"Wilderness and Water Promises in the Land of the Maya"

"MÉRIDA, Mexico -- Archeologist Richard Hansen, an expert in early Mayan civilization, studies human culture down to the microscopic level. And he knows what the signs of collapse look like.

While his research has helped show how enormous, elaborate pyramids rose in the jungles of what is now Guatamala as long as 3,000 years ago, it has also chronicled how these early cities were abandoned after deforestation forced their collapse. ...

The similarities of those signs of collapse to today's extractive culture are hard to escape. Examples of ecologically unsustainable practices are being discussed and dissected at most sessions here at the Ninth World Wilderness Congress in Mérida, Yucatán, an event that draws together top conservation officials and activists from across the globe to tackle trans-national wilderness issues."

Greg Harman reports for Environment News Service November 10, 2009.