Highway threatens last Mexican tribe – The sanctuary of a tribe who lives on subsistence and hunting in the Huichol region is threatened by the construction of a road

Dressed in their distinctive hand-embroidered costumes with broad-brimmed sombreros and carrying feathered power-wands, over 650 men and women from Mexico’s indigenous Huichol community have been staging a “sit-in” in a remote forest clearing on their communal lands in the Sierra Madre Occidental since 6am on February 11.

They are attempting to halt a highway, construction of which began in November and which the Huichol claim to be illegal. The road has now reached the Huichol heartland in the remote state of Jalisco, an area renowned for its sacred sites and biodiversity.

The Huichol territory, which covers zones of tropical forest as well as high montane pine and oak forest, is listed by the WWF and the World Conservation Union as one of 200 priority eco-regions in the world. A refuge for wolves and mountain lions this remote region is also an important habitat for birds such as the endangered pygmy owl and golden eagle; and the Military Macaw, a red data species which has seen a dramatic loss of habitat over the last decade due to logging.”*

*From: http://travel.timesonline.co.uk
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

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