Julia Carabias Lillo (1954) is a Mexican biologist recognized worldwide for her fight in favor of the environment. His action and research has focused on the regeneration of tropical forests, the management of natural resources, poverty and the environment, environmental policy, among other aspects related to caring for the planet..
He has worked directly with the United Nations (UN) preparing reports aimed not only at disclosing environmental problems but also at offering concrete options for their solution.
Her work in favor of the preservation of natural areas has put her in serious danger, even being kidnapped during the execution of one of her projects. She is co-author of books on the environmental issue with special emphasis on the social factor and has received multiple international awards in recognition of her scientific contribution..
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Julia Carabias Lillo was born on August 11, 1954 in Mexico City. Since she was little, she received from her parents examples of love for nature and solidarity towards others, values that would exert enormous influence on her future decisions..
Her interest in helping others prompted her to take an interest in medicine, but in a last-minute decision she participated in an exam for the Bachelor of Biology.
Carabias chose a career that would have a lot of influence in the future. The world was beginning to really pay attention to the consequences of climate change and, evidence of this, was the realization in 1972 of the First Earth Summit organized by the UN in Stockholm, Sweden.
Precisely that year Carabias began to study at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) from where she graduated as a Biologist, to later obtain the degree of Master of Science.
In 1977, she began teaching at UNAM and ten years later she was promoted to full-time teacher..
Her work in this house of higher studies also led her to join its University Council between 1989 and 1993.
Convinced of the influence of political organizations on social changes, she participated in the founding of the Popular Action Movement party (1981) and the Unified Socialist Party of Mexico (1986).
In 1982 Carabias worked with the indigenous population of the State of Guerrero as coordinator of the Program for the Comprehensive Use of Natural Resources in Subsistence Areas.
The biologist organized a team made up of economists and ecologists to help residents benefit from environmental resources without depleting them.
The success obtained in Guerrero allowed Carabias to replicate its action model in other States of Mexico such as Oaxaca, Michoacán and Durango..
In 1990 Carabias joined the National System of Researchers, an organization that groups and recognizes those who are dedicated to producing scientific and technological knowledge.
In 1992 he participated in the Commission on Developing Countries and Global Change that produced the Report For Earth's Sake, destined for the United Nations Conference held in Rio in 1992.
An experience that he repeated twenty years when he was part of the UN Secretariat team for the message presented by this organization at the Rio 2012 Sustainable Development Conference.
In 1994 she was appointed President of the National Institute of Ecology and, at the end of that year, she received her most relevant position until then as Secretary of the Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries of Mexico..
During his tenure in that body, the National Commission for Protected Natural Areas was created, the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection was reformed, in addition to the General Wildlife Law being created..
In 2000, Carabias returned to work with indigenous communities, this time with the tribes of the Lacandon Jungle, located in the State of Chiapas..
Together with the biologist Javier de la Maza Elvira, he created Natura Mexicana, an organization that executes the program for the Conservation and management of natural resources in that territory..
For Carabias, the Lacandon Jungle is the most important site in the country from the point of view of biodiversity and ecosystem services, but it was also the place where the biologist understood the danger that her work implied..
In the early morning of April 28, 2014, the biologist was in the bedroom of the Chajul IV Environmental Station in the Lacandon Jungle when several hooded men entered the place armed.
The unknown persons identified themselves as members of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, who hooded her and took her in a boat upriver to a place near the border with Guatemala. They chained her to a tree and demanded 10 million pesos for her release.
Carabias demanded to make a phone call supposedly to obtain the ransom money from family and friends, but he actually called his colleague Javier de la Maza Elvira, who immediately requested the intervention of the Mexican government in the case..
On the morning of April 29, a plane flew over the area, which perhaps caused fear among her captors because the biologist was unchained on the night of that day..
The environmentalist walked aimlessly until dark, sleeping in an abandoned shed to continue at dawn on April 30. That day, some peasants found her and guided her to an area where she could finally feel safe..
Carabias assures that this incident demonstrated the pressure that his work exerts on various interests in the country. Since then he has not returned to Chiapas, since the Mexican government does not guarantee his protection there..
Despite this negative event, the work of Carabias continues to this day.
- Since 2017, it has been part of the Global Environmental Assessment of the UN Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
- She is president of the Scientific Panel of the Global Environment Facility.
- She is currently president of the Interdisciplinary Center for Biodiversity and Environment of Mexico..
- He is also a member of the Institute for Democratic Transition Studies, a non-profit association aimed at promoting the analysis of the problems of democratic and social development in Mexico..
- She is a postgraduate professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the UNAM.
- On August 27, 2018, he joined El Colegio Nacional, an organization in charge of bringing together the most outstanding scientists, writers and artists in Mexico..
Her experience in her work for the care of the environment has led her to spread the message of preservation of the planet through scientific articles and publications in which she participates as a co-author. These are some of the titles:
- Ecology and food self-sufficiency (1985)
- Rural production in Mexico: Ecological Alternatives (1989)
- Natural resource management and rural poverty (1994)
- Water, environment and society: Towards the integral management of water resources in Mexico (2005)
- Natural capital and social welfare (2006)
- Natural heritage of Mexico. One Hundred Success Stories (2010)
- USUMACINTA: Bases for an environmental sustainability policy (2011)
- Conservation and sustainable development in the Lacandon Jungle: 25 years of activities and experience (2015)
Organizations around the world have dedicated themselves to honoring the work of Carabias in their search for a healthier planet. Below are his main awards and recognitions:
- 2000. Getty Prize awarded by the World Wildlife Fund.
- 2004. International Cosmos Award, for achievements in the defense of the environment. His monetary recognition was donated to the Latin American Training Center for the Conservation of Biodiversity in the Lacandon Jungle region of the State of Chiapas..
- 2005. Champions of the Earth Award granted by the United Nations Environment Program.
- 2006. Conservation Heroes Award given by the international organization The Nature Conservancy.
- 2011. Nature, Territory and Society Recognition: Alexander Von Humboldt, delivered by the University of Guadalajara.
- 2013. Doctorate honoris causa by the Autonomous University of Nuevo León.
- 2016. José Pagés Llergo National Communication Award, Environment category, for the defense of the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve in the Lacandon Jungle.
- 2017. Belisario Domínguez Medal for his distinguished contribution to caring for the environment, considered the highest civil distinction awarded by the State of Mexico.
- 2017. Ecology and Environment Award, delivered by the Miguel Alemán Foundation.
- 2019. Doctorate honoris causa, awarded by the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Julia Carabias was married to the Mexican politician and academic, José Woldenberg, with whom she had a daughter.
For Carabias the environmental situation is alarming, in his opinion there is clear evidence about climate change and the negative impact of the human being that constantly interferes in the balance by extracting resources beyond their capacity for renewal.
It states that statistics can be reversed when there is political will and national and international agreements accompanied by concrete actions. However, it ensures that governments do not advance at the speed of the problem and carry out frequent budget cuts to the environmental sector that prevent real change..
Carabias continues its work in defense of the environment from different fields of action, deepening its research, educating new generations on the correct way to use natural resources, in addition to exercising an international role of influence to preserve the health of the planet..
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