Avocados, deforestation and cartels go hand in hand in Mexico

In the pine mountains of western Mexico, where loggers raze entire hillsides to plant avocado (avocado), the inhabitants have taken up the fight against tala ilegal by his own hand.

They say the avocado depletes their local water supply and attracts drug cartels looking for extortion money.

In some places, like the indigenous town of Cherán, in the state of Michoacán, the fight against illegal logging and plantations has been so successful that it seems as if a line has been drawn in the mountains: avocados and cleared land, for a side, and pine forest on the other.

However, a decade-long political uprising has been necessary in which the people of Cherán have declared their autonomy and have formed their own government.

Other towns, harassed by producers and armed groups of the cartels, continue to fight, but are often intimidated by the violence.

David Ramos Guerrero, a member of the autonomous agricultural board, affirms that the farmers have agreed to a total ban on commercial avocado plantations, which, he points out, “the only thing that brings is violence.”

“Yes, they are allowed three, four, five or up to a maximum of 10 plants for edible use only for the community, but as a business it is not allowed,” he stressed.

The reason is obvious. During a patrol tour, Ramos Guerrero observes a practically deforested valley in a neighboring municipality. Rows of avocado trees form on the bare hillsides once filled with pines and firs. “This is an island. Around Cherán, everything is invaded by avocado,” he laments.

Those who have traveled the cool mountain of pine and fir forest in Michoacán know that the tops of the pines serve as protection against heat and evaporation.

The thick carpet of fallen pine needles serves as a sponge, absorbing and storing moisture. The roots of the pines prevent water and soil from falling down the slopes.

But the first thing avocado producers do is create ponds that retain water for their orchards, draining the streams that were previously used by the inhabitants of the mountain areas. Then the drug cartels arrive to extort money from avocado producers.

“We have realized that the only thing the avocado does is absorb as much water as possible from what our forests produce,” says Ramos Guerrero.

Cherán, which began its experiment in self-government in 2011 by blocking roads used by illegal loggers, now uses backhoes to dig trenches along logging roads.

Regarding avocados, Ramos Guerrero states: “we intervene in a friendly way, firstly through dialogue, and if no agreement is reached, then it is used now. So the door goes, and the avocado plants are uprooted or cut down.”

If the farmers do not agree to stop planting avocados, that is when the forest patrols of Cherán come into action.

Traveling in a pair of pickup trucks through the woods, a community police force made up of men armed with AR-15 rifles seizes an ax and later a chainsaw from two men felling trees.

The men will probably have their tools returned with a warning to ask permission next time. The patrols find previously cut pine logs hidden in the undergrowth along the highway and seize them, loading them into one of the trucks.

Salvador Ávila Magaña, 65, remembers what it was like before Cherán rose up in 2011. He was kicked off his land in the face of threats from loggers, who then cut it down.

“Already at the last (we were) threatened that, if we set foot there again, they would ‘lift us up,'” said Ávila Magaña. “If we went, we appeared in the stock market. Several people died and were eventually handed over in pieces.”

But despite the fact that his 18-hectare (45-acre) plot had been completely cleared, Ávila Magaña decided to plant pines again, hoping to “leave something to my children, my grandchildren,” who, he hopes, can carry on. which at the time was a sustainable forestry practice for the extraction of resin for turpentine or cosmetics.

“We made an agreement with the community members that we do not plant avocado, only trees that produce good air,” he said.