Julia Carabias

Julia Carabias Lillo (born August 11, 1954, Mexico City) is a Mexican ecologist and Environmental Conservationist. She is a professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and served as the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources under President Ernesto Zedillo from 1994 to 2000.

Early life and education Carabias was born in Mexico City on August 11, 1954, as the child of Basque immigrants from Spain. As a child, she witnessed the difficulties that came with living in a developing country. She told The Japan Times that these early childhood observations informed her interest in alleviating poverty and conserving the environment. Carabias is the author of many scientific articles on botany, ecology, natural resource management, ecological restoration, and conservation. In addition to Rural Production in Mexico: Ecological Alternatives, she is also the co-author of Ecology and Alimentary Self-Sufficiency and Natural Resource Management and Rural Poverty. In 2005, she was named one of the United Nations seven Champions of the Earth, which in part recognized her leadership of the PAIR program.

In 1992, Carabias was on the team that published the report For Earth's Sake during the United Nations sponsored Conference on the Environment and Development in Brazil. The report was commissioned by the Commission on Developing Countries and Global Change and centers on the southern hemisphere's perspective on the intersection between environment and global development. Carabias and her collaborators conclude by proposing equitable approaches to sustainable development and a research agenda to enable those approaches.

Service in the Zedillo Administration Carabias officially entered government service in 1994, acting as President of Mexico’s National Institute of Ecology and joined the advisory council of the National Conservation Fund. On December 1, 1994, she became the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources, serving in the cabinet of former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo until the end of his term in 2000. During her tenure, she worked on a number of environmental conservation and restoration projects. She responded to forest fires that devastated the Chimalapas biological reserve in the southern states of Chiapas and Oaxaca. She worked to pass a number of fire-control regulations, including a new forest law in 1997 and a wildlife law in 2000, working to build consensus between rural communities and legislators. People who wished to burn were required to submit a form ten days in advance that specified the time, location and size of burn, and who would be in attendance to ensure that the right protections were put in place in advance. She also doubled the region of Mexico's protected areas to more than six percent, which had the effect of safeguarding species like the gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), the pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) of Baja California, the manatee (Trichechus manatus), and the jaguar (Panthera onca) of Yucatán. In particular, she worked with former United States Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, focusing on land and resource management of deserts along the US-Mexico border. In addition, she coordinated Mexican and American officials to work on restoring the natural course of river flow along the border between the two countries. She also helped incorporate sustainable development into Mexico's National Development Plan, adding environmental considerations into economic planning.

Post-political career U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual and CEIBA's Julia Carabias Lillo listen to a question from the audience at the U.S. Center at COP-16 in Cancun, Mexico, on December 8, 2010. Carabias returned to UNAM in 2001, re-joining the Faculty of Science. There, she coordinates the Master's degree program in Restoration Ecology and has resumed her research projects related to conservation, restoration, and management of the tropical rain forest of the Selva Lacandona, Chiapas. Carabias donated the cash portion of it equaling $100,000 to the protection of the Chajul region of southern Mexico's Lacandon forests. In 2004, she established the training center for biodiversity in the Lacandon region in Chiapas. Carabias was awarded The International Cosmos Prize in 2004 and in 2005 she received the United Nations Environmental Programme Champions of the Earth Prize. In 2017, Carabias was awarded the Mexican Belisario Domínguez medal, a recognition granted by Mexico's Senate to recognize outstanding citizens for their service to the country and humanity. From 2001 to 2014, she served as the president of the Biodiversity and Environmental Interdisciplinary Center (CEIBA, , a nongovernmental organization dedicated to bringing together researchers and specialists to promote the analysis, design, and implementation of public policies around conservation.

Controversies On 1 February 2022, former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador pointed out that the permits granted to Vulcan Materials Company to exploit the Calica quarry in Quintana Roo were issued on Carabias' last day as Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources. The company has been accused of the overexploitation and eventual devastation of about of the national territory,

On 5 October, the ex-secretary replied in a public letter to the former president and accused him of defamation. She argued that permits were granted with numerous and demanding conditions and that it was not her responsibility if said conditions were not monitored and/or enforced by her successors.

Awards & honors

J. Paul Getty Award for Conservation Leadership, 2000 International Cosmos Prize, 2004 Champions of the Earth, United Nations, 2005 Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor, 2017 Member, El Colegio Nacional (Mexico), 2018