UPDATE

FINAL REPORT

            Participant's Data Base

Matrix of Join Actions on the Border

      The members of the border environmental movement met during the Fifth Meeting of the Border Environment from the 15th to the 17th of May in Rosarito, Baja California. Our goal was to analyze the context for and discuss regional environmental problems along the U.S-Mexico border. As a result of our meeting we issue the following DECLARATION, which will provide the basis for and guide strategies to follow in the immediate future.

      Recognizing that the border region is in a state of alarming vulnerability derived from the exploding growth, indiscriminate exploitation and contamination of our resources and natural areas, and, in some cases, the privatization of these:

      Considering that the prevailing economic framework generates conditions of inequality, abuse and exploitation of workers and rural dwellers, and tends to benefit the larger urban areas to the detriment of the health of rural and marginalized zones:

      Alarmed by recent world events that have impacted the quality of life of the citizens of this region, through security measures implemented by the United States that disregard human rights and ignore the negative impacts on the environment:

      Reaffirming that institutions and individuals can only make decisions favorable to the border environment and society when they have timely access to objective, valid information and to the best science possible:

     Certain that we can only generate real social and environmental justice in our region when we can count on the support of a critical mass of informed and participative citizens and committed governments:

      Conscious that citizen participation can have a positive impact on the recovery of our natural heritage and the safeguarding of our cultures and pueblos, and that it is necessary for synergy to exist between the different sectors of society to generate the legal conditions that are the foundation of collective responsibility:

We declare:

That in order to attack these issues it is necessary to strengthen our actions in the following areas:

      Environmental education should be an integral component of work and directed toward all sectors of society, and should include relevant themes of the environment, society and the economy.

      It is necessary to promote greater citizen participation in binational decision-making around themes such as energy, waste, contamination, hydrologic basins, urban development and environmental legislation, among others.
      We must strengthen and improve linkages among civic organizations and foment and strengthen regional and binational networks, so that through the exchange of knowledge and experience we can implement alternative, multidisciplinary projects that include the participation of government and industry.

      We need to strengthen and improve the relevant legal frameworks, guarantee compliance with the law, and promote responsibility, professionalism and knowledge of the issues among our public officials.

Recognizing our commitment to the Border Region, our home:

I. We will form a binational, transborder, informal network of individuals and organizations that includes participation from academia, professionals and citizens, in order to:

• Inform, exchange experiences, disseminate, train and educate
• Intervene in public policies
• Monitor impacts from economic activity and the exercise of government
• Research
• Define plans and collaborative actions

II. As an initial action of the network in 2005-2006, we propose to…
o Identify problems and potential solutions.

• Create a directory.
• Strategize mechanisms for financing these initiatives.
• Form thematic groups.
• Coordinate action campaigns and manage a transboundary environmental education campaign.

      We, individuals and organizations committed to environmental justice and sustainable development in the border region between the U.S. and Mexico, whose objective is to promote and initiate actions for an improved quality of life for border citizens and stewardship of the border environment, sign this declaration on May 17th, 2005, and we commit to completing the activities described in this document.