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About Our Book
Acting for Nature
Featured Story
The Great Green March
On March 19, 1992, a paper mill discharged thousands of gallons of poisonous chemicals into the Ebro River in northeastern Spain. Authorities ordered the 15,000 people living below the mill to stop drinking water from their faucets or giving the water to their animals. People could not even use the water to bathe or wash their clothes.
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| illustration credit to Carl Dennis Buell |
The toxic spill took a huge toll on the local wildlife. Fish in the river died by the thousands. Their bodies floated downstream past dozens of small farming towns, including the village of Pina de Ebro. There, two thirteen-year-olds, Judith Pérez and Miriam Burgués Flórez, watched the dead fish float by. To them, the Ebro itself seemed to be dying.
Judith and Miriam loved the tranquil, ambling Ebro and knew it well. Each Friday, they had been going with their seventh grade nature studies class to one of the last remaining woods on the banks of the river. There, they cleaned up rubbish and learned about local flowers, birds, and reptiles from their science teacher, Javier Blasco. Now, pollution threatened the fragile ecosystem that the children cared so much about. What could they do?
The girls remembered that a week earlier, the newspapers and television stations had carried stories about a protest march by miners. "Why not have a march for the Ebro?" they asked themselves.
Judith and Miriam presented their idea to their nature studies class. They worried that people wouldn't approve, but to the girls' delight, all ninety-five of their fellow students and teachers enthusiastically welcomed the idea. "From then on," one sixth-grader later wrote, "the school became a workshop, and every student, an artist. Placards, posters, rhymes, and slogans covered the desks and passages of the school. It was stupendous!"
Proudly carrying banners that read "Let's Save the Ebro" and "Water is Life," the students of Pina de Ebro School began their march on the following Tuesday. On the first day, they walked twelve kilometers (seven-and-a-half miles) to the town of La Cartuja, where they joined with students from another school and camped out. The next morning, the entire group—130 of them—walked the last eight kilometers (five miles) to Zaragoza.
As they entered the town, hundreds of other students, teachers, and parents joined the procession. The citizens of Zaragoza stared in amazement. Never before had they seen so many people express concern for the environment. Newspaper reporters showed up to cover the demonstration, dubbing it "The Great Green March" and "The Children's Walk."
But the children weren't finished yet.
In Zaragoza, Judith, Miriam, and four other youngsters met with Antonio Aragón, President of the Hydrographic Confederation. Señor Aragón was responsible for water quality and regulating the flow of water from dams farther up the river. The children handed him a written manifesto, which read:
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The Ebro is dying. Its waters are black, it smells bad, and on its banks are fewer trees and birds and more garbage and rubbish. We want the right to enjoy the Ebro as did our grandparents. We know that with the effort of all, the Ebro will become a living river, but if there is no political will to care for it, it will be necessary to change the politicians. |
After meeting with Señor Aragon, the children met with Señor Eiroa, the president of the regional government. These meetings and the publicity the children attracted convinced local officials to begin cleaning up the Ebro. A lawsuit filed by local citizens against the polluting paper mill also led to positive changes.
Late in April, Señor Eiroa visited the town of Pina de Ebro and awarded the school with the St. George Medal of Social Merit. Judith and Miriam were pleased with the recognition and the results of their march.
"We made good friends in La Cartuja," they said. "And the march is talked about throughout the country. We learned that it is possible to get the attention of the government. We also learned the power of the media and the importance of being united when taking action."
Miriam and Judith know that their country has a long way to go in its efforts to protect the environment. In Spain, as in many other nations, day-to-day survival often takes priority over environmental protection. Their efforts, however, raised environmental awareness throughout Spain and planted the seeds for additional action for nature.