Salvemos los Cerros says: “We are inhabitants of Chihuahua City, we want to save the hills that are the source of life, water, air, culture, identity.”

Their approach is: “The protection of the environment and biodiversity with activities such as rescue of native fauna, mitigation of climate change … with a human rights perspective, especially with a focus on respect for the most vulnerable and marginalized social sectors,  the preservation of the cultural and archaeological heritage that exists in the territory.”

They have also explained: “The hills help capture water and mitigate climate change. As the destruction of natural areas advances, so will ‘natural’ disasters.”

And they have highlighted: “We all lose out with the terrible political and economic model that destroys the environment. A few make a lot of money, but money can’t be eaten, it can’t be taken, it can’t breathe, and it can’t heal.”

Videos with Salvemos los Cerros

This past November, Valeria Villalobos of Salvemos los Cerros spoke on the PBI ‘COP26 and land defenders’ webinar. Her presentation can be seen here (starting at 47:47).

There is also now this video (2:34 in length) that answers the question: What is Salvemos los Cerros?

And there is this El Tema episode on water (11 minutes in length with subtitles) in which Luis Rivera of Salvemos los Cerros (starting at 6:29) talks about the role the hills play collecting water and providing air filtration.

Rivera says: “The key to facing the water crisis and the climate crisis is for political actors to commit to respecting water basins, meaning the hills, the streams, and all the riverbeds that filter and gather water underground and on the surface.”

“We want to save the hills because they are sacred to us. Politicians and business owners see them as merchandise, as barren lands, or as landfill. And to us, they are part of our Mother Earth. To us, without the hills environmental services, water, air, biodiversity, history itself and identity; basically, we wouldn’t exist.”

He further notes: “So, saving the hills also means saving our collective existence as the people of Chihuahua.”

You can find Salvemos los cerros de Chihuahua on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.