Create 50 guardians for Bahia Magdalena mangrove

Considering current global events, we have been taking measures to continue our work with the project while keeping our team’s wellbeing as our top priority. We are continuing with our main strategy using social media and instant communication services to reach the Bahia Magdalena community.

Due to the temporary closure of schools, we worked for the remaining of the school year from March to June with teachers and parents providing them with educational material with topics relevant to their community. We received feedback and participation from local students mainly from elementary school levels. Depending on the planned activities for the next school year, this strategy may have to keep being used.

In honor of World Environment Day in June, we called for the participation of children for a video in which they spoke about a specific species found in their region. We had the participation of one elementary school child from Bahia Magdalena who spoke about and drew an Osprey, and demonstrated its nest located near his home. He chose that bird because of his knowledge about the species due to his proximity with it.

Currently we are working on developing online environmental workshops to strengthen our outreach with the local teachers and continue providing them with knowledge and tools that they can use for the next school year.

We continue to take the necessary precautions in our daily activities to battle this global pandemic and hope everyone is well. Though we are facing more obstacles in accomplishing our goals, we are always adapting to reach them!

Bahia Magdalena is a rural community located in a different state than our offices; therefore work on-site can be challenging. Because of this, the main strategy we’re currently employing is the use of social media and instant communication applications to reach the community’s students and teachers.

Since our first visit, teachers continued using in their classrooms the environmental educational material we provided for them. In order to continue this practice, our team has developed new online material that covers subjects like shorebirds and their habitat, responsible fishing, and environmental services. These subjects highlight the mangrove’s importance as a habitat to other species, its threats, and the benefits of its conservation. This material is available online through our social media and webpage.

In light of recent global events, a temporary closure of schools has been issued nationwide; thus our work online gains importance. We are continuing long-distance contact with teachers offering the new online material consisting of simple, daily activities directed towards students of all ages. It’s structured so that it covers the environmental topics but also subject areas seen in schools like reading, mathematics, science, and arts. Teachers can then adapt the activities into the daily homework given as part of the temporary homeschooling, this way students can continue learning about the mangrove from their homes.

Along with our country, and the rest of the world, we are adapting to the pausing of our normal, daily routines and finding alternative solutions to continue accomplishing our goals. We hope everyone is well and all this blows over soon!

Elementary and secondary schools of Santo Domingo started a waste separation campaign with their students as part of becoming themselves mangrove guardians. Santo Domingo, Baja California Sur is a community located in Bahia Magdalena important for conservation efforts because locals have direct contact with the Pacific coast and the mangrove present there.

The campaign requires them to collect, wash, separate, and deposit different types of plastic and metal waste. The campaign is not only benefitting the schools, but also the community and their surroundings where locals and families are learning about waste separation through children.

To support this initiative, our team provided a workshop to the students in all grades of both schools about the importance of separating waste and the benefits of taking care of our environment. The workshop took place on November 13^th and 14^th, 2019 in the Estado de Queretaro elementary school and the Telesecundaria 15 Juan Dominguez Cota secondary school.

Several topics were covered in the workshop like the different types of waste, types of plastic waste, the negative effects of plastic in the environment, how to separate our waste, why it’s important, and the environmental services and goods that our ecosystems provide.

After this workshop a total of 30 students became Mangrove Guardians and received a badge that certificates it. Now they have the responsibility of spreading the knowledge they learned to their friends, family, neighbors, and other members of their community, and promise to carry out the important task with enthusiasm and capability.

The upbringing of environmentally conscious children in the community is a long-term step towards creating a sustainable community. We are glad that you joined us in this cause. Thanks for your support!

Considering the biological importance of the Magdalena-Almejas lagoon complex, the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO), has declared the area as a priority conservation site in Mexico. Particularly as: Priority Hydrological Region, Priority Marine Region, Priority Terrestrial Region, and Important Bird Conservation Area.

As part of our project we visited Bahia Magdalena last July. Our bio-monitoring team verified the flora, fauna and any activities that could affect the ecosystem. These lets us know the nature conservation status of the site.

Our field team took panoramic photographs of the observation points located strategically in the priority area covering a 360º angle from each one. Samples of the existing flora -especially those which were blooming- were taken, as well as evidence of the native and exotic fauna that travels through the site.

Moreover, on this visit we detected presence of garbage at some points. The garbage was collected, but it indicates visitors and community need to be responsable and take better care of the site.

The first workshop to create guardians for Bahia Magdalena mangrove was on May 21st of 2019 at Santo Domingo, Comondú, Baja California Sur. This community -located in the Pacific coast- has direct contact with the mangrove, making it a strategic population for its conservation.

Pre-school, elementary and middle school teachers attended the workshop and received a manual with lessons and activities about: goods, environmental services and legal tools for land conservation. Along with environmental educational games the manual was given to the teachers in order to be applied at regular courses with their students to inform about these subjects and promote conservation actions. If students receive all the information and participate in community activities that benefits the mangrove preservation, they will be declared officially as Guardians of the Mangrove.

At the end of the workshop, the 12 participants received a certificate and the official pin that identifies them as Guardians of the Mangrove proving their training. Also, signed an engagement letter where they committed to spread the knowledge and promised to support conservation efforts.

In addition, a first contact with fishing cooperatives and local government was made. Officials from the Fishing and Aquaculture Department of the municipality of Comondu met with our team to talk about cooperation efforts to coordinate a surveillance group among fishing cooperatives of the region. To contribute those efforts we developed a contact register to coop on create the surveillance group to guard Bahia Magdalena coast.

This is a significant step towards Bahia Magdalena mangrove conservation.