Abstract
Maderas del Carmen is Latin Americas first protected habitat on the Mexican side of the border between the United states and Mexico. The del Carmen area was previously exploited for its natural resources by the invasion of human expansion. This has led the biodiversity of Maderas del Carmen to decrease as a result. There are many trans-international issues affecting the area, such as illegal immigration and natural park policies, that are intertwined in the introduction of the area as a trans-international park. Through this analysis of literature, the various variable affecting the area will be studied in order to gain a better understanding of Maderas del Carmen as a whole.
The human race has dominated the planet for thousands of years unknowingly destroying everything in their path in the pursuit of land and resources in order to survive. It has only been recently that human kind has realized that this destruction is tainting the earth’s natural habitats and that something should be done to protect it. In pursuit to put an end to the destruction of such wild habitats, protect zones called “National Parks” have been created within the United States and other countries in order to put a stop to the consequences of human invasion. One such park named Maderas del Carmen, located on the United States border to Mexico is one such park surrounded by controversy by individuals. In order to better understand the differing views concerning Maderas del Carmen, the following three questions will be answered:
- When was Maderas del Carmen Trans-International Park established and for what purpose?
- What are the implications of having a trans-international park?
- What projects are underway to maintain Maderas del Carmen as an international park?
The following review on literature will focus on these three questions and will provide information about Maderas del Carmen and the various variables affecting the area.
When was Maderas del Carmen Trans-International Park established, and for what purpose?
Measures to preserve areas of natural beauty have been created in response to the currently ongoing “Green Revolution” by creating protected areas called “Natural Parks”. A natural park is defined as large, beautiful area in which its ecosystems are not materially altered by human intervention, where the highest authority of the harboring country has taken preventative measures to protect the area in order for visitors to enter for educational, cultural and recreative purposes. (Gulez S. 1992). Maderas del Carmen is located on the United States-Mexico border between Texas and Coahuila.
With the definition of a natural park in mind, Maderas del Carmen has only recently been established as a protected area within Mexico with plans to make it an international park in the not too distant future. (Robbins, Michael W. 2007) The geological area of Maderas del Carmen stretches to around 514,000 acres and has been described as a “mega-corridor of biodiversity” sharing several million acres of contiguous trans-border wildlife with sanctuaries that include Big Bend State park. (Galluci, T. 2004) With that being said, there have been many leading variables in regard to the establishment of the Maderas del Carmen area beside its biodiversity.
The area was previously exploited for the harvest of its natural resources such as mining, timber operations, overgrazing, subsistence hunting, and harvesting of native plants. This has lead to a “steady decline in native wildlife populations” and “extirpation for several species” of animals native to Maderas del Carmen. (McKinney B. 2006) The establishment of Maderas del Carmen started in the early 1990’s when CEMEX, the world’s third largest manufacturer of cement took the first step for the area by promising a large scale project to conserve Maderas del Carmen. CEMEX started by purchasing land from the Maderas del Carmen area including private lands that fell into the reserve. CEMEX owns 300,000 acres of Maderas del Carmen and controls another 60,000 acres through private agreements from land owners. (Robbins, Michael W. 2007) For these stated reasons, Mexico formally declared Maderas del Carmen as Latin Americas first protected area 1994.
According to Daniel Lewis, a state officer for Texas Parks and Wildlife the protection of Maderas del Carmen is one of the bigger projects Texas Parks and Wildlife has been formally trying to complete. There has been much debate and complication in regards to establishing Maderas del Carmen as an trans-international park because of the various political differences between the United States and Mexico. The fact that international relations between Mexico and the United States are tense at the moment due to the current immigration reform, does not give much momentum to its establishment. The fact that the continued collaboration between the United States and Mexican government has gotten Mexico to establish Maderas del Carmen as a protected area will help bide time in hopes for the future establishment of the area as site of natural beauty for all to enjoy in the future. (D. Lewis, Personal Communication, October 19, 2011)
What are the implications of having a trans-international park?
Maderas del Carmen is 514,000-acre expanse and is regarded by scientists that have explored and cataloged the wildlife in the area as “one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the Chihuahuan desert”.(McKinney B. 2006) During the past four years, the biological staff at El Carmen has documented a total of “79 species of mammals, 80 species of reptiles and amphibians, more than 400 species of plants, and more than 250 species of birds.” (McKinney B. 2006) Maderas del Carmen, although a protected area, is subject to many international laws and regulations going on between the United States and Mexico along the border.
