Maryknoll partner wins prestigious environmental award
Earlier this year, Maryknoll celebrated the presentation of the 2008 Goldman Award for Excellence in Protecting the Environment (North America) to Jesus Leon Santos and the Center for Integral Campesino Development of the Mixteca (CEDICAM). Maryknoll lay missioner Phil Dahl-Bredine has worked closely with CEDICAM for several years; the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns has hosted Jesus and others from CEDICAM several times at the United Nations and on other occasions in the U.S. Following is the acceptance speech of Jesus, translated from the original Spanish, given at the East Coast Goldman prize event at the National Geographic on April 16.

Twenty-five years ago we in the Mixteca Alta recognized that we were living a severe ecological crisis which was causing poverty, malnutrition and migration. Today we must recognize that all of us, the inhabitants of the planet, are living a similar crisis. Because of what we recognized during these past 25 years, we have engaged in a struggle to rebuild one of the most eroded landscapes on the planet. In the times of our ancient ancestors our region had a natural splendor and a science and culture that is reflected in our ancient codices, the only written history of the Americas which recounts 1,000 years of indigenous history.

In these years we have worked with our people to plant more than three million native trees which are transforming dry arroyos into springs of water and into lush forests that are giving new hope and life to our peoples. We have been able to protect thousands of acres of eroded mountainsides with contour ditches using an ancient technique of the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. Today this technology is contributing to conserve our soils and recharge aquifers with millions of liters of rainwater that once washed down the mountainside carrying with it our soils and the sustenance of our lives.

We recognize that we, the indigenous peoples, have been the creators and guardians of a biological and genetic richness, as that found in our native seeds of corn, beans, tomatoes, for instance, that has enriched the food culture of the entire world. We realize that we must, in our times, take up once again this important role for the good of the human family. But we also need to say that as we take up this responsibility again, we face significant economic and political challenges.

The commercial opening promoted by free trade agreements have brought us low prices for our produce, the disappearance of government assistance for rural areas as well as insupportable rises in the cost of agricultural production which has led us to rural poverty, provoked migration, and threatens to cause the disappearance of the indigenous and campesino communities. In addition, the introduction of genetically modified seeds and other measures to take control of the sources of agricultural seeds, of agricultural germ plasm, and of world food and agricultural markets threaten the rich genetic diversity that we, the indigenous peoples care for as a heritage of the human family.

We of CEDICAM hope that this respect for the Mother Earth that we are recovering among our indigenous communities can serve as an example for all the inhabitants of the planet in this time of environmental crisis. We also hope that the struggle of the Mixtec people, carried out with sweat and conviction, can give us all the confidence that this Mother Earth has the capacity to regenerate herself and continue to give life to her inhabitants today and for future generations.

Go to the Goldman Prize website to see more information about Jesus and the work of CEDICAM (a five-minute video is posted).