverse populations of freshwater fish in the region. Its relatively large underwater coastal shelves are crucial for numerous marine species, including some whose larvae can be carried by currents into waters of the United States, said Ken Lindeman, a marine biologist at Florida Institute of Technology.Dr. Lindeman, who did not attend the conference but who has spent many years studying Cuba’s marine ecology, said in an interview that some of these creatures were important commercial and recreational species like the spiny lobster, grouper or snapper.Like corals elsewhere, those in Cuba are suffering as global warming raises ocean temperatures and acidity levels. And like other corals in the region, they reeled when a mysterious die-off of sea urchins left them with algae overgrowth. But they have largely escaped damage frompollution,boattrafficanddestructivefishingpractices.Diving in them “is like going back in time 50 years,” said David Guggenheim, a conference organizer and an ecologist and member of the advisory board of the Harte Research Institute, which helped organize the meeting along with the Center for International Policy, a private group in Washington.In a report last year, the World Wildlife Fund said that “in dramatic contrast” to its island neighbors, Cuba’s beaches, mangroves, reefs, seagrass beds and other habitats were relatively well preserved. Their biggest threat, the report said, was “the prospect of sudden and massive growth in mass tourism when the U.S. embargo lifts.” To prepare for that day, researchers from a number of American institutions and organizations are working on ecological conservation in Cuba, including Harte, the Wildlife Conservation Society, universities like Tulane and Georgetown, institutions like the American Museum of Natural History and the New York Botanical Garden, and others. What they are studying includes coral health, fish stocks, shark abundance, turtle migration and land use patterns.Cuban scientists at the conference noted that this work continued a tradition of collaboration that dates from the mid-19th century, when Cuban researchers began working with naturalists from the Smithsonian Institution. In the 20th century, naturalists from Harvard and the University of Havana worked together for decades

Oil drilling in Cuba would devastate biodiversity.

Kozloff 10 (Nikolas , writer for the Huffington Post and PhD in Latin American History from Oxford, , “Left Must Fine Tune its Position on Cuba Embargo in Light of Oil Spill,” Monga Bay, May 26, Online: http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0526-kozloff_cuba.html) From an environmental point of view, the prospect of offshore oil development going forward is not something to be taken lightly. Cuba is the most biologically diverse of all Caribbean islands and sports spectacular white sand beaches, vast coral reefs, and a wide range of fish populations. Cuba’s coastline and mangroves serve as breeding grounds for hundreds of species of fish as well as other marine organisms. Ocean currents carry important fish larvae from Cuba into U.S. waters, which in turn help to replenish ailing American fisheries. The U.S. and Cuba share an ancient deepwater coral system stretching all the way up to North Carolina. In addition, Cuba has more than 4,000 islets which support important reef fish such as grouper. The islets also support sea turtles, dolphins and manatees [the latter already in danger as a result of BP’s oil spill as I recently pointed out]. Crucially important, the islets serve as refuges for endangered species

Oil spills would damage beaches and key turtle habitats – Deep water Horizon was just likely timing

