The project will purchase 10 camera traps, which will help us to demonstrate the success of our conservation work with increasing evidence of the 6 cat species found in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, as well as other species in the different forest ecosystems.
Have you seen our video series, The Hidden Life in the Forest? This series on Youtube, helps us share the biodiversity of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve. Threats to this biodiversity include: conversion of forest lands to lands for grazing, or croplands, illegal logging, poaching, and illegal wildlife trade. This project will help us monitor lands under conservation management and show the success of innovative programs that pay landowners to preserve biodiversity.
It will only take a one-time investment to improve our equipment, and allow us to share with multiple stakeholders, higher-quality images and impactful videos. The cost of the cameras includes equipment to secure the cameras in security boxes.
We will be able to make the case that these landowners are protecting biodiversity. We hope to create more programs over the long term to reward them for dedicating their land to conservation and the provision of environmental services, like carbon capture, hydrological storage, which help fight and mitigate climate change while addressing the safety and livelihoods of these communities.