South Central Los Angeles, CA - July, 24 2008 - Although, in a highly unusual move, the Los Angeles City Planning Dept. waived an Environmental Impact report on Ralph Horowitz’ behalf, the Farmers were able to force the Deputy Advisory Board of the City Planning Dept. to back away from rubber-stamping the waiver. The Board announced on July 2nd, at the opening of the sole public hearing on the matter, that it had received so many letters that it planned to review and reconsider the matter, and to extend the time-line for public comments by 21 days, till July 23rd, 2008.

Within a few short weeks the South Central Farmers have been able to generate stiff and significant opposition to the plan by developer Ralph Horowitz and his City Council sponsor, Councilwoman Jan Perry, to replace the Farm with a major, highly polluting, warehouse distribution center on the Farm land. On July 2, 2008, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, where Jan Perry is also a board member, weighed in with City Planning, strongly recommending that the City “specifically prohibit” land uses at the site that would, in an area already full of warehouses, “further expose” nearby schools, health facilities, the aged and the ill to “additional cancer risks from diesel particulate matter” emitted by large trucks or other vehicles In other words, the District is telling the City “Shut this project down.” “Prohibit its construction and operation.” The struggle for environmental justice is full of situations like this one, and lawsuits are a constant and predictable part of the terrain. The air quality regulators cannot be unaware that any effort on the part of the City to ignore or bypass these recommendations opens the door to a strongly based lawsuit to force the City to comply.

While Ralph Horowitz, Jan Perry, and the Los Angeles City Planning department were planning an end-run on the CEQA process, the community, the South Central Farmers, and supporters; a grassroots movement, delivered and submitted by the July 23rd deadline over 1700 signatures demanding an Environmental Impact Report be required from the Developer and be submitted to the City Planning Department, including: 130 letters opposing the warehouse from families within the 500 ft radius of the site. 1,100 signatures on our petition opposing the warehouse And over 500 letters from the general public demanding an Environmental Impact Report, including letters from all 50 states of the US, Canada, and Australia.

Tezozomoc, one of the organizers for the South Central Farmers stated, "As we have unraveled the Trojan Horse of 'jobs' it has become clear that we must be demanding more than just the EIR. We need to demand that the warehouse be Shutdown! Under no certain terms will the community accept 2700 trucks daily spewing diesel particulate matter that can kill us! Under no certain terms will we accept our children, our schools; Nevin, Carver, Jefferson, our parks; Ross Snyder Recreation, our pedestrian areas; Vernon Metro Station, Alameda Swap meet to be 'exhausted by diesel' particulate matter."

The Farmers have also rallied support from the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council, The Green Party, USA , the Bus Riders Union, The Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles, Communities for a Better Environment, and other local and national organizations.

The South Central Farmers is a grassroots community organization dedicated to urban farming, health, education, and policy.


South Central Farmers
310-869-6397
302-370-0612
tezo@southcentralfarmers.com
www.southcentralfarmers.com

What are options in obtaining a bioreserve status for southcentral farm??

Here's the definition of a bioreserve;

bi·o·re·serve (b-r-zûrv)
n.

"An area containing a wildlife preserve bordered by a buffer zone in which more frequent use is permitted to the public, established as a way of integrating habitat conservation with the interests of the local community."

free definitions @;
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bioreserve

In many ways the southcentral farm has potential to become a wildlife preserve once again, as the many diverse flowers of medicinal plants and trees provide habitat and food to pollinators who otherwise would have no other place to go in the 'concrete jungle' habitat found everywhere else in the region..

The community involvement with the habitat at sc farm satisfies the second part of the definition, obtaining bioreserve status would help save this oasis of undeveloped land from being permanently altered into a warehouse incapable of supporting pollinators or any other living beings (asides from Ralph Horowitz!)..

The south central farm also meets the criteria of UNESCO's "Man and Biosphere Program" that seeks to combine ecological sustainability and biodiversity with human cultural diversity. That is exactly what was taking place at southcentral farm until the destruction of the plant garden by the L.A. Sheriff's bulldozers..

background on;

UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB)

"The Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), proposes an interdisciplinary research agenda and capacity building aiming to improve the relationship of people with their environment globally. Launched in the early 1970s, it notably targets the ecological, social and economic dimensions of biodiversity loss and the reduction of this loss. It uses its World Network of Biosphere Reserves as vehicles for knowledge-sharing, research and monitoring, education and training, and participatory decision-making.