Gibson 2012 (William E. Gibson, Washington Bureau sun-sentinel Drilling off Cuba prompts disaster plan¶ Officials stress inlets, not beaches¶ April 15, 2012 (http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-04-15/news/fl-cuba-oil-drilling-local-spill-plan-20120415_1_inlets-and-intracoastal-waterways-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill/2) WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials, game-planning for a potential oil spill off the shores of Cuba, are preparing to leave South Florida's beaches exposed while shielding inlets and intracoastal waterways to protect the most vulnerable parts of the state's coastline.¶ ¶ Two years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster underscored the damage to marine life and tourism of a massive oil spill, Cuban-sponsored drilling less than 60 miles from Florida has raised new alarms. In response, the Coast Guard has devised an elaborate plan to contain the damage if an oil slick rushes north on the Gulf Stream, the powerful current that runs along the East Coast.¶ Broward and Palm Beach county officials feel better prepared because of lessons from the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, which erupted on April 20, 2010. But they are not so confident that their beaches, reefs and bays -- and the tourism dollars they generate -- can be fully protected.¶ "If we do have a large spill, I'm not sure we have the capability of intercepting all of it," said Eric Myers,Broward County's natural resources administrator. "It will go to the beaches. And quite honestly, I think that most of the plans assume that a lot of oil can be collected from the beaches, which is what they did in the upper Gulf Coast."¶ U.S. officials are increasingly confident that Cuban authorities would allow Americans to enter Cuban waters to help contain a major spill at its source. They plan to skim oil from the ocean surface, contain it, burn it or disperse it with chemicals before it comes near land.¶ But if a slick heads for South Florida, the Coast Guard plan calls for a series of booms to block surface oil from entering inlets and intracoastal waterways, especially near Port Everglades, Hillsboro Beach,Boca Raton, Boynton Beach and Jupiter. Officials would not try to screen off beaches, which are much harder to protect but easier to clean up.¶ "We're telling people not to expect a cocoon around the coast of Florida, because it's not practical. And with the fast currents we have here, booms all along the beaches really wouldn't be that effective," said Capt. John Slaughter, chief of readiness at the Coast Guard's 7th district in South Florida.¶ "Our priority is going to be to protect the inlets," he said. "The beaches are incredibly important to us, but inlets are what allow water to get into inland areas where the most sensitive environmental areas are."¶ The Coast Guard plan focuses on protecting bays, mangrove forests and lagoons – rich spawning grounds, where oil would cause great damage and be very difficult to remove. Local officials generally support the plan but say they can only hope to minimize damage if a slick arrives.¶ "We've looked at their [Coast Guard] response capabilities, which honestly are somewhat limited," Myers said. "The main thing they have the ability to do is to boom certain areas and try to deal with floating near-surface oil. Anything that's down deeper than that, nobody seems to have a way to manage that much volume of water."¶ "I would hate to see our beaches covered with tar balls or oil," he said. "We know that if that were to occur it would be a real mess for our whole tourism and recreation interest."¶ Plans include rounding up hundreds of volunteers to clean up beaches if they are slathered. Both counties are updating computer lists of those who offered to help when the Gulf spill raised fears that a slick would ride the Loop Current through the Florida Keys and up the southeast coast.¶ In fact, oil streamers were headed for the Keys but were shut off by eddies, smaller cross-currents.¶ "We got lucky that time," said Dan Bates, deputy director of the Department of Environmental Resources Management in Palm Beach County. "Deepwater Horizon was a wake-up call for many folks who didn't realize that what may happen a long distance away could have dramatic effect locally."¶ "If it happens during sea-turtle nesting season, that's a huge potential impact," he said. "That's an endangered species, and we're one of the primary nesting habitats in the world. In shore, we have all the nursery habitats we've worked very hard to enhance. Many tens of millions of dollars have been spent on that habitat, and we certainly want to protect that investment." Cuban drilling plans raised new alarms because the sites are much closer to Florida and very near the Gulf Stream. Frosty relations between the United States and Cuba have complicated contingency plans. Repsol, a Spanish company that has contracted with Cuba, has been using a new self-propelled rig called the Scarabeo 9 to search for oil since January. The company hopes to tap a reservoir before turning the rig over to a Malaysian company, Petronas, to dig exploratory wells in Cuban waters farther west, probably in late May or June. The exact location has not been disclosed.¶ Repsol has been delayed by minor equipment problems on the new rig and has not hit the expected reservoir, said Jorge Pinon, a former oil executive and energy expert at the University of Texas, who is familiar with the drilling operation. The Petronas site, he said, is farther from Florida but closer to currents that flow toward the state.¶ ¶ "If you move that prospect further west, a greater area could be impacted, including Florida Bay and the Florida Keys," he said.¶ To coordinate emergency-response plans in the Caribbean, U.S. officials met in Jamaica last week with energy experts from Cuba and Mexico, as well as from the Bahamas and Jamaica, which are considering offshore drilling. Slaughter, who attended the meetings, was hopeful that Cuba would allow a multi-national response in case of disaster.¶ "I certainly can't speak for Cuba," Slaughter said, "but I would say they understand that a spill of Deepwater Horizon magnitude is beyond one country's ability to address."¶ "I think Deepwater Horizon really opened everybody's eyes to the magnitude of the challenges," he said. "We have to set a lot of things aside to make sure the response is done to protect everybody's interests. Based on the vibes I've gotten from the meetings, everybody feels that same way."

Lifting the embargo would turn Cuba into a target for tourists and business exploitation – this would destroy its environment.

Lovgren 6(Stefan winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Journalism Award, “Castro the Conservationist? By Default or Design, Cuba Largely Pristine,” National Geographic, August 4, Online: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060804-castro-legacy.html) So what will happen if Castro's regime falls and a new, democratic government takes root? Conservationists and others say they are worried that the pressure to develop the island will increase and Cuba's rich biodiversity will suffer. Barborak said he is concerned that "environmental carpetbaggers and scalawags will come out of the woodwork in Cuba if there is turbulent regime change. "One could foresee a flood of extractive industries jockeying for access to mineral and oil leases," he said. "A huge wave of extraction of unique and endemic plants and animals could occur to feed the international wildlife market. And a speculative tourism and real estate boom could turn much of the coastline into a tacky wasteland in short order." "If foreign investments take a much firmer hold, more hotels will be built and more people will descend on the reefs," added Gebelein, the Florida International University professor. "If the Cuban government does not have a swift policy framework to deal with the huge influx of tourists, investors, and foreign government interests, a new exploitative paradigm will be the beginning of the end for some of the last pristine territories in the Caribbean."

Oil spill would devastate Florida’s economy and key coral reefs.

