Arson, Logging and Water Theft: The Avocado Industry Deforests Mexico

A report by Climate Rights International details the damage caused in producing territories such as Jalisco and Michoacán to meet demand for the export of ‘green gold’ to the United States

Avocado is the in-vogue food in the United States, where its presence in large supermarkets has tripled in the last 20 years. Avocado exports from Mexico bring in more than $3 billion to the sector, but the cost is being paid by the ecosystems of the states of Michoacán and Jalisco, with widespread logging and fires to clear the way for plantations, the theft of water from rivers and streams and violence against environmental leaders. A report presented Tuesday by the NGO Climate Rights International (CRI) quantifies the damage caused to these two regions by the export of green gold, which is often sold under the label of “sustainable.”

Jalisco and Michoacán, where most of the avocado fields in the country are concentrated, are responsible for the entirety of Mexico’s avocado exports to the United States. The CRI report states that the area deforested for these plantations stands at between 16,000 and 28,000 hectares. This figure was obtained from environmental geographers, satellite images and Mexican government estimates.