Electronic Version, All Stories Copyrighted 1995. I am slowly becoming accustomed to the idea of preparing both an electronic and paper version of this small newsletter. It fills a relatively lonely niche in the English language by providing environmental and enviro tourism information regarding Latin America.
Feel free to copy this edition or reprint articles, but please inform me if you do so. I welcome your feedback, suggestions and literary contributions. Ron Mader, Publisher. (RonMader@aol.com and ron@txinfinet.com)
EL PLANETA PLATICA:
Centro Ecologico:
Thriving in the Center of the Sonoran Desert
Volume 1, Number 4
Autumn 1994
El Planeta Platica (The Earth Speaks) is brought to you from those globally-minded folks at Talking Planet in Austin, Texas. This newsletter is printed quarterly, bringing environmental information to travelers heading to Latin America.
Online, the newsletter is accessible at the web site http://www.txinfinet.com/mader/ecotravel/ecotravel.html.
Please support this effort at improving our hemispheric dialogue. Annual subscriptions are just $10. Planeta supporters contribute $25. Your literary contributions are welcome and rewarded. Want to advertise your connection to Latin America? Join a select and cherished club. Please ask for our rate sheet.
Everyday brings us closer together - whether we're ready for it or not. Let's crank up the North-South dialogue here on Turtle Island.
Ron Mader, Publisher
El Planeta Platica
P.O. Box 1044
Austin, TX 78767
E-mail: ron@txinfinet.com and RonMader@aol.com
Note: Mader also moderates the Mexico/Latin America conferences on Texas InfiNet, an Austin-based BBS which can be reached via telnet at 204.96.111.157 3000.
QUOTE
It is no longer simply a question of what man is doing to the environment, but of what the despoliation of the environment is doing to man."
- John McCormick, Reclaiming Paradise
(an exemplary book published by
Indiana University Press in 1989)
ELECTRONIC INDEX:
Bridges and Borders by Ron Mader
Preserving the Sonoran Desert by David Dunaway
Resource List
Cycling in the World's Biggest City by Greg Green
La Cocina Latinoamericana by Melissa Biggs
Resources:
Bridges and Borders: Editorial
By Ron Mader
It's November 1994 when I write this. Incredible - I've actually been able to publish this newsletter on a quarterly basis for a full year.
It's funny what we take for granted once it's already been accomplished. If I'd known how much work was involved in the lay-out, article solicitations and marketing, you might not have this newsletter in your hands. At times ignorance begets great miracles.
What's next? I sit before my computer and throw up my hands when pressed to speculate what may occur in 1995. The computer revolution is only now in full swing, enabling people to query, post and retrieve information from around the world.
As the interactive nature of this magazine grows, and I receive suggestions and requests for info via no e- and e-mail, things will change. Already an electronic e-mail version is available to those who request it. It's also available on-line via Infinet in Austin, Texas and Communications for a Sustainable Future (CSF) in Colorado. Use the Gopher, select gopher://csf.Colorado.EDU/11/environment/orgs/El_Planeta_Platica to find the latest issue.
To non-Internet speaking readers, this means that the magazine is available world-wide, gratis.
I've always thought of El Planeta Platica as a general interest magazine, aimed at a select group of people. Melissa's appetizing recipes tempt the taste buds, as well. To know a culture, you must sample its foods.
If knowledge is food, this newsletter is an appetizer. If you're interested in these issues, go visit the places or read a book. Or give me a grant to write a book.
And if Planeta sparks some interest, let me know. I want to be able to respond to the ever-changing environment of environmental information.
That said, look for big changes in Volume 2. The size of the paper version should expand, we'll cover more enviro trips and news briefs. Thanks for your support for a great first year and wherever the road leads you, have a great trip.
Desert Notebook
It is the rare storm that penetrates the Sonoran Desert. What little precipitation does fall comes as a rule from December to March as gentle rains from Pacific weather disturbances, or in late July and August as violent thunderstorms.
