An Overview Of Our Solution
Illegal wildlife trafficking generates great damage to biodiversity, in the case of Mexico, although there are public policies associated with conservation and environmental justice, these have not been efficient mainly due to the fact that the environmental government institutions in charge of the administration of environmental justice have a deficient participation resulting in impunity and loss of biological diversity. For every 100 crimes against biodiversity that are committed, only 32 percent receive a sentence, which can be appealed. In the case of jaguars, there is no person who has been serving a sentence for their involvement in all of history. court in Mexico. It is imperative to consolidate the legal-political system and give hope to this species.
- Population Impacted: 4,800
- Continent: North America
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Context Analysis
For every 100 crimes against biodiversity that are committed, only 32 percent receive a sentence, which can be appealed. In the case of jaguars, there is no person who has been serving a sentence for their involvement in all of history. judicial system in Mexico, likewise crimes and illicit acts against biodiversity present gaps and pressing governmental deficiencies to be resolved in order to give hope to the conservation of the largest feline in Mexico. The situation for activists and defenders of the rights of nature in Mexico is extremely urgent, it is considered one of the most dangerous places for environmental defense and activism, in addition to the fact that there is legal and illegal traffic with sources associated with the organized crime, which makes the legal defense of biodiversity a dangerous, complex and unsupported issue. Despite the adversities, we have managed to cement environmental law for the protection of the jaguar and wildlife in Mexico, having important success stories that are pillars for jaguar conservation: https://raco.cat/index.php/da/article/view/v9-n3-morales/440523
Describe the technical solution you wanted the target audience to adopt
Promote modifications to the Mexican legal system to strengthen legislation in defense of the jaguar.
Promote legal-political mechanisms for the protection of the jaguar before international bodies.
Provide technical training to organizations, judges, magistrates and other personnel dealing with issues associated with illicit and environmental crimes associated with wildlife.
Create an investigation protocol for illicit and crimes that affect the jaguar.
Create a manual for the defense of the jaguar in Mexico.
Describe your behavioral intervention.
The effective combat of crimes against biodiversity are a tool for conservation, currently impunity in crimes against biodiversity makes it impossible to give adequate protection to wildlife in Mexico due to the fact that environmental government institutions are overwhelmed by the criminal phenomenon environmental. Despite the adversities in the defense of biodiversity and the jaguar, in Mexico we have cemented the legal protection of this feline, its habitat and its prey through litigation and the promotion of legal actions, with the support of universities, we have promoted that there are more professionals who defend nature and thus give hope to the conservation of the jaguar. To the extent that we have a participatory society and professionals related to the social cause of defending the jaguar, we will have hope to change the course of the jaguar's decline.
Behavioral Levers Utilized
As needed, please explain how you utilized the lever(s) in more detail.
Through the restructuring of the protection of the jaguar in the legal system, it will be possible to promote a political agenda to stop and eliminate the trafficking of jaguars and their parts. This action will have as its axis the ban of 1987 and its adaptation to the Mexican reality in the XXI century. With the interventions of workshops and educational programs, it will be proposed to serve two primary groups: 1) public servants and 2) the general public, activists and professionals.
Describe your implementation
The Mexican regulatory system presents gaps in the protection of biodiversity, including the case of the jaguar, which hinders the prosecution and administration of justice; However, the function of the socio-environmental actor is to activate the social, scientific, philosophical, political and legal mechanisms to influence the conservation of this species. Despite the obstacles in the environmental litigation in Mexico, we have managed to make the federal environmental authority will make the largest seizure of jaguar skins in the last twenty years, setting an important precedent to combat jaguar trafficking in Mexico.
Describe the leadership for your solution. Who is leading the implementation?
Biofutura has a department for the defense of biodiversity which is made up mostly of young people who are promoting legal-political acts for the protection of the jaguar, this department also includes members of indigenous communities in the center of the country, so it is multicultural, with a gender perspective and with a strong drive to transform the condition of oppression against environmental activists in the country and defend biodiversity. Likewise, we have added synergies with the National Alliance for the Conservation of the Jaguar with whom we have formed a network of vigilantes for the protection of the jaguar, having an impact at the national level, for this work in defense of nature, we won the 2022 Ecological Merit Award in the area of environmental justice. Being thus the most important organization in defense of nature in Mexico.
Share some of the key partners or stakeholders engaged in your solution development and implementation.
