Two men who were caught illegally cutting down trees in Chiapas will be required to plant 3,000 new trees and clean up a river as a result of a novel approach to what was described as ecocide.

The two men were apprehended cutting down cedar trees without permission on a property near the city of Tonalá on May 29. Police confiscated a chainsaw, two containers of gasoline and a Ford pickup truck.

At a court hearing where the two men were facing charges of ecocide, their defense presented a reparations plan and asked for the charges to be conditionally suspended, which the Chiapas Attorney General’s Office (FGE) accepted.

Under the plan, the defendants will plant 3,000 kapok trees in the municipality of Tonalá and clean up the area around the Zanatenco river.

Their prosecution will be suspended for six months, during which time the defendants will be required to present status reports every two months.

The agreement is the first reparations plan approved by the FGE. Chiapas authorities say they have restored over 23,000 hectares of protected areas since mid-March.

Source: El Universal (sp)