- John Alcock, Sonoran Desert Spring
(Arid lands) are full of dead people and cultures because the weather fluctuates a great deal. For aridity is more than just dryness; it is guaranteed uncertainty.
- Charles Bowden, Killing the Hidden Waters
Desert soils the world over have the top horizon filled with tubelike air holes formed by the rapid expansion of soil gasses that occurs when summer rains wet the hot ground. I scratch away the pavement and find a puffy, porous soil, full of holes, beneath.
- Ann Haymond Zwinger, Mysterious Lands
We need wilderness whether or not we ever set foot in it. We need a refuge event though we may never need to go there.
- Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire
The deserts should never be reclaimed. They are the breathing spaces of the west and should be preserved forever.
- John Van Dyke, The Desert
For the Americans the problem in the arid west, and in the part called the Sonoran desert, was not any shortage of resources, but rather a failure by earlier inhabitants in the area of technique.
- Charles Bowden, Killing the Hidden Waters
Preserving the Sonoran Desert
By David Dunaway
The Sonora Desert stretches from the southern tip of Arizona and California into the Mexican state of Sonora on the Sea of Cortez. This barren expanse, home to lonely Saguaro cacti and century plants, has come increasingly under attack by the forces of progress and technology. The creeping suburbanization of the southwestern United States, blatant pollution from factories along the border and uncertain water supplies threaten this fragile ecosystem.
The Mexican environmental movement is small in comparison the that north of the border. It seems that worrying about the environment is more of a luxury that we in the states can afford while developing countries have to concentrate on job creation. Recently a small but vocal front in Mexico has started to address some of the sins of the past. One of the central efforts of the uprising in Chiapas was a new emphasis on care for the environment.
One place to get a closer view of the Sonoran desert as well as gain a better understanding of this endangered region is at the Centro Ecologico outside Hermosillo, capital of the state of Sonora. This midsize city 150 miles south of the border is located on the eastern edge of what is rapidly becoming Mexico's dominant manufacturing region.
Early one July morning we drove down from Douglas, Arizona, through the Sierra Madre mountain range. The winding road through the mountains allowed for a great view and the cool desert air felt good with the windows down. The temperature quickly rose once the sun was up. By the time we arrived at the Centro was 5 PM and very hot in the sun.
The center comprises 2400 acres of rolling hills 4 kilometers south of town. Four dollars admission (at July 1994 exchange rates) admits one for a self paced walk through 2.8 km of paths over the rough desert terrain. More than 300 types of plants can be viewed along with 200 animals from around the world.
Exhibits showcase the four types of ecosystems in the state of Sonora: mountains, grasslands, desert and the Sea of Cortez. Ample descriptions (in Spanish) tell about the plants and animals, as well as the climate and topography of each region. The rest of the park is devoted to larger animals from both North America and other continents.
A greenhouse at the end of the path provides cool and welcome relief from the blazing sun. This affords the chance to see plants from the more tropical regions, many of which are endangered species.
If you're interested in a closer look at this desert region and don't mind a reasonably strenuous self-guided tour, the Centro Ecologico gives a good overview for the first time visitor.
The author can be reached via e-mail at: ddunaway@heavy.dallas.sgi.com
Resource List:
If the Sonoran Desert piques your interest, don't miss reading John Alcock's superb naturalists renderings in both Sonoran Desert Spring and Sonoran Desert Summer ($15.95 each), from the University of Arizona Press (1-800-426-3797).
Alcock himself plays a strong, though not central character in the books as he ambles about the Tonto National Forest, outside of Phoenix. Flash floods, gila monsters and the ubiquitous saguaros are the stars of this show.
ÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑ
The preservation of the desert is now being discussed among the International Sonoran Desert Alliance (ISDA). Members include representatives of the U.S., Mexican and O'odham nations. For information, please write to the Sonoran Institute, 6842 E. Tanque Verde Road, #D, Tucson, AZ 85715. Or call (602) 290-0828.
