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Updated January 31st, 2020 at 14:46 IST

Monarch butterfly activist found dead in Mexico

Relatives of an anti-logging activist who was found dead don't know whether he was slain or died accidentally, but they said Thursday that they know one thing for sure: something bad is happening to human rights and environmental activists in Mexico, and people are afraid.

Monarch butterfly activist found dead in Mexico
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Relatives of an anti-logging activist who was found dead don't know whether he was slain or died accidentally, but they said Thursday that they know one thing for sure: something bad is happening to human rights and environmental activists in Mexico, and people are afraid.

The body of Homero Gómez González was found Wednesday in a holding pond near the mountain forest reserve that he long protected, where monarch butterflies spend the winter.

Authorities in Michoacan state are conducting tests to determine the cause of death, though a prosecutor said there was no initial sign of trauma.

"Something strange is happening because they're finishing off all the activists, the people who are doing something for society," said Amado Gomez, the dead man's brother.

The threadbare clothes of the mourners and the few candles and simple floral arrangements at Gómez Gonzalez' funeral underlined the tough background of the struggle being played out in the butterflies' winter grounds, where they shelter in the tall pine and fir forests.

Grinding poverty and gang violence fuel twin threats to the butterfly reserve — illegal logging and encroaching plantations of avocados. The latter is the only legal crop that provides a decent income in this region.

For the last decade, Gomez Gonzàlez fought to keep loggers out of the reserve, leading marches, demonstrations and anti-logging patrols. He tried to persuade the government to increase the meagre stipend that local farmers receive for preserving trees.

He also worked to convince about 260 fellow communal landowners that they should replant trees on land cleared for corn plots. By local accounts, he managed to reforest about 150 hectares (370 acres) of previously cleared land.

Like other places in the world, increasingly scarce water also plays a role in the conflict. Gomez Gonzàlez and other communal landowners had asked the nearby town of Angangueo for payments in return for water they receive from clear mountain streams that survive only because the forests are protected.

His death has sparked fears among others who didn't have his education and public speaking skills.

International organizations have drawn attention to attacks on environmental activists and conservationists in Mexico in recent years.

London-based Global Witness counted 15 killings of environmental activists in Mexico in 2017 and 14 in 2018. In an October 2019 report, Amnesty International said that 12 had been killed in the first nine months of that year.

The activist's relatives had reported him missing Jan. 14, after not seeing him since the previous evening at a traditional celebration.

His body was found in a small agricultural reservoir in Ocampo, state prosecutor Adrián López Solís said. The pond is approximately 32 feet square and 20 feet deep, but only about half full of water, and is on land adjoining property where Gómez González attended the party.

An initial review of Gómez's body showed no signs of trauma, López Solís said at a news conference Wednesday. An autopsy was being performed to determine the cause of death.

The prosecutor said Gómez's relatives had received a ransom call demanding money, but an investigation determined it was not credible and just an attempt to extort money.

While officials study the death, activists said it could be related to disputes over illegal logging, water or income from visitors' fees to the El Rosario butterfly reserve. Gómez González was the head of the reserve's management council.

Millions of monarchs come to the forests of Michoacan and other nearby areas after making the 3,400-mile (5,500-kilometer) migration from the United States and Canada. They need healthy tree cover to protect them from rain and cold weather.

Mexico has clamped down on illegal logging, which was once a major threat to the reserves but which has now fallen to about one-third last year's level. But there have been reports of increased "salvage" logging of supposedly diseased trees.

(Picture Credits: Pixabay)

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Published January 31st, 2020 at 14:46 IST

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