parts of the Selva Zoque. Some of the new arrivals engaged in small scale farming and hunting, while others moved into more destructive activities such as ranching, illegal logging of valuable tree species and cultivation of narcotics. In the core Chimalapas region there was a total population of about 18,000 in 1999. Two towns, Santa Maria Chimalapa and San Miguel Chimalapa had a combined population of 3,000. The remainder was split between 38 "recognized" settlements and 34 informal settlements along the river banks and in the valleys. Some of the informal settlements were created by official colonization schemes and others by invading peasants. The area is now ethnically diverse, with the Zoques reduced to a minority of perhaps 30%. The region is extremely poor, with limited infrastructure such as roads and schools. Development plans The Mexican government has plans to develop the trans-isthmus corridor that borders the region to the west. This includes improving transportation routes across the isthmus between the Caribbean and the Pacific, developing an industrial zone along the highway and expanding the petroleum and petrochemical industries in Salina Cruz on the Pacific coast. Other plans include creating coffee plantations and cattle corridors, expanding production of beans, maize and chili and exploiting the bio-genetic resources of native medicinal plants. A plan first proposed in 1977 for a dam in the Chimalapas has been stalled due to environmental concerns. In June 2008 the State of Oaxaca was again proposing construction of a storage dam in the Rio El Corte Basin in the Chimalapa sub-region, with the potential to irrigate 100,000 hectares of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and to supply water to the Salina Cruz Refinery. To reduce impact of this nearby development on the Chimalapas the government has in the past made offers to buy forest land and turn it into a biosphere reserve, but these have been rejected by the native people who would lose their ancestral lands. The local government officials and their families are dedicated to sell tracks of virgin forest to create ranch operations and destroy the forest, and use the money to help the Zapatista warlords, they use their influences inside the state to legalize the plots of lands that they sold, this is evidenced in the new town called Arroyo Dos Arcos, deep into federally protected land. More recently, plans (at least in Oaxaca) have involved the communities affected and have emphasized sustainable