Newswise 12 [Nova Southeastern University 1/30/2012 Long-Term Response Plan for Cuban Oil Spill (http://www.newswise.com/articles/long-term-response-plan-for-cuban-oil-spill)] Newswise — FT. LAUDERDALE-DAVIE Fla. — Nova Southeastern University (NSU) and Florida International University (FIU) researchers have drafted a plan to best prepare South Florida for an oil spill off the coast of Cuba.¶ The proximity of intended Cuban oil drilling and production puts the U.S. coastal zone at risk from Florida to the Carolinas and northward. Oil from a spill would quickly enter the Gulf Stream and reach Florida's shores in hours or days with potentially devastating effects on the densely populated South Florida coastline and its coastal ecosystems. South Florida's accounts for 3.4 million jobs and 45 percent of the $587 billion contribution to Florida's GDP generated by coastal and ocean economic activity.¶ A likely first impact of a major spill would be the iconic and economically valuable Florida Reef Track, a coral reef ecosystem that stretches from the Dry Torgugas in the Keys to Palm Beach County. Effects could be devastating to the ecology of the reef, Florida's beaches, coastal property and South Florida’s economy.¶ The sustainability plan calls for a partnership between the U.S. Coast Guard, other federal agencies, and a consortium of South Florida academic institutions, including Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Center, Florida International University, other schools, and private industry. The Coast Guard is the designated operational leader in any response to a Cuban oil spill.¶

Oil spills devastate the environment.

Weber and Crew 2K (J. M. Weber University of Kaiserslautern, Germany and R. E. Crew, Jr Deterrence theory and marine oil¶ spills: Do coast guard civil penalties¶ deter pollution?¶ J. M., Jr Journal of Environmental Management (2000) (http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0301479799903262/1-s2.0-S0301479799903262-main.pdf?_tid=22c20598-ddd9-11e2-afcb-00000aab0f26&acdnat=1372193723_e832ee536908d9fa2114f5c01a283d79)]Oil pollution continues to play a prominent role in degradation of the marine environment, both in the United States and elsewhere. Catastrophic oil spills such as the 11 million gallon discharge by the tankship Exxon Valdez in 1989 (ARLIS,¶ ¶ 1997a) have immediate environmental consequences. While there is no conclusive estimate of the impact of this spill on marine life, popular and scientific research suggests an enormous loss. In addition to the immediate closing of the Alaskan commercial salmon fisheries, an estimated 300 harbor seals, 2800 sea otters, 250 000 seabirds and possibly 13 killer whales were lost (ARLIS, 1997b). Other major oil spills have taken somewhat similar tolls on the environment. (National¶ ¶ Research Council (NRC), 1985) As devastating as these one-time events are, however, they should not divert attention from the routine oil spills that strike the environment every day. The long-term¶ ¶ impacts of such spills can have huge consequence for marine ecosystems. In 1985, the¶ ¶ US National Research Council estimated that¶ ¶ 73% of oil spilled in marine transportationcomes from sources other than tankships.¶ ¶ (NRC, 1985) This means that a substantial¶ ¶ volume of oil is spilled into the marine environment from sources that gather little public¶ ¶ or media attention. While society can and¶ ¶ should expend effort to prevent the Exxon¶ ¶ Valdez-type oil spills, it should be just as¶ ¶ vigilant in reducing the chronic pollution of¶ ¶ smaller vessels and land-based facilities.¶ ¶ The US government has long been engaged in efforts to prevent oil spills.

Mexico

NAFTA catalyzed BioD loss

Ackerman et. al. 3 (Frank Ackerman, Timothy A. Wise, Kevin P. Gallagher, Luke Ney, and

Regina Flores, “Free Trade, Corn, and the Environment: Environmental Impacts of US – Mexico Corn Trade Under NAFTA”, June 2003, http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae/pubs/wp/03-06-naftacorn.pdf)> BC The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) had a profound impact on corn trade between the United States and Mexico. Negotiated tariff reductions and the Mexican government’s decision not to charge some tariffs to which it was entitled resulted in a doubling of US corn exports to Mexico. This paper examines the environmental implications of this change on both sides of the border. For the US, increased exports to Mexico due to trade liberalization represent one percent of total US production and should therefore be considered responsible for one percent of the environmental impacts of corn production. These are considerable, including: high chemical use; water pollution due to runoff; unsustainable water use for irrigation; the expansion of genetically modified corn; soil erosion; and biodiversity loss. Trends in these areas are presented. For Mexico, the principal potential environmental impact of the loss of a significant share of its domestic corn market to the US is the threat to agro-biodiversity. Preliminary evidence is presented on the extent to which imports and declining prices are reducing the production of native corn varieties. The authors conclude that shifting corn trade under NAFTA is having significant negative environmental effects on both sides of the border and could have even more profound impacts in the future if it results in the loss of significant agro-biodiversity in Mexico.

Mexican deforestation results in global warming and lost peasant lumber

Susana Ochoa-Gaona (Division of Biodiversity Conservation at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, “Land use and deforestation in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico”, January 2000, http://www.sciencedirect.com.turing.library.northwestern.edu/science/article/pii/S014362289900017X) Old-growth tropical forests represent a number of values related to biodiversity conservation (Franklin & Forman, 1987; Crow, 1990; Kim & Weaver, 1994) and carbon sequestration (Cooper, 1982; Dobson, Jolly & Rubenskin, 1989; Bawa & Markham, 1995). Both local and global effects have been identified as possible consequences of tropical deforestation. On a local scale, in addition to declining species richness and genetic variation, deforestation may result in a disturbance of the hydrological balance and degradation of the physical and chemical attributes of the soils (Siebert, 1987; Gibson, Collins & Good, 1988; Saunders, Hobbs & Margules, 1991; Ojima, Gavin & Turner, 1994). Furthermore, significant sources of forest products for the primary needs of poor peasants in developing countries may be lost (Buschbacher, 1990). On the other hand, climatic patterns may be changing due to global warming related to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (Macdonald, 1994; Ojima et al., 1994; Bloomgarden, 1995).¶ Increasing awareness about the drastic and accelerated transformation of natural landscapes (particularly in tropical regions), and its effects on global climatic trends and biodiversity, led to the adoption of the International Convention on Biodiversity and Change of the Global Climate at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development at Rio of Janeiro (Kim & Weaver, 1994). A non-legally binding statement of principles was adopted for the management, conservation, and sustainable development of multiple-use forests (de Jong, Montoya-Gómez, Nelson, Soto-Pinto, Taylor & Tipper, 1994). Notwithstanding these measures, deforestation and degradation of the remaining forest stands in developing countries are still continuing, exacerbated by persistent policies and incentives which may enhance them (Leonard, 1989; Cairns, Dirzo & Zadroga, 1995; Clark, 1995). Development models based on market-driven economics and priorities set for public investment have proved to be unsympathetic towards traditional agriculture (Garcı́a-Barrios and Garcı́a-Barrios, 1990 and Garcı́a-Barrios and Garcı́a-Barrios, 1992). These economic policies provide incentives for high-technology and/or export agriculture, but have frequently failed to encourage sustainable forestry alternatives (Clark, 1995; Goodland, 1995).¶ Detailed and updated resource inventories are needed to support land-use planning and sustainable management. Spatial analyses of land-use patterns using geographical information systems (GIS) have increased noticeably over the last decade. However, at least in tropical Latin America, detailed GIS studies describing the dynamics of vegetation cover changes are still lacking (but see Harrison, 1991; Dirzo & Garcı́a, 1992; SARH, 1992; Skole & Tucker, 1993; Sader, Sever, Smoot & Richards, 1994). It is generally agreed that extensive forested areas in the region are rapidly being converted to pasture and agricultural land (Fresco, 1994). It has been estimated that Latin American countries include 27% of the world's tropical forests (Browder, 1989) and that they have been disappearing over the last decade at a rate of 10 000 km2 yr−1, which represents a 50% increase for the period (Johnson & Cabarle, 1993). Within the region, Mexico has the highest deforestation rates (Sayer & Whitmore, 1991), estimated at 3650–15 000 km2 yr−1 during the 1980s and 6780–7460 km2 yr−1 in the early 1990s (SARH, 1992; Cairns et al., 1995).¶ The objective of this study is to provide an estimate of deforestation over the period 1974–90 in the highly populated and economically marginalized highlands of Chiapas in southern Mexico (Parra-Vázquez & Dı́az-Hernández, 1997). An attempt is made to relate deforestation rates and land-use patterns to environmental factors such as slope angle and soil type, in addition to some local population and economic attributes. The information used in this study refers to two municipalities within the same physiographic region that share general environmental conditions, but have striking differences in population density and forest-use history. We believe that the major issues related to deforestation and land-use patterns that are identified in the study area might be similar to those in other tropical highland areas of Mexico (Landa, Meave & Carabias, 1997), Central America and Andean regions, which may account for 25–30% of their respective territories (de Boer, 1989).¶ 2. Study area¶ The state of Chiapas is located in southern Mexico, in the central part of Mesoamerica (Fig. 1). This region includes one of the richest biotas of Mexico and Central America (Rzedowski, 1978 and Rzedowski, 1991; Breedlove, 1981 and Breedlove, 1986; Martı́nez, Ramas & Chiang, 1994; González-Espinosa, Ochoa-Gaona, Ramı́rez-Marcial & Quintana-Ascencio, 1997). The highlands of Chiapas (Central Plateau sensu; Müllerried, 1957) comprise a limestone mass with extrusive volcanic rocks at the highest peaks, extending for over 11 000 km2, ca. 160 km along a northwest–southeast axis, and ca. 70 km at its widest (Müllerried, 1957). The region includes 30% out of about 9000 vascular plant species of the flora of Chiapas (Breedlove, 1981), and had an original cover of several forest formations, including oak, pine–oak, pine–oak–liquidambar, pine and evergreen cloud forest (Miranda, 1952; Rzedowski, 1978; Breedlove, 1981; González-Espinosa, Quintana-Ascencio, Ramı́rez-Marcial & Gaytán-Guzmán, 1991; Quintana-Ascencio & González-Espinosa, 1993). The region is densely populated by Maya peasants who have made clearings for shifting cultivation and used firewood and other forest resources since pre-Columbian times (Cowgill, 1962; Collier, 1975). The traditional shifting cultivation or milpa is a rain-fed, labour-intensive system using different cultivars of maize in association with beans, squash, chili and other edible vegetables, and frequently involves cultural and social activities related to some of the agricultural practices (Nigh, 1975). In recent times, the traditional and widespread system of milpa agriculture has faced severe limitations derived from high population density, intensification of land use, reduction of soil fertility, and the asymmetrical economic relationships between the Indian and mestizo societies

