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ELAW Advocate, Summer 2015

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A terrible injustice is unfolding in Mexico.  Eduardo Arturo Mosqueda Sánchez, a young human rights and environmental lawyer, was imprisoned without bail on July 22 while working to defend the Nahua people in Jalisco State.

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Great news!  India has shelved plans for a massive expansion of one of India's largest coal mines, which would have forced the relocation of 17 villages and impacted 135 schools and 90 public health centers.

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ELAW Fellows from Honduras and Germany are busy this summer learning about waste management in Lane County and environmental tribunals around the world.

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ELAW partners at the Centre for Environmental Rights are working to stop the sprawl of open-pit coal mines in South Africa's Mpumalanga Province grasslands, bordering Swaziland and Mozambique.

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Small hydropower plants in Ukraine's Carpathian Mountains are depriving communities of water.  ELAW is working with partners at Environment-People-Law (EPL) to hold the Ministry of Environment accountable.

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ELAW Staff Scientist Meche Lu traveled to Guatemala recently to help ELAW partners at the Environmental and Water Law Alliance (ADA2) raise awareness about the destruction of the Motagua River, and engage citizens and government authorities in conservation strategies.

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ELAW welcomes Paul Zepeda Castro from Honduras! Paul is an attorney volunteering with the Instituto de Derecho Ambiental de Honduras (IDAMHO). ELAW has worked with IDAMHO for many years, and we are excited to support Paul's efforts protecting the environment in Honduras.

ELAW eBulletin ELAW Staff Scientist Meche Lu was in Peru yesterday, sharing her expertise with leading non-profit organizations that are assessing the impacts of a new law that fast tracks oil, mining, and other projects, at the expense of the environment and citizens' rights. Meche was beamed in from her desk here in Eugene, saving costly airfare and the associated greenhouse gas emissions.

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Last week, ELAW's Pedro León was invited to speak about protecting the climate through law at a seminar hosted by the Supreme Court of Mexico's Human Rights Office.

Protecting the Environment Through Law in Honduras

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Irene Fugara returned home to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, last month.  Dar is Africa's third fastest growing city.

"We struggle with polluting industries and poor waste management," says Irene, Staff Attorney at the Lawyers' Environmental Action Team.

During her ELAW Fellowship, Irene learned about model waste management laws and practices around the world, and explored how Lane County treats solid waste and wastewater.

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ELAW Scientist Mark Chernaik traveled to Victoria, BC, last week to serve as expert witness for citizens calling for cleaner air in Kitimat.

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Olena Kravch enko visited Eugene this week.  Olena is the Executive Director of Environment-People-Law, Ukraine's leading public interest environmental law organization.  ELAW has worked with EPL for many years to conserve biodiversity, protect forests, and hold polluters accountable.

Environmental Heroes Come to Eugene

ELAW eBulletin Prakash Mani Sharma is a tireless environmental advocate for communities in Nepal. Prakash and his organization, the Forum for Protection of Public Interest (Pro Public) have fought for decades to protect Nepal's unique landscapes, including the glaciers of Mount Everest, the sacred Bagmati River, and Kathmandu's Balkhu -- one of the few public parks in the densely populated capital city.

ELAW eBulletin Communities in Veracruz, Mexico, are celebrating a federal court ruling that protects local water supplies from three mini hydro power projects proposed for the Jalacingo River. The plants would have altered the river's course to generate power for industry and disrupted traditional water systems, including freshwater springs.

ELAW eBulletin The ELAW network is built on personal bonds, forged over many years. Today, we honor Calvin Sandborn who we have worked with for years to win justice for British Columbia First Nations and communities across Canada.

ELAW eBulletin Last week, Erica Goode at The New York Times reported on the struggle to save a threatened and curious creature: "With its scaly exterior, peculiar body shape and propensity for rolling into an armored ball when threatened, the pangolin has invited comparison to the artichoke and the pine cone."

ELAW eBulletin Jamaica's infamous Riverton City Dump, the only authorized dump for the capital city of Kingston, caught fire March 11, sending hundreds to the hospital and closing 50 schools and over 30 businesses. The Riverton dump burns regularly, but the March fire was of historic proportions.

ELAW eBulletin "It can be lonely back home, working in the public interest," says Sofiya Shutiak, Staff Attorney at Environment-People-Law in Ukraine, one of more than 50 grassroots leaders from 30 countries that met in Yachats, Oregon, last week for the 2015 ELAW Annual International Meeting.

ELAW eBulletin ELAW partners around the world are collaborating to seek justice for the communities that are poised to suffer the worst consequences of climate change.

ELAW eBulletin Grassroots leaders from East Africa were the first to arrive yesterday for the 2015 ELAW Annual International Meeting. By Saturday, more than 50 grassroots advocates from 30 countries will be here in Eugene to collaborate on their efforts back home to help communities speak out for clean air, clean water, and a healthy planet. The International Meeting will be March 1 - 5, followed by the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference.

ELAW eBulletin ELAW partners at the Mexican Environmental Law Center (CEMDA) won a great victory when Mexico's environmental protection agency (PROFEPA) canceled the massive Dragon Mart development near Cancún, and ordered developers to restore damaged ecosystems.

ELAW eBulletin Haiti faces enormous challenges. Just as Haiti marked five years since the devastating 2010 earthquake, Haiti's parliament dissolved, leaving the country with an uncertain political future. Thousands of Haitians left homeless by the earthquake continue to suffer from cholera, starvation and water shortages.

ELAW eBulletin ELAW partners in India, Russia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Jamaica, and around the world are making news, and ELAW is tweeting it.

ELAW eBulletin Oksana is our latest ELAW Fellow. She traveled from Ulan-Ude in Russia's Buryatia Republic, where she is chair of the Department of Ecology, Health and Safety at the East Siberia State University of Technology and Management, where she also studies law.

ELAW eBulletin ELAW partners in South Africa secured a major victory affirming the right to access environmental information from corporations when it is needed to protect constitutional rights.

ELAW eBulletin 10 Years Later Ten years ago, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off the coast of Indonesia triggered the Indian Ocean tsunami. More than 225,000 people in 14 countries lost their lives. ELAW Staff Scientist Heidi Weiskel reflects on that disaster in a Guest Viewpoint in today's Register-Guard.

ELAW eBulletin ELAW partners in Egypt at the Habi Center for Environmental Rights are celebrating victory for the community of Arab Abu Saa'id.

ELAW eBulletin Dear friends, With the gift-giving season in full swing, please consider making a gift to ELAW to honor someone you love and protect the environment. When you make a gift to ELAW in honor of a friend or loved one, we will send the recipient a personalized, seasonal wildlife card.

ELAW eBulletin Nobody likes trash. All over the world, we should produce less of it. Here in Eugene, we have good systems for reducing, re-using, and recycling waste. ELAW fellows from Mexico, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Slovakia, and more have taken home valuable lessons from touring our local municipal solid waste operations.