The Environmental Court of San Salvador ruled yesterday that the sugar mill Ingenio La Magdalena be held responsible for environmental damages resulting from the massive molasses spill that took place on May 5, 2016. During the spill thousands of gallons of molasses, a byproduct of sugarcane processing, entered local waterways in the municipality of Chalchuapa, […]
7 Reasons Mangroves Matter
Mangrove forests are incredibly important ecosystems. In a study from 2014, mangrove forests were found to provide ecosystem services (benefits to humans) valued at $194,000 per hectare annually. Today is International Mangrove Day and here are just a few reasons we should care about mangroves – and invest in protecting them: 1. Biodiversity. Home to […]
Locals Mobilize to Help Flooded Communities
Heavy rains and high tides have once again caused major flooding across El Salvador, including several coastal communities of the Lower Lempa region. Since September 28, water has encroached on the communities of Salinas del Potrero, Sisiguayo, and Isla Montecristo, damaging homes and affecting hundreds of families. Some shrimp farming cooperatives are reporting damage to infrastructure and loss of […]
Remembering Katrina: A Global Lesson in Community Organizing and Adaptation
Today marks ten years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans and surrounding communities, killing over 1,800 people while displacing countless more. Poorly-designed levees and inadequate disaster response were in large part to blame for the high toll exacted. Man-made hurricane protection systems failed fantastically. The disaster also highlighted how decades of one-track […]
Congresswoman Estela Hernandez to Speak at Bioneers
This weekend, El Salvadoran Congresswoman Estela Hernandez will be in the Bay Area to present at the Bioneers Conference. Estela is a community organizer and a key leader of La Coordinadora, and its affiliated NGO, the Mangrove Association. She was elected to the Salvadoran National Legislature in 2012. She now sits on the Environment and […]