Cycling in the World's Largest City
By Greg Green
The streets of Mexico City are among the most polluted in the world, and current estimates set the city's population at 20 million. Yet as the city's congestion has increased, so have the number of bicycles. Bicycles have emerged as one of few ways to bypass traffic and distribute goods and services to the public.
Ice and Coca-Cola trucks have been replaced by hefty bicycle carts capable of carrying so much stacked on the front that some daring drivers have to look around their cargo to see where they're going. Each day as the city awakes, fleets of bicycle carts leave bakeries to deliver the morning bread, and messengers roll through downtown to begin the city's morning business communications. In residential neighborhoods peddlers offer convenient while-you-wait knife sharpening services from bicycles with small grinders mounted on the back. Auto mechanics on bicycles come to the aid of breakdowns as they ride bikes with only the most basic set of tools mounted on the rear rack.
Five major newspapers are printed near the center of downtown, and successful distribution increasingly depends on the mobility of bicycles. From behind the offices of the major dailyExcÄlsior, a multitude of riders convenes throughout the day among old-worldish, Mexican-made, Benotto indestructo-bikes. The riders are often as old and worn as their machines. As the days and nights pass and the newspapers roll off the press, riders leave the loading area with newspapers piled up to five feet high on their rear racks. With surprising skill and ease, they pass through the endless torrent of cars to get the newspapers out to the public.
In the ten blocks around the Zocalo or "town square" groups of bicycle taxi drivers have formed to meet the growing need to get around the standstill. In the Mexican tradition many of them are unionized. "The union's a not a bad deal," said bicitaxista Javier de la Torre AndrÄs. "We just pay 10 pesos a day (about $3) and like a cooperative they pay for new bikes and repairs."
To preserve their health in the face of the growing pollution problem, bicitaxista union members head "up to the mountains" once a month to ride their bikes where the air's clean. "It decongests the lungs," I was told. I asked environmentalist BeatrÆz Padilla, who currently works promoting solar car development and commutes by bike when she can, just how thick the air could get. "I've seen the smog get so bad that there isn't just a haze in the air, there are different densities of air swirling around in the streets. Something must be done."
"There's a lot of misinformation about smog." said Ricardo RamÆrez, who for three years has directed the cycling program at the track where the 1968 Olympic cycling events were held. "The best time of day to ride is at about 10 am," Ramirez told me as we watched his group of young protegees do their morning training. "If you turn on the lights at night or early in the morning you see all the haze in the air," he said.
Unfortunately for his riders, Ricardo is spreading the misinformation. Smog tables published in some daily newspapers chart the levels of ozone, carbon monoxide, lead and other aiborne contaminants - by the hour. By any table, the ozone levels peak about the time when Ricardo advises to ride.
After the riders finished training I asked one named Edgar just how it is that recreational cyclists can exist in this harsh environment. He looked at me through glowing eyes, his ponytail swinging in the breeze, and said, "Because, it's our passion." Edgar is now 18, and he intends to stick with the velodrome until he can arrange to go abroad to race - and represent Mexico and the Aztec heritage he very proudly claims.
On this same track, in 1984 Francesco Moser set the 5, 10 and 20 kilometer records, and the hour record. Today the all-wood track stands in a state of disrepair. "Cycles in this country are just too expensive. I've seen photos of France, and Holland. Housewives, kids, workers all going wherever they want on bike paths. We don't have any of that here,"
Ricardo said. The fees at the track are proof that it's more than money that holds people back. For about five dollars a month the city offers use of the track and provides a Campagnolo-equipped pista bike with sew-ups. Despite this incentive, the velodrome has only about 50 regular users.
Air is among the most basic requirements for human life, yet when asked if smog effects them, most bicitaxistas and recreational riders say their bodies have adapted so the air's no problem now. Cycle-users here seem to be of a tremendously resilient breed. Forever more, when I see an off-duty bottle distributor using his bicycle cart to carry friends through oppressively dusty streets for a wild Saturday night, I will be reminded of Ricardo's last words when we parted ways at the velodrome. "We cyclists are like the cockroaches and the rats that can survive nuclear war. You just blow the ash out of your nose and pedal on."