Venezuela

Petro-Venezuela frequently has Environmental mishaps

El Universal 12 (El Universal is a major Venezuelan newspaper, headquartered in Caracas with an average daily circulation of about 150,000. The online version carries news, politics, sports, economy and more."Pdvsa is not responsive", April 7, 2012, http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/120407/pdvsa-is-not-responsive) BCSomehwere in Anzoátegui state residents wonder why they have to fill their water tanks with water tankers due to state-run oil holding Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) fault. Now that the issues of drinking water and the environmental damages caused by oil holding industry PDVSA elsewhere in the country are in vogue; the members of indigenous communities around Mesa de Guanipa remember that a gas leak made them lose their right to receive water service through pipes.

Along the rivers of the area, bubbles are released. If it was not for technicians and spokesmen from Petróleos de Venezuela company, who have approached the place to warn that such water cannot be used for consumption; any stranger may confuse it with thermal water.The phenomenon, anyway, is not older than 10 years. Rafael Maita, a native leader, remembers that particular smells and bubbles in the water were the first warnings that something wrong was going on in Tascabaña and other settlements in Eastern Anzoátegui.The first charges were made in the local press in 2005; later, they were supported by non-governmental organizations such as Provea (The Venezuelan Program of Education-Action in Human Rights) and, in 2008, when complications arouse at homes and crops of the communities; their complains echoed in Caracas. Congress deputies, the Ombudsman's Office and other state agencies would acknowledge that gas is released from oil wells thought to have been closed in Anzoátegui area.The very Attorney General Office - which these days demands proofs from the media before speaking of pollution- admitted four years ago that the waters of the zone are altered. By means of an analysis -whose details are unknown- it pointed to damages to the population.On behalf of the Indigenous Organization Taguala, Rafael Maita and other neighbors require that such and any other studies which may reveal the situation they are going through are brought out. "People are quite afraid to denounce," he regrets. "Additionally, people in here let go the idea of having water well; they are getting used to drinking water supplied by water tankers instead."Salt waterAccording to the Environmental Perspectives in Venezuela that the Ministry of Environment submitted in 2010 to the United Nations Program for Environment; the aquifers of Mesa de Guanipa represent one of the four most potent underground water reservoirs in the country.That explains why the most fatalist voices exclaim that there is a methane gas bomb in one of the most productive aquifers. This is not about putting Petróleos de Venezuela in a tight corner. It is clear that Anzoátegui and the whole country are supported by its oil production; however, Tascabaña residents need to find a solution to their problem.Sociologist Rafael Uzcátegui, from non-governmental organization Provea, believes that besides giving responses to the affected communities; it is time to reopen the debate that environmental activists triggered in the 90's, concerning the consequences provoked by means of production based on mineral and hydrocarbon extraction.By the same token, Rafael Maita adds from the very indigenous towns of Freites Municipality, that residents are not asking for the removal of either drilling rigs or pipes which have been installed along their houses. What he means is that the people want to know more about their environmental and sanitary conditions; as well as be granted again access easement which the oil holding company had always negotiated when occupying their lands."In 2004, the rights of way of Tascabaña, Bajo Hondo and Kashama communities expired, and now that we decide to protest, they put the National Guard in," he denounces. "Pdvsa does not give any responses; it tells us that lands need to be delimited but we have the title deeds of these lands since 1783."There is no longer yucca or chili pepper or any other crops, such as plantain bordering Tascabaña River. The few local residents willing to talk about the issue, display a wide range of problems: from consequences to their farming activities to legends about heads of cattle dead as a result of the oil spills.The raindrops that fall onto the place even turn into bubbles when getting in contact with the ground. That is -after all- a sign that in Freites Municipality something is wrong. Only a few local residents have given their opinion on the case. There is fear, some assert. "At that eastern zone, Pdvsa has the real power," explains Rafael Uzcátegui, a leader of Provea, from Caracas.An oil spill on Tascabaña River brought the matter to light again last February. The Bolivarian National Guard restricted the access to this zone and, under such circumstances, the only neighbors who would open their doors to the press did it,preferring not to be identified by name. They are certainly concerned and want to know what is really going on in their rivers; additionally, they fear to lose the support, missions and construction projects that Pdvsa has funded them."Kari'ña members of the past lacked training; they had no access to Internet or high schools, but they were certainly more warlike," adds Maita on behalf of the Indigenous Organization Taguala. "We have now become politicized and therefore we do not fight for what is ours."

