CEC staff, journalists, ecologists & local industry representatives at Silva Reservoir. A scientific panel established by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation to report on a major die-off of migratory and resident waterbirds has set important precedents for international environmental cooperation.

During the winter of 1994-95, between 20,000 and 40,000 birds died at the Silva agricultural reservoir near León in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. Among the 21 species killed were ruddy ducks, northern pintails, green-winged teals and white-faced ibises. Three non-governmental environmental groups, the National Audubon Society, the Grupo de los Cien International and the Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental, requested that the CEC report on the mass mortality in accordance with Article 13 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation.

Commission welcomed
Julia Carabias, Mexico’s Secretary of State for the Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries, welcomed the commission’s participation saying it would be useful for her country and its North American partners as part of the cooperative process for solving environmental problems.

Article 13 states that the CEC may prepare a report "on any matter within the scope of the annual program and that where the CEC Secretariat does not have specific expertise in the matter under review, it shall obtain the assistance of one or more independent experts of recognized experience in the matter to assist in the preparation of the report."

Experts appointed

The commission appointed nine experts to the International Silva Reservoir Scientific Panel, three from nacec.each country; Canada, the United States and Mexico. This included three chairs, Joe Carriero (Canada), Linda Glaser (United States), and Jorge Soberon (Mexico). Panelists were from nacec.the government and university sectors and had expertise in, among other fields, veterinary medicine, waterfowl biology, wildlife toxicology, industrial chemistry, ecology and watershed management.

Each was encouraged to make use of their respective agencies and institutions but their primary responsibility was to serve in a professional capacity, rather than as representatives of institutions or governments.

The panel had two primary tasks. First, it was to identify the likely cause, or causes, of the bird kill. Second, it was to advise on ways to avoid a similar recurrence, recommend an appropriate collaborative response process in the event of another such die-off, and identify opportunities for international cooperation arising from nacec.the work of the panel.

With another migration of birds due to arrive in the Silva area this fall, panelists acted swiftly on their mandate. Soon after their first meeting in Montreal in early July, members travelled to Mexico and met with experts and officials. Some visited the Silva Reservoir to collect frozen samples of dead waterfowl, and sediment samples for chemical, toxicological and pathogenic testing.

At their second meeting, in Mexico City in late July, the panel met with officials in Mexico, discussed preliminary findings and developed an outline for its report. At a third meeting, in Montreal in late August, panelists worked on drafts of their report which was forwarded to the Secretariat of the CEC in late August. Following receipt of the Panel’s report, the CEC Secretariat then prepared its own report for submission to the CEC Council. Since last winter’s die-off the Silva reservoir has been drained and the corpses of birds buried, but with scores of migratory birds soon returning to the area, officials and environmentalists await the findings of the CEC report. The report will be released to the public.