Commission for Environmental Cooperation

Summary of the matter addressed in the submission:

The Submitter asserts that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce its environmental laws to adequately evaluate the environmental impacts of a residential development in Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, near La Primavera Forest Protected Area in Jalisco, Mexico. The area is also designated as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO.

In submission SEM-23-004 (La Primavera Forest II), the Submitter asserts that Mexico is failing to follow the environmental impact assessment procedure to manage and mitigate environmental impacts of the Bosque Alto – Santa Anita Hills residential development project and uphold the right to a healthy environment. In particular, the Submitter claims that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce provisions of the Mexican Constitution, the General Act on Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente) and the General Act on Sustainable Forestry Development (Ley General de Desarrollo Forestal Sustentable).

The Submitter maintains that the residential development project will damage forest resources and may result in erosion; loss of surface soil; large amounts of water runoff; removal of nutrients and organic matter; reduced rooting depth of plants; decreased rates of infiltration and water retention, and diminished carbon sequestration and oxygen production due to the removal of trees. The Submitter states that development of the project under its current authorization will alter the balance of the ecosystem, decreasing its capacity to provide ecosystem services for the community such as air and water purification, climate regulation, and protection against natural disasters, potentially leading to an irreversible loss of natural resources and a decrease in the quality of life of the people who depend on them.

A similar submission, SEM-15-001 (La Primavera Forest), was filed with the CEC Secretariat in 2015, asserting that the Santa Anita Hills development project was causing the destruction of the buffer zone of La Primavera Forest Protected Area. The Council instructed the Secretariat not to prepare a Factual Record in that case.

Names and citations of the environmental laws in question:

Provisions of the Mexican Constitution, the General Act on Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente) and the General Act on Sustainable Forestry Development (Ley General de Desarrollo Forestal Sustentable)

Submitter(s):

Unión de Colonias de la Puerta Sur