Venezuela’s integral role in the Amazon makes it a key role model – most of its forests are still preserved

Gusmán 11 (17 November 2011, Evelyn Gusmán, “Concerns over the Conservation of the Amazon Rainforest in Venezuela,” http://www.oecoamazonia.com/en/news/venezuela/345-de-olhos-voltados-a-amazonia-venezuelana, The Guardian Environment Network brings together the world's best websites focusing on green topics. The network connects sites from across the globe.)

A feeling of uneasiness took hold of the group of scientists who worked on the development of the Red Book of Terrestrial Ecosystems of Venezuela (LR)edited by the Venezuelan environmental organization Provita, which first number was published in December 2010. The area known as “evergreen forests”, in south Venezuela, is apparently not free from human intervention anymore. On the picture the change of the vegetation formation in present-day Venezuela can be seen, compared to the one of 1988. Credit: Red Book Terrestrial Ecosystems of Venezuela The LR reports the country's forests cover an area of 311,496 km ², of which 290,018 km ² are in the states of Amazonas, Bolívar and Delta Amacuro - some scientists argue that all three states should be part of the Venezuelan Amazon. Only the state of Amazonas was taken into account for the publication – region where officially are 53,000 km ² of the Amazon, with its palm trees, evergreen shrubs and woodlands, riparian forests, shrub grasslands on white sand and saxicolous vegetation. The study indicates that in 1988 the evergreen forest covered 145,555 km² of the Amazonas state. Up until 2010, 13.825 km² had been cleared, leaving it with its current area of 131.730 km². Among the main threats to its conservation are mining, illegal logging, burning, changes in agricultural practices, population growth, tourism and commercial exploitation of natural resources, which are "the most important triggers of the change or loss of forest, as well as the newly recognized effect of climate change". Biologist Franklin Rojas-Suarez, one of the editors of the paper, says, "The situation in the Venezuelan Amazon ecosystem is similar to other regions south of the Orinoco." Despite the threats the forest faces, he believes the decree on protected areas (four natural monuments, two national parks and one biosphere reserve) "was one of the main strategies ever implemented towards their conservation". Despite these results, the botanist Otto Huber, scientific adviser to the Botanical Garden Foundation of Venezuela, says that the Venezuelan Amazon still retains "a setting very close to its natural state" in its landscapes, - since the evergreen forest cover has been reduced by 10% from 1988 to 2010. Huber affirms the tepuyes (flat-topped mountain found mainly in Venezuela) or mountains located north of the Amazonas state are "virtually unexplored."

Oil projects in the Amazon threaten biodiversity

Finer et al. 8 (Matt Finer, Clinton N. Jenkins, Stuart L. Pimm, Brian Keane, Carl Ross, Oil and Gas Projects in the Western Amazon: Threats to Wilderness, Biodiversity, and Indigenous Peoples, August 13, 2008, http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0002932#s1.)The western Amazon includes parts of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and western Brazil (Figure 1). It is one of the most biodiverse areas of the planet for many taxa, including plants, insects, amphibians, birds, and mammals [1]–[7]. The region maintains large tracts of intact tropical moist forest and has a high probability of stable climatic conditions in the face of global warming [8]. By contrast, the eastern Amazon in Brazil, where much of the global attention has focused, has a high probability of continued massive deforestation [9] and drought risk in the coming decades [10]. The western Amazon is also the home to many indigenous ethnic groups, including some of the world's last uncontacted peoples living in voluntary isolation[11]–[13]. Underlying this landscape of extraordinary biological and cultural diversity are large reserves of oil and gas, many yet untapped. Record oil prices and growing global demand are now stimulating unprecedented levels of new oil and gas exploration and extraction. It is the nations of the region, and not the indigenous peoples who live on much of the land, who assert their constitutional ownership of subsoil natural resources. National governments delimit specific geographic areas or “blocks” that are zoned for hydrocarbon activities, which they may lease to state and multinational energy companies for exploration and production. Oil exploration in the western Amazon started as early as the 1920s in Peru [14] and Ecuador [15], with a production boom arriving in the 1970s. The subsequent three decades have seen numerous large projects, such as several oil projects in the central Ecuadorian Amazon, the Urucu gas project in Brazil, and the Camisea gas project in Peru. Oil and gas development in the western Amazon has already caused major environmental and social impacts 16–19. Direct impacts include deforestation for access roads, drilling platforms, and pipelines, and contamination from oil spills and wastewater discharges. The technologies of the 1970s-era oil operations caused widespread contamination in the northern Ecuadorian[20]–[21] and northern Peruvian Amazon [22]–[23]. Even the much newer Camisea pipeline, which began operations in the fall of 2004, had five major spills in its first 18 months of operation [24]. A 1990s-era oil operation experienced a major spill in Ecuador's Yasuní region as recently as January 2008 [25]. There are also direct impacts associated with seismic testing activities during the exploration phase of projects [17], [26]. Indirect effects arise from the easy access to previously remote primary forest provided by new oil roads and pipeline routes, causing increased logging, hunting, and deforestation from human settlement [27]–[29]. For example, much of the extensive deforestation in the northern and central Ecuadorian Amazon followed colonization along the oil access roads [30]–[32].