Currently there is a project going on by the United States government that will establish a 670 mile long fence across the border in strategic locations in order reduce the amount of illegal immigrants crossing the US-Mexican border (See figure 1), “especially in Arizona and Texas, where concerns have been raised about endangered species and fragile ecosystems along the Rio Grande”. (Marosi, R. 2008) “Dozens of environmental laws were waived for the building of the border fence” and this has potential implications for National Parks in the United States and Protected areas in Mexico.(Nogales, N. 2011)
According to Daniel, the potential implications to Maderas del Carmen and Big Bend National Park from the construction of the border fence is tremendous. This is because it cuts off the key access points immigrants usually use to illegally cross the border which means illegal immigrants will resort to more desperate, and different areas of crossing which puts protected areas at risk of human invasion. Because the fence between the United States and Mexico border is not built on the border surrounding the national parks and Mexico (Compare Figures 1 and 2), it has the capacity to harbor implications from immigrants trying to access the United States using protected areas such as Maderas del Carmen. (D. Lewis, Personal Communication, October 19, 2011)
The fence between the United States and Mexico is seen as not only a problem for Parks and Protected areas, it is a problem for law enforcement officers such as the United States Border Patrol and Customs. This is because the national park that borders Maderas del Carmen, Big Bend State Park, is governed under its own policies. These policies restrict border protection officials from being in certain areas of national parks or installing new surveillance equipment without going through a long, tedious approval process. (Marosi, R. 2008)
What projects are underway to maintain Maderas del Carmen as an international park?
The current reconstruction of Maderas del Carmen is a top priority for many corporations that want to renovate and restore the protected area. Protection for Maderas del Carmen started in the early 1990’s when CEMEX, the world’s third largest manufacturer of cement took the first step for the area by promising a large scale project to conserve Maderas del Carmen. CEMEX started by purchasing land from the Maderas del Carmen area including private lands that fell into the reserve. CEMEX owns 300,000 acres of Maderas del Carmen and controls another 60,000 acres through private agreements from land owners. (Robbins, Michael W. 2007)
According to Daniel, CEMEX is pouring millions of dollars into the reconstruction of the Maderas del Carmen area, even going as far as to collaborate and form an alliance with other groups attempting to protect the area as well. This is a long term plan that will, in time, bring Maderas del Carmen back or close to what it once was in the past. (D. Lewis, Personal Communication, October 19, 2011)
CEMEX collaborated with Agrupacion Sierra Madre and another conservation organization, Unidos Para La Conservacion, to initiate “Re-wilding” projects for the Maderas del Carmen area. Together, they have re-introduced the bighorn sheep, which were “totally extirpated in this area by 1950, due to unregulated hunting and disease” with great success. (Robbins, Michael W. 2007)
The continued effort of conservation initiative in Maderas del Carmen has also drawn the eye of the Mexican government, who in response created a new organization named “the National Commission for Protected Areas”, in order to help manage the protection of current and future natural habitats. The Maderas del Carmen area is also being monitored by the United States National Park Service and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Departement with specific focus on the trans-border wilderness corridor. (Robbins, Michael W. 2007)
Conclusion
In conclusion, their are many variables affecting the establishment of Maderas del Carmen as not only a protected area, but as a trans-international park in the future. The current re-establishment of Maderas del Carmen’s wildlife, and the purchase of most of its land by world renowned companies such as CEMEX, the third largest producer of cement, only add to the current diversity and vitality of the Maderas del Carmen project. (CEMEX. n.d.) The negotiations going on throughout the United States and Mexico, that lead to the establishment of Maderas del Carmen as Latin Americas first protected area, with ongoing plans to make it Americas first trans-international park, can, in only the words of Robles Gil, who is responsible for conservation ethic in mexico, can say, “All of this is the fulfillment of a dream.” (Robbins, Michael W. 2007) The particular understanding of the Maderas del Carmen area should be understood in order to not only solve the issues surrounding the area, but to apply the techniques used to other potential National Parks and protected areas in the future.
References
Cemex. (n.d.) “El Carmen: Our Conservation Model”. Retrieved from http://www.cemex.com/online/cc2002/ingles/med04_ing.htm
Gallucci, T. (2004). “Mexico’s Maderas del Carmen”. Retrieved from http://texasnature.blogspot.com/2004/10/mexicos-maderas-del-carmen-by-ro-wauer.html
Gulez, S. (1992). A method for evaluating areas for national park status. Retrieved from http://www.springerlink.com/content/8p526015410823nn/
McKinney, B. R. (2006). Room to Roam. TPWD Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.tpwmagazine.com/archive/2006/nov/ed_3/
Morosi, R. and Gaouette, N. (2008). “Environmental rules waived for Mexican border fence.” Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fence2apr02,0,5819252.story
Nogales, N. (2011) “Border Fence Could Harm Environment, Expert Says”. Retrieved from http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/08/22/border-fence-could-harm-environment-expert-says/
“Partners in Protection”. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/bibe/naturescience/mexareas.htm