We have collaborated with various civil organizations, mainly the National Alliance for the Conservation of the Jaguar, and with government agencies such as the State Congress, and at the Federal level with the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. In an international arena, the following stands out: since 2010, the National Alliance for Jaguar Conservation (ANCJ) formed the law and public policy group headed by Biofutura as a key tool in jaguar conservation, in 2015 as a product of the meeting of the X Symposium "The Mexican jaguar in the XXI century: A decade of challenges and opportunities", held in Cuernavaca, Morelos, the "Continental Strategy for the conservation of the jaguar (Panthera onca) from an integral vision" which was consolidated until its presentation as a motion before the IUCN in 2019 by Biofutura for being a member of the IUCN and various strategic allies, registering with number 40141, where a proposal from other South American researchers was later added. called "Jaguar (Panthera onca) Conservation Priority Declaration" with registration 40867, which when merged secondarily with the main proposal of Biofutura-ANCJ according to the decision of the Working Group on Motions (GTM), gave rise to motion 106 Continental conservation priority for the Jaguar (Panthera onca), this motion was presented and accepted at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, in Marseille, France, 2020-2021.
Who adopted the desired behavior(s) and to what degree? Include an explanation of how you measured a change in behavior.
The IUCN approved by majority the motion presented by Biofutura, mainly where the author's works are mentioned as the reference axis of the motion: see https://www.iucncongress2020.org/es/motion/106 within the local strategies, we achieved the formation of actions in conjunction with the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation SCJN to promote, disseminate and strengthen the fight against environmental crimes that affect the jaguar and animal rights at the national level, being the first program of this type. Within the actions for protection through litigation, we have published our actions in legal defense: https://raco.cat/index.php/da/article/view/v9-n3-morales/440523, likewise, the awards awarded to Biofutura for environmental justice and human rights can be found in any search engine.
How did you impact the environment (biodiversity conservation, ecosystems, etc.)? Please be specific and include measurement methodology where relevant.
At the water level, we have managed to protect riparian areas through legal defense and the rescue of cultural heritage in sites with indigenous populations.
How has your solution impacted equity challenges (including race, ethnicity, social class/income, indigenous communities, or others)?
One of the main challenges in terms of protection of the jaguar and its link with illegal trade is the inequality gap in indigenous communities in Mexico. Given this scenario, we have created actions to protect the jaguar, its environmental, bioethical and biocultural importance through horizontal participatory educational models with a Freirian approach to promote sustainable development; see: https://panorama.solutions/es/user/angel-daen-morales-garcia
What were some sustainable development co-benefits?
It has been possible to declare the jaguar as biocultural heritage in the State of Oaxaca, it has been possible to promote the strengthening of environmental institutions in the prosecution of environmental justice in Mexico, the protection of the jaguar has been promoted at local and international scales associated with the SDGs . Complaints and the largest seizure of jaguar skins in the history of Mexico in conjunction with environmental authorities.
Sustainability: Describe the economic sustainability of your solution.
In Mexico they have stopped supporting civil organizations that are key actors in the defense of nature, NGOs have been criminalized by the federal government, in the face of this attack we have not had any type of financial support, we have subsisted on what we had collected from previous projects, however, the condition is critical, however, despite the fact that there is no support or resources, our staff has an indomitable force that is key in times of crisis.
Return on investment: How much did it cost to implement these activities? How do your results above compare to this investment?
The implementation of these activities have had a cost of 40,000 dollars. We consider that the results of this action have been much higher according to the cost of the promoted actions. To the degree of obtaining the Ecological Merit Award for actions in defense of biodiversity and the jaguar in Mexico.
How could we successfully replicate this solution in Latin America?
A large part of the actions carried out are based on a legal and political analysis to be able to analyze the legal-political conflict from a genealogy, this methodology can and should be implemented in all sites with jaguars in America and have a real panorama to start with a conservation that is not harmful, to guide the integration of the social sciences and humanities into the field of conservation in practice of the jaguar.
Peruvian Regions Applicable
Describe how the technical solution addresses wildlife trafficking in the Peruvian Amazon.
The success of the criminal policy focused on the protection of biodiversity lies in making the adjustments in the regulatory framework in order to establish the necessary legal elements to deal with illegal acts against wildlife in an ideal way. The affectation of wildlife violates the human right to a healthy environment of all people, it is imperative to adapt the regulations and go beyond the traditional framework of the classical theory of legal interest so that any individual has proactive standing to defend environmental rights in the environmental system
Describe the sustainability and scalability of your technical solution
This solution can be continental, due to its long range and high impact. According to research, basically the jaguar faces the same problems, so it will only have to adapt to the regulations of each country/region.
If applicable, explain the level of progress of the solution
Design phase.
What are the additional sources of funding for the solution?
A conversion will be carried out by the civil organization in order to generate a greater impact on the activities
Cost of Innovative Solution
Approximate cost: 70,000.00 fifty thousand dollars.
Per diems and transfers: 30,000.00
Legal-political environmental study for the protection and conservation of the jaguar: 20,000.00
Conformation of the protocol for attention to illicit acts that affect the jaguar: 10,000.00
Workshops on environmental justice and jaguar conservation: 10,000.00