On their government website, PROFEPA offers this description of their legal body and purpose:
The Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA - Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente) was legally born on June 4th, 1992 as a division of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT - Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) with technical and operational autonomy.
We are committed to
• Act with vision.
• Promote a true environmental culture.
• Achieve the highest levels of compliance with environmental laws.
• Reduce the focal points that go against the natural richness of our country (e.g. illegal logging, destruction of flora and fauna and pollution problems)
We know that this fight requires strong involvement of all sectors of society and the three levels of Government. There will be no truce or contemplations with those who insist on destroying the environment.
Yesterday, January 23/13, PROFEPA exercised a little of that operational autonomy during a boat chase that led to the boarding and seizure of a local panga. It is not known what transgression was involved, whether reckless acts of pollution or poaching totoabas, sea turtles, vaquitas, or any of the other protected species that desperately need political patrons and champions in their corner, but it appeared PROFEPA was acting in earnest and performing their functions with admirable efficiency.
These days, fighting the good fight would seem to be a human condition just as rare and endangered as anything on the roster of PROFEPA's stewardship. But judging from their manifesto and their actions, their good fight is well worth protecting too. Here is PROFEPA's manifesto:
MISSION
Seek environmental justice through the strict enforcement of the Law, banishing impunity, corruption, indolence and lack of authority, and involving all sectors of society and the three levels of Government in this fight, under the most pure principles of fairness and justice.
VISION
Being a strong and reliable institution, where the implementation of the Environmental Law responds to the ideal of justice that people demand in a society in which each member is guardian of a friendly coexistence between man and nature.
STRATEGIC TARGETS
• Stop the destruction of our natural resources and revert the processes of environmental deterioration.
• Ensure the full access of society to environmental justice in a prompt manner.
• Involve society and its organizations on the surveillance and environmental law enforcement, in a responsible and informed way.
• Strengthen the presence of PROFEPA and extend its territorial coverage, with federalist criteria.
• Construct an efficient and modern institution, under criteria of honesty, transparency and trustworthiness, in order to give a new image to society.
