Audubon of Mexico has for some time been one of the principal environmental advocacy groups in San Miguel.  On May 11th, members of the Environmental Advocacy Committee  presented GAIA (Grupo de Acción Interdisciplinaria Ambiental A.C.) with a check for 32,500 pesos in support of it’s Clean Stove Project.  April Hildner and Susanna Turino made the presentation to Citlali Caldera and Mario Orozco, who will receive matching funds from the San Miguel Green Fund.  The Project will begin in June and take approximately 90 days to complete.

When members of the Committee, affectionately known as the Eco-Chicas, interviewed numerous non-profit environmental organizations in the area.  GAIA stood out because of it’s educational and holistic approach to working in rural communities in the Laja watershed.  A small family run non-profit started  in 1999, GAIA introduces sustainable, low tech alternatives and community workshops to encourage long term social and environmental changes in adults and children.

The traditional cooking method  in the campo, known as “fogon de lena”, consists of 3 stones and a metal rack which holds the pot. These open fires are highly fuel inefficient and  unhealthy.  The UN estimates that worldwide, smoke from primative cook fires kills millions of women and children prematurely, and is a major contributor to global warming. The collection of firewood is a major cause of deforestation and its attendant environmental damage in the Picachos and Laja valley, and keeps many children out of school as they are required in the far ranging search and transport of wood numerous times a week.

The  Varanitas (twigs) Stove being introduced in the community of Sosnabar by GAIA, consists of two concentric cylinders of sheet metal and a pot nestling within, each separated by only an inch of air space.   The cylinders  concentrate the heat while reducing smoke . Whereas traditional cooking fires loose 90% of their heat energy, the Varanitas Stove  conserves 90% of its heat for cooking.  Instead of using logs as in traditional methods, it uses ramitas or twigs, dried leaves, husks and small combustibles found on the ground.

GAIA conducts educational workshops in the communities where it is working, teaching  people about the relationship of trees, water, and soil to the health of their environment and themselves, as well as tree pruning methods to conserve the remaining trees.  Without this education, acceptance of their new, eco-friendly technologies will not take root and spread.  In addition to the stove project, GAIA is also introducing dry toilets and composting to families and schools without plumbing, as well as a new health initiative to screen women and children for lung cancer caused by age-old cooking methods.  The new stove could save one tree per person per year which in turn will have a very positive impact on the survival of our local and migratory birds.

The Environmental Advocacy Committee brings Audubon’s energy, expertise,and support to projects that improve habitat, water, and the environment in San Miguel. Since June 2011 committee members have been meeting with GAIA, Reciclé, Amigos de la Presa, Ecologia and other environmental groups to become informed of the issues and to identify projects for Audubon involvement.

Water is Life
By Susanna Turino

Water is one of our most vital resources, affecting the survival of everything that lives in the arid highlands
of Central México where we live. In this and future issues of La Pluma we will be researching and reporting on our local water resources; examining where our water comes from, our relationship to the watershed, and how we can turn this relationship into a positive one to ensure healthy ecosystems and a clean, adequate water supply for generations to come.

INDEPENDENCE AQUIFER
San Miguel’s municipal water comes from the Independence Aquifer which lies under the municipality and most of the state of Guanajuato. This ancient fossil reservoir is the life blood of the population and the agricultural economy of the area. As demand for this precious resource has intensified, the rate of depletion has increased and is becoming unsustainable. And, as more water is consumed from the aquifer than is recharged, the concentration of salts, metals, arsenic, fluoride, fecal coliform, and naturally occurring substances increase, posing dangerous consequences to human health.

SURFACE WATER
Significant surface water components in the region are the Presa Allende and the Rio Laja. The Laja begins in the mountains in the north and west of the State of Guanajuato. The main branch of the Laja is 200 miles long, with numerous tributaries along its upper reaches. It fills San Miguel’s Presa Allende, before flowing south through México’s largest bread basket region where fruits and vegetables are grown for export to the United States and Canada. Its terminus is Lake Chapala which provides potable water for the city of Guadalajara’s 4 million people. Decades of overdraft in our local aquifer and aquifers throughout México means that the surface waters of our rivers and lakes will soon become the primary source of water for humans and wildlife.

Protecting and enhancing our rivers and reservoirs is an immediate priority.

CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES
Exploding human population growth, overgrazing of livestock, agriculture, deforestation due to firewood harvesting in poor rural communities, and illegal pumps and outfall pipes all contribute to the degradation of the river and riparian habitat.

Extraction of sand and gravel from the riverbed has altered the river’s sinuous path, which in turn speeds water flow, increases erosion and loss of top soil. According to Ecosystems Science Foundation of Idaho, which did a water quality study of the San Miguel region in 2005-6, watershed restoration is a necessary component in addressing surface and groundwater quality.

In 1996-97, Audubon, collaborating with the US Forest Service, local government, CASA and FAI (Save the Children) volunteers, began a riparian restoration project in 25 rural communities, educating and training campesinos, (1/3 of whom were illiterate), young students, landowners, and industrial gravel extractors in restoration techniques and land use practices. Its ultimate goal was the rehabilitation of the entire Rio Laja basin and to model for habitat protection any place that migratory birds are threatened by rapid growth. With the completion of much of the Rio Laja and Presa Allende surveys this fall, and work undertaken by the University of Querétaro to develop a watershed action plan, Audubon is positioning itself to continue its legacy of habitat restoration initiatives begun over a decade ago.