Renewable energy vs. cultural preservation - Solar, Wind and Land: Conflicts in Renewable Energy Development - page 129

400 wind turbines, with several other projects in various planning stages by
developers owned by such companies as Mitsubishi and Macquarie . 59 Wind
energy development in the region has been proceeding at a breakneck pace
in recent years, including a 140 percent year-over-year increase in gener-
ating capacity in 2012 alone. 60
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is a relatively rural area of Mexico, occupied
in large part by impoverished indigenous groups and peasants who rely
on fishing and low-technology agriculture for subsistence. Many of these
citizens hold land collectively in ejidos , which generally means that some
sort of group consent is required to convey any real property interests. 61
Ignoring this communal ownership structure, some developers have entered
into wind energy lease agreements with occupiers of these areas that treat
these residents as independent property owners. The rental amounts under
many of these agreements are also extremely unfavorable to lessors—as
little as 100 Mexican pesos 62 (less than eight U.S. dollars 63 ) per hectare
per year. Advocates for these groups have denounced such rental practices,
arguing that they “violate collective property rights, agrarian laws and the
traditional laws of indigenous peoples.” 64
Indigenous groups opposing wind energy development in this region of
southern Mexico are concerned about a different type of cultural preser-
vation than the sort that generally troubles tribes north of the U.S.-Mexican
border. The concerns of the indigenous peoples of Oaxaca are not centered on
possible disturbances to sacred artifacts and burial sites. Instead, these people
are seeking to protect themselves against direct threats to their centuries-
old, traditional lifestyle. Wind turbines and supporting facilities encroaching
into the remote areas that these tribes have long relied on for their simple
subsistence can put the very livelihood of these vulnerable groups at risk.
Disharmony between wind energy developers and indigenous locals
escalated in 2012 in connection with the San Dionisio Del Mar wind energy
project—a project planned in an area near Oaxaca's western coastline that
aimed to be the largest wind farm in the country. 65 Many residents living
in the project area are members of the “Ikojts” or “Ikoots” group, a tribe
that has relied primarily on fishing and small-scale agriculture to sustain its
way of life in the area for centuries. 66 As construction began on the project,
area residents grew increasingly convinced that the project developer had
ignored locals' longstanding ejido property ownership structure and coaxed
them into signing unfair, one-sided contracts. Residents were concerned
that the wind farm would “desecrate Ikoots sacred territory”, including the
picturesque Isla de San Dionisio and Barra de Santa Teresa. 67 And some
locals were also furious over the developer's alleged practice of committing
to pay large sums of money to influential local leaders to secure their
support for the project and then offering far less compensation to all other
residents. 68 Some feared that royalties payable to common residents under
those contracts would not adequately compensate them for the project's
impacts on their livelihood. In the words of one local resident: