And while Maheia talks about putting up a fight - tonight the Ya'axché Conservation Trust says government urgently needs to fight back industrial scale encroachment that has taken over 450 acres of the Columbia River Forest Reserve. Christina Garcia of Yaxche told us what's happening there and why it's so alarming:
Christina Garcia, Executive Director, Ya'axche
"It is really alarming what is happening specifically in the Columbia River Forest Reserve. This is the first time that we have been seeing such alarming amount of illegal activities happening at the same time."
"We know that earlier this year in March, an expedition went into the area. And I think this was done by the Ministry of National Security. They did a helicopter flight over the area in which they discovered a road that was constructed in the reserve."
"Fast forward to this enforcement patrol that took over, the road even got bigger. And we can clearly see what the enforcement officers documented. We can clearly see that this road was constructed by a bulldozer, which means that heavy machinery is going into that particular forest reserve."
"Not only that Jules, but we know that some very large commercial operation is happening as it relates to logging. And I had sent you some footage, including a video that was taken by the enforcement officers, which you can clearly see on the ground, the massive, and when I say massive amount of illegal logging that is happening."
"And this is all within the Columbia River forest reserve. Trees such as Rosewood, Mahogany, Nargosta, Emery, these are all valuable timber species. But we can also see huge amount of agricultural clearances."
"And this is for cattle. This is for the planting of cardamom, planting of beans, planting of corn. It is very alarming. And what the guys noted when they went into the area is that the minute they approach these farms, you hear gunshots in the air, gunshots in the air of people alerting them, you know. And I think that's a sign that you know, please don't come near. But nonetheless, they did a phenomenal job in terms of documenting all these illegal activities. And it is clear that this is a large operation happening because you can see that huge road, which is about 300 feet wide, that huge road and you could see trucks, tracks of trucks coming in."
"So obviously that lumber that is being flitched is being unloaded onto these trucks and then taken to Guatemala."