High Venezuelan Biodiversity threatened by Human activity

Miloslavich et. al. 3 (Patricia Miloslavich, Eduardo Klein, Edgard Yerena and Alberto Martin, Jounrnalists at the Department of Environmental Studies, Universidad Simon Bolivar, Caracas, Venezuela and The Institute of Marine Science and Technology (INTECMAR), “MARINE BIODIVERSITY IN VENEZUELA: STATUS AND PERSPECTIVES”,http://www.scielo.cl/pdf/gayana/v67n2/Miloslavich%202.pdf, MS )

Venezuela is among the ten countries with the highest biodiversity in the world, both in the terrestrial and the marine environment. Due to its biogeographical position, Venezuelan marine flora and fauna are composed of species from very different marine bioregions such as the Caribbean and the Orinoco Delta. The ecosystems in the Caribbean have received considerable attention but now, due to the tremendous impact of human activities such as tourism, over-exploitation of marine resources, physical alteration, the oil industry, and pollution, these environments are under great risk and their biodiversity highly threatened. The most representative ecosystems of this region include sandy beaches, rocky shores, seagrass beds, coral reefs, soft bottom communities, and mangrove forests. The Orinoco Delta is a complex group of freshwater, estuarine, and marine ecosystems; the habitats are very diverse but poorly known. This paper summarizes the known, which is all of the information available in Venezuela about research into biodiversity, the different ecosystems and the knowledge that has become available in different types of publications, biological collections, the importance and extents of the Protected Areas as biodiversity reserves, and the legal institutional framework aimed at their protection and sustainable use. As the unknown, research priorities are proposed: a complete survey of the area, the completion of a species list, and an assessment of the health status of the main ecosystems on a broad national scale. This new information must be integrated and summarized in nationwide Geographic Information Systems (GIS) databases, accessible to the scientific community as well as to the management agencies. In the long term, a genetic inventory must be included in order to provide more detailed knowledge of the biological resources. Future projects at the local (Venezuela), regional (Southern Caribbean: Colombia, Venezuela, and the Netherlands Antilles), and global (South America) scales are recommended.

Deforestation of the amazon rainforest has massive effects on climate change

Greenpeace No date

(http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/forests/climate-change, Greenpeace is the leading independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and to promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.)

As our understanding of the role forests play in stabilizing global climate increases, it is becoming clear that their destruction is only exacerbating climate change. If we're serious about tackling this, then preserving our remaining ancient forests has to be a priority. Mature forests store enormous quantities of carbon, both in the trees and vegetation itself and within the soil in the form of decaying plant matter. Forests in areas such as the Congo and the Amazon represent some of the world's largest carbon stores on land. But when forests are logged or burnt, that carbon is released into the atmosphere, increasing the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and accelerating the rate of climate change. So much carbon is released that they contribute up to one-fifth of global man-made emissions, more than the world's entire transport sector. Deforestation has such a massive effect on climate change that Indonesia and Brazil are now the third and fourth largest emitters of carbon dioxide on the planet. This dubious honour comes not from industrial or transport emissions, but from deforestation - up to 75 per cent of Brazil's emissions come solely from deforestation - with the majority coming from clearing and burning areas of the Amazon rainforest.

Oil extraction has serious, detrimental effects on Venezuelan biodiversity

Wykes 12 (Dr. Sarah Wykes and the Green Political Foundation, THE ORINOCO OIL BELT – UPDATE, October 10, 2012, http://www.boell.de/downloads/Venezuela-Orinoco.pdf.)Summarizing the impacts of current oil extraction in the country, the report concluded that: “the fact that the Venezuelan government has access to extraordinary economic resources and the persistence of an economy based on the existence of overly cheap fuels, have created a culture where waste, uncontrolled consumption, the devaluation of nature and a lack of foresight, are having intense impacts on the country, including air, soil and water pollution, huge volumes of solid waste, and the waste of energy and resources.” The report highlights the following specific concerns: Deterioration of sensitive ecosystems in production sites in the area of the Orinoco Oil Belt and of the ecosystem of Lake Maracaibo as a result of continuous spills and leaks;Loss of soil and the triggering of erosion processes in exploration and production zones in the Orinoco Oil Belt;Presence of environmental liabilities, including holding pits for waste products that are at risk of overflowing and leaching; Flaws in the handling of by-products of the refining process (mainly sulphur and coke) that are causing water, air and soil pollution;High levels of emissions of CO2, SO2 and NOx in refining and upgrading processes;Discharge of petroleum products and bodies of water, the product of failures in monitoring, maintenance and prevention processes;Pollution and degradation of soils due to the presence of waste products of oil exploitation, as well as from engineering works associated with this activity. lvii

