Leydy Araceli Pech Marín, known as Leydy Pech, (born 1965) is a Mexican

beekeeper A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees, a profession known as beekeeping. The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees in beehives, boxes, or other receptacles. The beekeeper does not control the creatures. The beekeeper ow ...

and

environmental activist The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

origin. She was awarded the

Goldman Environmental Prize The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environmental activists. History Awardees are named from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, an ...

in 2020 for her work against the planting of

transgenic A transgene is a gene that has been transferred naturally, or by any of a number of genetic engineering techniques, from one organism to another. The introduction of a transgene, in a process known as transgenesis, has the potential to change the ...

soybeans in the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...

Beekeeping work

Leydy Pech is primarily engaged in beekeeping. She keeps a variety of stingless bee called ''

Melipona beecheii ''Melipona beecheii'' is a species of eusocial stingless bee. It is native to Central America from the Yucatán Peninsula in the north to Costa Rica in the south. ''M. beecheii'' was cultivated in the Yucatán Peninsula starting in the pre-Colum ...

'', which has been raised as a part of traditional Mayan culture in several communities for centuries. ''Melipona beecheii'' creates its hives inside hollow logs. While most beekeepers prefer to use the species ''

Apis mellifera The western honey bee or European honey bee (''Apis mellifera'') is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide. The genus name ''Apis'' is Latin for 'bee', and ''mellifera'' is the Latin for 'honey-bearing' or 'honey-carrying', ...

'', Pech and her community use ''M. beecheii'' in an effort to preserve the tradition of using the ''melipona'' variety of the species in the region, which is locally known as Xunaan Kab (the Lady of Honey). Pech owns two hectares of land on which she cultivates honey in this traditional way. Pech's organization seeks to develop a sense of community through the collective work of raising the bees and collecting their honey. She seeks to emulate the nearby community of Ich Eq, where families work together and support each other to survive.

Environmental activism

Pech became involved in environmental activism in 2000, at the same time as

Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed ...

began cultivating transgenic soybeans in

Campeche Campeche, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche, is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, make up the Administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the sta ...

. The level of cultivation continued to increase, and by 2012 agribusiness was occurring on a larger scale. This increase in the cultivation of transgenic soybeans negatively impacted honey production in the state, reducing yields and contaminating honey harvests. This decrease in the productivity of the bees directly put local Mayan communities at risk, as beekeeping was their primary way of putting food on the table. For this reason, Pech founded the Muuch Kambal coalition and the Colectivo Apícola de los Chenes, two groups that sued the government to stop the cultivation of this type of transgenic crop. In 2015, the

Mexican Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (, SCJN) is the Mexican institution serving as the country's federal high court and the spearhead organisation for the judiciary of the Mexican Federal Government. Judges of the SCJN are appointed ...

ruled that indigenous communities must be consulted before the cultivation of any transgenic crops occurs. In 2017, Monsanto's permission to grow genetically modified seeds was revoked in Campeche, Yucatán, and five other states in Mexico. Because of her activism and the success of her community, Pech received the

in 2020, an award which is viewed as the environmental Nobel. The organization which presented the award noted that Pech was discriminated against by Monsanto and its lawyers, who alluded to their disbelief that a woman had defeated them. According to Pech, the award "represents a recognition of the work of the Mayan communities of the Chenes (a region of Campeche) and of the unity of the Mayan territory." During the ceremony, which was held virtually, she said:"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pech, Leydy Mexican environmentalists Goldman Environmental Prize awardees Mexican beekeepers Women beekeepers 1965 births Living people