Create 50 guardians for Bahia Magdalena mangrove

Keeping contact with the community is key when developing projects in rural areas. Because of the ongoing pandemic our regular visits to Bahia Magdalena have been suspended making communication more difficult. Nevertheless, we continue adapting to new ways of communication and work from a distance.

Since the beginning of October, we started a social media campaign on Facebook to recognize the efforts of our community outreach leaders in northwestern Mexico. The campaign consists of a summary of the activities that the community outreach leader has participated in during their work with the Education for Conservation program of Pronatura Noroeste A. C. The posts can be seen on the program’s Facebook page: Educación para la Conservación.

A special recognition post was made for a new community outreach leader who currently lives in Bahia Magdalena and has been participating in spreading to others the online activities being carried out by Pronatura. Several other community outreach leaders who have worked in that region with different communities throughout the years were part of the campaign. We thank their efforts and their contribution to environmental education!

Currently, upon solicitation of the community, we are working on creating signs to be placed in strategic points along the shores of Bahia Magdalena to inform visitors about the flora and fauna there and what activities to avoid. These signs will be placed by the Guardians of the Mangrove to keep their environment and home safe!

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.