On August 7, 1998 a petition was presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights by the Indian Law Resource Center and the Toledo Maya Cultural Council against the state of Belize, stating that the State of Belize was responsible for violating the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man in respect of lands traditionally used and occupied by the Maya people, by granting logging and oil concessions and failing to protect the territorial lands and rights of the Maya people.

In support of their arguments the Petitioners provided examples of environmental damage by logging companies. One example was that upstream of Sunday Wood and Conejo Creek several creek beds had been choked with discarded logs and timber, thus altering the natural flow of water.^[1]