NATURAL SCIENCES SECTOR

Background

MAB was launched in 1970 and initiated work in 14 Project areas covering different ecosystem types from mountains to the sea, from rural to urban systems, as well more social aspects such as environmental perception. The MAB governing body, the International Co-ordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, usually referred to as the MAB Council or ICC, consists of 34 Member States elected by UNESCO's biennial General Conference. In between meetings, the authority of the ICC is delegated to its Bureau, whose members are nominated from each of UNESCO's geopolitical regions.

MAB's work over the years has concentrated on the development of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR).

The biosphere reserve concept was developed initially in 1974 and was substantially revised in 1995 with the adoption by the UNESCO General Conference of the Statutory Framework and the Seville Strategy for Biosphere Reserves. Today, with more than 480 sites in over 100 countries, the WNBR provides context-specific opportunities to combine scientific knowledge and governance modalities to:

Reduce biodiversity loss
Improve livelihoods
Enhance social, economic and cultural conditions for environmental sustainability
Thus contributing to the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals, in particular MDG 7 on environmental sustainability
Biosphere reserves can also serve as learning and demonstration sites in the framework of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD).

Approach (Extract from UNESCO's Draft Programme 2006-2007)
"The General Conference authorizes the Director-General […] to implement the corresponding plan of action in the ecological sciences […], in order to:

(i) Contribute to minimizing biodiversity loss through the use of ecological and biodiversity sciences in policy- and decision-making;
(ii) Promote environmental sustainability through the World Network of Biosphere Reserves;
(iii) Enhance the linkages between cultural and biological diversity, jointly with [Major Programme IV- Culture]"

Main line of action 1: Minimizing biodiversity loss through research and capacity-building for ecosystem management.

Focus will be on a broad-based interdisciplinary research agenda with respect to the ecological, social and economic dimensions of biodiversity loss and its reduction. Capacity-building will be key […], including the development of a network of learning centres for integrated ecosystem management and through South-South cooperation. In Africa, the regional postgraduate school in Kinshasa, Congo DR, will serve as the principal node for this network.
Efforts will be made to promote interdisciplinary and multisectoral approaches to sustainable development in higher education and in-service training institutions, particularly in post-conflict countries.
State-of-the-art synthesis will be undertaken and new research initiatives on arid lands and humid tropics will be launched, capping 50 years (2006) of UNESCO's involvement in these areas.

Research, training and education related to biodiversity loss and global assessments
Urban systems, carbon economies and ecosystem management for biodiversity use
Research, training and ecosystem management of drylands and mountains
Research and ecosystem management in coastal areas and humid tropics and South-South cooperation for capacity-building

Main line of action 2: Biosphere reserves - promoting environmental sustainability.

Emphasis will be placed on linkages between biodiversity conservation and socio-economic development in specific biosphere reserve contexts. The WNBR and its regional networks will be used as vehicles for knowledge-sharing and exchange of experience, research and monitoring, education and training, and testing of participatory decision-making, thereby contributing to the emergence of "quality economies" and to conflict prevention.

Establishing new biosphere reserves and transboundary biosphere reserves
Strengthening of knowledge base on environmental sustainability - including the Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP), and the Biosphere Reserve Integrated Monitoring (BRIM) programme
Using biosphere reserves as platform for conflict prevention
Statutory meetings and MAB Young Scientists Award Scheme
Supporting regional and thematic MAB networks

Main line of action 3: Enhancing linkages between cultural and biological diversity.

Cultural landscapes and sacred sites will receive special attention and allow to learn about biological and cultural diversity interactions. Special attention will be given to biosphere reserves and World Heritage sites.

Establishing a knowledge base on cultural practices fostering local-level sustainable use of biodiversity in biosphere reserves
Local and indigenous knowledge as a basis for equitable biodiversity governance in Small Island Developing States
Raising awareness of the role of sacred natural sites, cultural landscapes and intangible heritage in ecosystem management and sustainable use of biodiversity


Read complete official strategies and approaches in UNESCO's Draft Programme 2006-2007 (PDF document)

find out about UNESCO's bioreserve @;
http://www.unesco.org/mab/mabProg.shtml