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ENVIRONMENT-MEXICO: Critics Sceptical of Gov’t Reforestation Statistics

Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, Jul 11 2007 (IPS) - Two hundred and fifty million trees are to be planted in Mexico from now until November, in a programme that will make the country the “world leader in reforestation,” the government has announced. But independent observers warn that valuable native forests are still being destroyed.

Environmentalists and experts regard the authorities’ goal as irrelevant in light of the progressive deforestation at which, they say, Mexico is also a world champion.

The government of rightwing President Felipe Calderón is enthusiastically publicising the reforestation campaign that is to begin Thursday, National Tree Day, which coincides with the start of the rainy season that lasts until November.

Critics point out that less than half the trees planted will survive. They also argue that the reforestation strategy, though worthwhile, will not solve the problems of Mexican forests, which cover some 56 million hectares and capture two-thirds of the fresh water consumed in the country.

The official response is that planting 250 million trees of native species on 500,000 hectares will help to counteract deforestation, officially estimated at 250,000 hectares a year. According to their logic, reforestation will counterbalance and ultimately redress the problem if it is carried on in future years.

Héctor Magallón, in charge of forestry issues at the environmental organisation Greenpeace Mexico, told IPS that even in the best-case scenario, only 125,000 of the trees planted will survive, and as they are small they will not fulfil the functions of adult trees, such as water capture and filtration, carbon absorption and protecting biodiversity.

According to Greenpeace’s estimates, the forest areas of Mexico, most of them old-growth forests and therefore of great environmental value, are being destroyed at a rate of at least 600,000 hectares a year – more than double the government’s figure.

Engineer and forestry expert Sergio Madrid, a spokesman for G-Bosques, a group of 14 civil society organisations and forest producers, agreed.

“The official figures on deforestation are questionable and cannot be relied on, and so is their much-advertised reforestation programme, which is certainly good for the government’s image,” Madrid told IPS.

“Planting trees is only a small part of the solution. The serious issue in Mexico now is the changing use of land in forested areas, which is happening because of a large number of incentives, without anything definitive being done to stop it,” Madrid said.

Several studies have shown that 80 percent of the forests lost in Mexico are destroyed because of land-use changes. Landowners switch to growing what they regard as more profitable crops, or to raising livestock. The remaining deforestation is due to illegal logging, on which the Calderón administration says it is clamping down hard.

With its ProTree reforestation programme, its war on illegal logging and support for owners of forested land, Mexico is in the vanguard of environmental defence and protection, says the Calderón government, in power since December 2006.

A communiqué from the Environment Ministry said that “Mexico has joined the reforestation campaign launched by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) for this year, called ‘Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign.'”

“Mexico has pledged itself to what is historically perhaps the most ambitious goal ever adopted by a government. One of every four trees planted this year in the world will be in Mexico,” the communiqué says.

Greenpeace’s Magallón said there was no doubt that the government is focusing its interest on reforestation. He remarked that over half of the approximately 370-million-dollar budget of the state National Forestry Commission for this year is earmarked for reforestation activities.

“This is a dangerous approach, because although new trees will be planted, the oldest and most valuable trees in terms of biodiversity and water retention will continue to be lost,” he said.

Madrid said he believes the government is emphasising reforestation because it is a useful “public opinion” exercise, but like Magallón he blames the authorities for not showing more concern over the main cause of deforestation, which is change of land use.

With the backing of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the world authority on global deforestation, the government declares that deforestation in Mexico is being rolled back.

Official figures indicate that on average 401,000 hectares a year were deforested in Mexico between 1990 and 2000, falling to 314,000 hectares a year from 2000 to 2005, and deforestation is now down to 250,000 hectares a year.

“There is no solid evidence for the truth of these statistics, as many researchers have pointed out,” said Magallón.

According to Greenpeace, Mexico is one of the five countries in the world where most deforestation is occurring. Brazil heads the list, followed by India.

Madrid said there is a dazzling array of “dubious” statistics, and that “it is curious that with all the satellite technology available, there has been no convincing definitive study on deforestation in Mexico.”

Official statistics have continued to generate scepticism amongst activists and experts. In 2001, the Mexican government mentioned a deforestation rate of 1.1 million hectares a year, although later it revised this statement. Now the official figure is 250,000 hectares a year.