Manifesto to Protect the Valle de Guadalupe
Group Emphasizes Wine Region Regulations, Releases Document
September 22, 2019 — Today, a group of concerned winemakers, chefs, restaurateurs, hoteliers and other stakeholders in the Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California’s wine country, released a Manifesto to stress the importance of adopting a set of regulations to save the region from rampant, unregulated and unchecked development.
The group, collectively known as Por un Valle de Verdad (For One True Valle) has been in existence for several years, and in 2013, helped to stop a campaign to develop 30,000 low-income homes in the Valle de Guadalupe. They are hoping that the current regulations will be passed in some form before the current state and municipal government leaves office at the end of September.
The Manifesto re-states the intent of the regulations to protect four areas: Water, Landscape, Farming and the local Community. At the end of the document, they list 15 reasons why the regulations need urgent attention to be passed into law.
The entire Manifesto (translated from Spanish) follows…
REGULATIONS FOR THE VALLE DE GUADALUPE
The Valle de Guadalupe is one of the only areas in Mexico with a Mediterranean climate. It rains during the Winter, not Summer months. That is the primary reason grapes can be grown here with relative ease and excellent quality. It is also a semi-desert area. Resources are limited. The Valle de Guadalupe has a fragile ecosystem that – when it is violated – can suffer irreversible damages.
The region’s sustainability (environmental, economic, productive and social) needs to remain at a capacity where it can continue operation as an agricultural region in the future. In order for this to occur, the use rate of resources – such as water – must be based on a natural rate of recharge. If resources are overexploited, the system will eventually collapse.
The document “Sectorial Program of Urban Development-Tourism of the Vinicultural Valleys of the Zone North of the Municipality of Ensenada” has existed since 2010 without a regulatory framework. This means that the program cannot be applied to regulate zoning, land use and development of activities in the area.
The Regulation seeks to cover the 4 axes of the program:
- Water
- Landscape
- Farming
- Community
The community and the productive sectors of the Valle de Guadalupe are committed to work together to make the Valle an example of integral growth and sustainable development.
We ask the authorities: The Governor of the State Francisco Vega de la Madrid, the Municipal President Marco Antonio Novelo Osuna and the City Councilors of Ensenada to help us take care of our Valle and expedite the approval of the regulations.
Without this legal document, the area is exposed to any type of development, it remains up for sale to the highest bidder and is unprotected against strong economic interests. Without this legal document, the area is undoubtedly sentenced to extinction.
WHY THE REGULATIONS…
- To regularize the viniculture activity.
- To protect our natural resources.
- To continue producing wine for many years.
- To give the inhabitants a voice.
- To have even rules for all the inhabitants of the Valle.
- To address the problem of garbage.
- To live in peace.
- To help keep an unobstructed view of the starry night.
- To build uniformly.
- To enjoy the landscape.
- To protect the environment.
- To reduce visual pollution.
- To avoid accidents.
- To ensure low-impact tourism.
- To help Ensenada grow.
YES to the Regulations!
Valle de Guadalupe, Ensenada
Baja California, Mexico
porunvalledeverdad@gmail.com
FACEBOOK LIVE CAST TONIGHT! Join W. Scott Koenig from A Gringo in Mexico this evening, Monday, September 23rd at 6PM Pacific who will be discussing the regulations and their impact with Cur8eur Online‘s Marie Tahan Daniels. You’ll be able to ask questions and add to the conversation via chat. You can tune in at: http://agringoinmexico.com/save-the-valle-de-guadalupe
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