Additionally, the report warns of the “enormous environmental and social risks associated with the development of oil and gas mega projects [including further development of the Orinoco Belt], about which there was a lack of adequate public information regarding the environmental and socio-cultural standards that were to be applied”. lviii

Mining threatens biodiversity

Butler 6 (Rhett Butler founded mongabay.com in 1999 with the mission of raising interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging local and global trends in technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development., “Mining in Venezuelan Amazon threatens biodiversity, indigenous groups”, November 9, 2006, http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1109-atbc.html#js7XCZK4EGbwFqMS.99) BC Troubles are mounting in one of Earth's most beautiful landscapes. Deep in the Venezuelan Amazon, among ancient forested tabletop mountains known as tepuis, crystalline rivers, and breathtaking waterfalls, illegal gold miners are threatening one of world's largest remaining blocks of wilderness, one that is home to indigenous people and strikingly high levels of biological diversity. As the situation worsens -- a series of attacks have counted both miners and indigenous people as victims -- a leading scientific organization has called for the Venezuelan government to take action.The drama is playing out in the southern Venezuelan state of Bolivar, near the border of Brazil and Guyana, in the Caroni and Caura River basins. The southern-most of these rivers, the Caura, is the second largest river draining the Guiana shield, highlands that separate the Orinoco and Amazon River basins. Characterized by lowland tropical rainforest, the Caura basin has impressive levels of biological diversity -- 2,600 vascular plant species, 168 mammal species, 475 bird species, 34 amphibian species, 53 reptile species, and 441 species of fish have been identified to date -- and stores some 700 million metric tons of carbon, or about the amount released by 162 million cars in a year.The region is also home to indigenous groups -- including the Ye'kwana, Sanema and Hoti -- who rely heavily upon local rivers for drinking water, food, and transportation. Being one of the most isolated parts Amazonia, these Indians live in mostly traditional ways.A golden problemAn accident of geography has put this biodiversity and these indigenous populations at risk. The Guiana shield is incredibly old, with exposed rock dating back to the Precambrian period some 600 million years ago. This geology, like that of parts of West Africa, Western Australia, and the Brazilian Shield, produces rich deposits of gold, diamonds, iron, and bauxite. While these have long been exploited, since the early 1990s the region has experienced a gold rush rivaling those of 19th century in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. sUpstream from informal mining area. While in Venezuela and Suriname much of the area is nominally protected on paper, in reality national parts are becoming dotted with illegal settlements, clandestine landing strips sometimes used for drug trafficking and other smuggling, and small scale mining operations. In the nearby Caroni and other areas, this informal mining sector is having a significant environmental impact -- one that will likely be replicated in the Caura with the September invasion of more than 600 miners into the basin.Miners rely heavily on hydraulic mining techniques, blasting away at river banks with high-powered water cannons and clearing forests to expose potential gold-yielding gravel deposits. Gold is usually extracted from this gravel using a sluice box to separate heavier sediment and mercury used to amalgamate the precious metal. While most of the mercury is removed for reuse or burned off, some invariably ends up in rivers."The main problem with this type of gold mining is that it is almost entirely unmanaged in every aspect." explained Hammond. "Mercury sales are poorly regulated and its use is widespread. Most often mercury recovery, through the use of retorts, is not undertaken. The result, operators inhale mercury vapor, airborne mercury is dry deposited across many areas and liquid mercury makes its way into the aquatic environment. Once there, it is methylated, taken up by benthic feeders, who then are eaten by predatory fish, and then up through the food chain. "Downstream from informal mining area. Note the significantly higher levels of suspended sediments. Hammond says that bioaccumulation of mercury in fish poses health threats to people living downstream."Fish account for the major share of protein in the diet of local residents, creating well-documented accumulation, particularly in children," he said "The impacts of mercury on humans is well-established." Mercury accumulation in humans has been tied to neurological damage and birth defects."Further," added Hammond, "poorly managed mining sites create conditions ideally suited to mosquito breeding, making mining camps hotspots of vector-borne disease transmission. These diseases [malaria, dengue fever] are then spread further as untreated miners return to their communities and families."Hammond says these effects are long-lasting."To place in context, there are still lakes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California that remain off-limits to fishing and swimming due to uncontrolled mercury use during the California gold rush more than 120 years ago. The sites continue to record toxic mercury bioaccumulation according to studies conducted by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)."Both solid and liquid waste contaminate mining areas. According to Hammond, "Mercury methylation is largely controlled by the presence of sulfur-reducing bacteria that are found in conditions where dissolved oxygen levels are low.