(San Juan, Puerto Rico, Jan. 28 1999) Right in the middle
of the
That lonely hill is the subject of a high-powered environmental
dispute. On the one hand, the surrounding communities want to preserve it as a
green lung, an urban forest, “an emerald in a sea of concrete”, as they call
it. On the other hand, the Puerto Rico Housing Department, current owner of
that piece of land, intends to sell it to developers who want to build
condominiums and suburbs there.
Known as Mount San Patricio, this hill is the northern edge
of a 53-acre forest.
In recent decades,
But pockets of green have survived. Such is the case of
the San Patricio forest, as the neighbours have named
it.
The San Patricio forest is a reminder of a not too distant
past: when Mount San Patricio was part of a non-stop chain of hills that
stretched tens of miles to north central
In the forties and fifties, the San Patricio forest was a
The debris was never removed. In any case it’s invisible
now because the forest
has reclaimed the land. The former military base is now home to
enormous trees of native species such as guanacaste,
acacia and flamboyan, rare endangered snakes, and
birds such as the guaraguao.
In March of last year, residents of the area formed Citizens
for the San Patricio Forest (Ciudadanos Pro Bosque
San Patricio) in order to preserve the forest and
develop it as a community resource.
“This forest is an invaluable community ecological resource.
It is one of the few green lungs in the capital city, and it mitigates the
heating effect of cement and car traffic”, says university professor, local
resident and CSPF spokesperson Mary Axtman.
“The San Patricio forest has the effect of an enormous air
conditioning system, and it also reduces the effects of dust and noise
pollution”, says a CSPF press release.
The group is currently working to establish alliances and
consortia with educational institutions, to and institutionalise
and formalise the participation and commitment of
nearby communities. It also plans to design educational programs and materials,
and to recruit private business firms as sponsors of the forest’s conservation.
The CSPF has received scientific advice from experts from
local public and private universities, the city government of
“This is an exceptionally stable community. I’ve been living
here for forty years, and very few families have moved out of here in all this
time”, says 75 year-old Paquita Santiago, who climbs
up
The PR House of Representatives is expected in the next
few weeks to vote on a bill that will insure the preservation of the San
Patricio forest. The bill, introduced on October 9 of last year, orders the pertinent
government agencies to freeze construction permits in the forest area.
But the environmentalists fear that if it is approved by
the legislature, governor Pedro Rossells
might side with the Housing Department and veto the bill, or that he might make
amendments to the bill and thus weaken it.
“This is a historical moment to decide which quality of
life we want to leave as a legacy to our children”, says Axtman.
http://home.coqui.net/jalmeyda/bosque.htm
Controversy is an inherent, often constructive and
innovative part of democracy.
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