Preservation, Rehabilitation, and Management of Heritage Wetlands in Mexico - Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes - page 161

FIGURE 11.2

Idealized Olmec village, circa 1200 bce.

most notably manatees, jaguars, osprey, garfish, crocodiles, tapirs, peccaries, tou-
cans, howler monkeys, and iguanas (Plata 2002; World Wildlife Fund 2006).
As a result of this rich biodiversity and deep history, the region is sometimes called
Mexico's “Eden,” a moniker also used of course in reference to the Iraqi marshlands.

e nvironmental t hreats
Because soils in the region are the most productive in the country, the Pantanos de
Centla region faces intense pressure for agricultural development. Deforestation for
cattle farming is widespread and has consumed 15 percent of the total area of the
wetlands. Road building, which can cause substantial environmental impacts itself
(chapter 17), has enabled access to inner regions of wetland and allowed for the
development of oil exploration facilities, which in turn have produced industrial pol-
lution. Poaching from the more than two thousand fishermen in the region who rely
upon the wetlands as an important economic activity is an ongoing problem. And
finally, as in Iraq, there are plans for the construction of several large dams and water
diversions which promise to produce dire ecological consequences to the long-term
ecological integrity of the area should they be implemented.

P ark m anagement
The story of the management of Pantanos de Centla Park also offers constructive
lessons for what might one day transpire in Iraq; in this case, however, these les-
sons take the form of what not to do. Park managers have created a set of designated
critical “core zones,” but there is essentially no enforcement of bylaws due to there
being only three vigilance personnel on the payroll. With only a single enforcement
official per 100,000 ha of wetland park, the result is that new settlements, oil drilling,