The author can be reached at 716 King St. Ñ Santa Cruz, CA. 95060 .
La Cocina Latinoamericana: Gazpacho Andaluz
By Melissa Biggs
Though technically a Spanish food, gazpacho as we know it would not exist without the introduction of New World tomatoes into Old World cuisine. The quality of the gazpacho rests in the tomatoes you select. Make gazpacho only at the peak of tomato season; use the freshest, ripest tomatoes you can find.
5 or 6 medium tomatoes, cut into eighths
1/2 cucumber, cut into chunks
1 small bell pepper, quartered
1/2 medium onion, cut into chunks
3 or 4 cloves of garlic
a hunk of stale, crusty bread--the leftover end of a baguette works well
olive oil
red wine vinegar
salt
Combine the first six ingredients in a 5-cup blender jar. Make the gazpacho in batches if your blender jar holds less, using half the amount of each ingredient at a time. Blend on high speed until pureed. The bread acts as a thickener; blend until the liquid absorbs all of the bread. Now for the tedious part: straining. Balance a fine meshed sieve over a bowl. Pour a small amount of puree into the sieve; stir and press until all the liquid strains into the bowl. Discard the remaining seeds and peel. Continue until all of the puree is strained. Add a splash of oil and vinegar and salt to taste. Chill the gazpacho until serving time.
Plain gazpacho tastes wonderful, but some folks prefer theirs chunky. Set out dishes of diced tomatoes, cucumbers, bell pepper, onions, and garlicky croutons, and let them help themselves.
Announcement:
I am looking for articles to include in future issues of El Planeta Platica. If you've read all of the material up to this announcement, consider yourself an interested reader. Now how would you like to be a writer? Let me know what resources you'd recommend.
Resources:
In the last three months I have not come across many environmental resources about Latin America. This is primarily due to the focus I've given to U.S.-Mexico border issues for my (paying) job as a free-lance writer.
I'm happy to report that the Mesoamerican Biodiversity Legal Project has issued "Elaboracion de Propuesta de Ley Modelo de Areas Protegidas: Guatemala" prepared by Alejandra Sobenes Garcia. For information, contact the author at IDEADS, 3 Avenida 4-68, Zona 1, Apt. B, Guatemala, Guatemala. Tel/Fax: (502-2) 53-1987. E-mail: ideads@nicarao.apc.org. Or contact Tom Ankersen and Richard Hamman at the Center for Governmental Responsibility, 230 Bruton Geer, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. Phone (904) 392-2237. E-mail: cgrtom@nervm.nerdc.ufl.edu
To end this electronic issue on an up beat, let's talk about rock. The best music produced south of the U.S. border experiments with new forms, including rock and roll music. The usenet newsgroups have been discussing this for the last few months. Her are some of the best Spanish-language rock groups:
Alejandra Guzman, Alquimia, Baron Rojo, Barricada, Cafe Tacuba, Caifanes, Celtas Cortos, Charlie Garcia, Duncan Dhu, El Tri, El Ultimo de la Fila, Fobia, Gabinete Caligari, Git, Gloria Trevi, Heroes del Silencio, Hombres G, Joaquin Sabina, La Decada Prodigiosa, La Frontera, La Ley, La Union, Leûo, Loquillo y los trogloditas, Los Amantes de Lola, Los Angeles del Infierno, Los Enanitos Verdes, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Los Ilegales, Los Prisioneros, Los Toreros Muertos, Los Violadores, Maldita vecindad y los hijos del quinto patio, Mana', Mano Negra, Mecano, Miguel Mateos, Miguel Rios, Neo'n, Ole Ole, Presuntos Implicados, Radio Futura, Raul Porchetto, Seguridad Social, Soda Stereo, Tam Tam Go, The Sacados, Triana, Virus
Publisher's favorites: Maldita Vecinidad and Fobia. (Of course, I lived in Mexico City for a year and a half)
Copyright 1995: (RonMader@aol.com and ron@txinfinet.com)
