Guadalajara's Primavera Forest Will Recover in 30 Years Manuel Valdez Quezada - The News
go to original May 8, 2012

Location of Primavera Forest in relation to Guadalajara. (Tony Burton)

The reforestation of the Primavera Forest in Guadalajara, Jalisco, could take 30 years, according to Arturo Balderas Torres, an environmental specialist at the Jesuit University of Guadalajara.

Balderas Torres explained that the fire, which took place late last month and burned more than 3,000 hectares (7,407 acres) of the forest, caused extensive damage to the environment.

“The carbon dioxide emissions released in those five days could contribute as much as 30 percent of Jalisco’s annual oil and fossil fuel emissions,” Balderas Torres said.

To offset the additional CO2 emissions entering the atmosphere, the state and federal government will have to spend about 570 million pesos, he said.

State and municipal authorities “should execute reforestation and conservation strategies. The strategies should include land-use and fire-prevention regulations by enforcing existing laws and pursuing criminals who commit crimes against the environment,” Balderas Torres said.

The specialist explained that a budget should be approved by the Biosphere Reserve, which is part of the United Nations. He added that a program that offers environmental services to large landowners, and new policies that aim to counter climate change should be created.

Guadalajara residents showed their support for firefighting and prevention efforts and their outrage at government officials’ failure to react swiftly to extinguish the fire.

“There were plenty of complaints against authorities for acting slowly to control the fire. It became clear that the working condition of the fire brigades, and a low budget, have become political issues,” he said.

The fire was extinguished, but an analysis and an evaluation of the fire need to carried out to determine what needs to be done to prevent similar disasters in the future, said Balderas Torres.

According to Balderas, the cost of conserving and maintaining the forest, including administrative costs, is about 3.7 pesos per hectare annually, translating to about 20 million pesos a year for the whole forest.

“The (financial) costs of maintaining the forest is very litte compared to the benefits the people of Guadalajara receive from La Primavera Forest,” he said. “The fire also generated other pollutants, such as ash and carbon monoxide, contaminating the air.”

The Primavera Forest is Guadalajara’s only nature reserve and is considered “the lungs” of the city. According to the specialist, roughly 340,000 residents of Guadalajara suffered from the poor air quality during and immediately after the fire.

The Jalisco state government stated the fire was the state’s worst in six years. The fire was thought to have been started by people burning trash at an illegal dump adjacent to the forest.

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