| Montreal, 16/11/2006 – On 9 November 2006, the Asociación Fuerza Unida Emiliano Zapata en Pro de las Áreas Verdes, A.C. (the “Submitter”) presented to the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) a citizen submission asserting that Mexico is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law with respect to the protected natural area known as “Los Remedios” National Park in Naucalpan, State of Mexico.
Los Remedios National Park was created by a decree published in 1938. In the submission, SEM-06-006 (Parque Nacional Los Remedios), the Submitter asserts that the government of Mexico has issued a draft decree (anteproyecto de decreto) to abrogate the decree that created Los Remedios National Park so as to eliminate this natural protected area. The Submitter maintains that the preliminary decree violates provisions of the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente) which, according to the Submitter, provides only for modification of size or change of permitted uses of protected areas, but not for their total elimination. The Submitter also asserts that, in April 2006, a private company began cutting trees and conducting construction activity within the park and that, instead of fulfilling its duty to protect the natural protected area in the park, the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) is allowing the destruction of its resources.
The Secretariat of the CEC will now analyze the submission to determine whether it meets the requirements of Article 14 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC).
The CEC citizen submission mechanism allows citizens to play an active "whistleblower" role in matters relating to environmental law enforcement. Pursuant to NAAEC Article 14, any citizen or nongovernmental organization may file a submission when it believes that a NAFTA partner is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law. After reviewing the submission, the CEC may investigate the matter and publish a factual record of its findings.
For more information, please visit the CEC's Citizen Submissions on Enforcement Matters page. |
