Conservation Advocacy and the Internet: The Campaign to Save Laguna San Ignacio
Author(s)
Scherr, Jacob S.
Abstract
The campaign to save Laguna San Ignacio would not have succeeded, nor would effort of this magnitude and depth have been possible, without the Internet. Instant electronic communication was fundamental to coordinating the activities of scores of widely dispersed individuals and organizations. The internet also enabled tens of thousands of people around the world to monitor the progress of the controversy over the saltworks on their computer screens and to participate in the campaign. The web clearly made it easier to send formal expressions of concern about the saltworks directly to Mitsubishi, the Mexican government, and the World Heritage Committee. Additionally, the internet greatly facilitated media coverage, affording journalists ready access to detailed information on all sides of the controversy. In short, the campaign to save Laguna San Ignacio provided a model for the new form of international environmental campaigning. As the campaign to save Laguna San Ignacio shows, the Internet is indeed helping break down barriers to the free flow of information and ideas worldwide. Governments and corporations are finding it more difficult to control and constrain decision making. The internet is giving voice to communities whose natural resources are being threatened, while enabling people to express their concern about environmental problems all over the world and hold governments and corporations accountable for their promises. In time, the development of the Internet may be regarded as a turning point in the struggle to conserve and protect the earth.
