Sakshi BafnaHaving faith in God or feeding your family, what would a common man prioritize? For what it’s worth I guess feeding the family with having some faith in God’s Path Or Deforestation – Mexico’s Struggle With Mennonite’s Forest Encroachment, God comes first and that’s exactly what Mennonites of Mexico are doing. What Mexican Mennonites do is, in the name of their Christian beliefs; grow crops but also toil the soil. The Mennonites assert that it is God’s intention for them to grow their farms in order to give their family a simple existence and that they adhere to ancient peaceful beliefs. According to global forest watch, the Maya forest is vanishing by an area the size of Dallas every year.
The majority of Mexico’s indigenous communities are concentrated on traditional economic activities that have not significantly changed from the methods they have successfully utilized in the region for thousands of years. Once where their agriculture was considered vital and skillful, today ecologists and the government say that it is an environmental disaster. It is one of the leading places for deforestation. The inexplicable demise of the Mayan civilization more than a thousand years ago is thought to have been caused in part by deforestation. According to recent research, the destruction of the Yucatan peninsula’s tropical soils carbon reserves continued long after the ancient civilizations had been abandoned.
According to earlier studies, the Maya started cultivating some 4,000 years ago, and as agriculture spread and towns grew, the result was extensive deforestation and soil erosion. The most striking finding in the current study is that after more than a millennium of reforestation, the soils in the area haven’t fully recovered as carbon sinks.
As a result of laws passed in 1992 that made it simpler to develop, rent, or sell formerly protected forest, the state’s deforestation rate and number of farms both increased. Deforestation that is happening, affects the local residents too. God’s Path Or Deforestation – Mexico’s Struggle With Mennonite’s Forest Encroachment, By jeopardizing food security, restricting access to clean water, raising susceptibility to climate change, exhaustion of soils and forests and population increase, this damage worsens the situation there.
The government has been trying to make amends with the Mennonites community but they are finding it hard to adjust it. They say “If the government shuts us down, God will open for us.” This kind of faith is what keeps them alive and fighting for their livelihood. But a life where you support your family while harming those around you, is it worth it?
Every Mennonite should ask themselves, is it worth it?
