Protecting Wild Cat Habitat

Mexico suffered one of the most intense droughts on record, record-breaking heat waves, and a terrible forest fire season, which occurred in the Sierra Gorda and kept us on alert of the serious danger.

The management and combat of these fires has been the main activity of the team of park rangers and our Valle Verde Forest Fire Fighting Brigade. First, the fire that threatened one of the private reserves was reactivated on two occasions, even though it was already properly fenced with a fire gap and was reduced to a few burning logs within the perimeter, which, being oak trees, could take weeks to ignite and with the fire embers staying active. Due to the intensity of extraordinary gusts of wind, sparks flew out of the gap and started the fire again. This finally reached the southern slope, where approximately 3 hectares of cloud forest burned - an ecosystem and its species that by definition did not burn and is not adapted to fire. That last week of the fire it was essential to have our own brigade of the Sierra Gorda Ecological Group (GESG), since only one of the Government brigades stayed with us, as other fires were activated and had to be attended. The use of backpack-pumps was essential, so for 3 days we had the task of “combing” the forest in search of hot spots where there were still burning embers and logs and put them out definitively. However, this task is heavy, because as there is no water on the site it meant carrying it from the vehicle and the steep and complicated terrain makes it difficult to walk and obviously to carry 20 liters of water in each backpack. Still in the last week of April, we made walks and cleared the embers.

In the month of May, the first fire we attended was near the Las Arenitas r private eserve in an oak forest caused by agricultural burning, where the fire started on Thursday, May 9, and was immediately attended by our brigade and that of the National Forestry Commission (CONAFOR), also based in Valle Verde, and that of the Secretary of Agricultural Development (SEDEA) in nearby San Juan de los Durán. On Thursday and Friday they worked to control the fire and on Saturday we were able to put it out 100%, again thanks to the use of backpack pumps. In these cases it is crucial to extinguish all the burning logs. All this during this year's second heat wave in Mexico, which broke historical records all over the country.

On Monday 13, a new fire occurred between the reserves of El Socabón and Cañón del Fresno, where once again our Brigade intervened along with two others, so the suppression occurred that same day and on the 14th it was liquidated with the backpack-pump and water. It is clear to us that having greater response and combat capabilities, inter-institutional coordination and collaborating as a single team among the different brigades and institutions is allowing for a better and faster response. The idea is that as soon as a fire breaks out, it will be dealt with as quickly as possible and with the largest possible number of fire fighters. On June 6 and 7, a new fire was started in Carrizal de los Durán, relatively close to the Hoya Verde Reserve, so the GESG brigade once again joined the Federal and State Government in fighting it. With the delay of the rains, on the 16th and 17th another fire broke out, where once again our Brigade participated in its combat and control. Finally, on the night of the 19th, rains fell in a good part of the Sierra Gorda, initiating a rainy season that put a stop to the most intense drought on record and the heat waves that successively occurred and broke the historical heat records on a daily basis. 

The drought we have been experiencing continues to extend this year 2024, with no forecasts of consistent rainfall until next June; so at least two more months of the same trend, which is exacerbating the lack of water for both human communities and wildlife. And therefore, the occurrence of forest fires, which began to occur since February and in March we had a peak at the state and national level, making this season already the worst since 1998 - both in terms of number of incidents and area affected.

In the management of the reserves, we had no major incidents to deal with, with presence and surveillance tours in all of them, except for the fire that seriously threatened one of the reserves and its cloud forests, which in the periphery of the fire were affected (less than one hectare) because most of it burned in the neighboring property. Brigade members from GESG, the Valle Verde brigade (WLT), CONAFOR, CONANP, SEDENA, SEDEA, Civil Protection and the Landa de Matamoros City Hall participated in fighting the fire. It was a complicated fire due to the topography and abundance of limestone rocks, which causes organic matter to accumulate and makes it very difficult to extinguish all the embers. This fire had a first outbreak in the third week of March, but it was reactivated by the violent winds that blew on Monday, March 25, reaching the limit of the reserve that same day. Fortunately, due to the slight humidity remaining in the cloud forest, most of the outbreaks were extinguished that same night, but embers did remain. 10 days later, we are still on alert with large logs remain smoldering and thus the possibility of reignition.

Fighting forest fires is hard work, dangerous with changes in the direction of strong gusts, which involves breathing a lot of smoke and soot. And April and May will mean a high risk of occurrence.

On a more positive note, our ally, Ena Buenfil from Selva Teenek Ecopark, who does excellent work in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation in the neighboring Huasteca region, in the State of San Luis Potosi, requested permission to release Leo, an ocelot that was treated and rehabilitated in their facilities for 18 months, in one of the reserves.

And we obtained a new record of the endemic and rare Tamaulipan tecolote (Glaucidium sanchezi), the third for the Sierra Gorda and again in a private reserve managed by us, so its local importance for the species is evident.

SPANISH:

La sequía que venimos viviendo se sigue extendiendo este año 2024, sin previsiones de lluvias constantes hasta el próximo mes de junio; Así que al menos dos meses más de la misma tendencia, que está exacerbando la falta de agua tanto para las comunidades humanas como para la vida silvestre. Y por lo tanto, la ocurrencia de incendios forestales, que comenzaron a ocurrir desde febrero y en marzo tuvimos un pico a nivel estatal y nacional, haciendo que esta temporada ya sea la peor desde 1998, tanto en número de incidentes como en área afectada.

En el manejo de las reservas, no tuvimos mayores incidentes que atender, con presencia y recorridos de vigilancia en todas ellas, salvo el incendio que amenazó seriamente una de las reservas y sus bosques nublados, que en la periferia del incendio se vieron afectados (menos de una hectárea) porque la mayor parte se quemó en la propiedad vecina. En el combate al fuego participaron brigadistas del GESG, de la brigada Valle Verde (WLT), CONAFOR, CONANP, SEDENA, SEDEA, Protección Civil y la Alcaldía de Landa de Matamoros. Fue un incendio complicado debido a la topografía y abundancia de rocas calizas, lo que hace que la materia orgánica se acumule y hace muy difícil extinguir todas las brasas. Este incendio tuvo un primer brote en la tercera semana de marzo, pero fue reactivado por los violentos vientos que soplaron el lunes 25 de marzo, llegando al límite de la reserva ese mismo día. Afortunadamente, debido a la ligera humedad que quedaba en el bosque nuboso, la mayoría de los brotes se extinguieron esa misma noche, pero las brasas permanecieron. 10 días después, todavía estamos en alerta con grandes troncos que siguen ardiendo y, por lo tanto, la posibilidad de que se reinicien.

La lucha contra los incendios forestales es un trabajo duro, peligroso con cambios en la dirección de fuertes ráfagas, lo que implica respirar mucho humo y hollín. Y abril y mayo significarán un alto riesgo de ocurrencia.

En una nota más positiva, nuestra aliada, Ena Buenfil del Ecoparque Selva Teenek, quien realiza un excelente trabajo en rescate y rehabilitación de fauna silvestre en la vecina región Huasteca, en el Estado de San Luis Potosí, solicitó permiso para liberar a Leo, un ocelote que fue tratado y rehabilitado en sus instalaciones durante 18 meses, en una de las reservas.

Y obtuvimos un nuevo registro del endémico y raro tecolote tamaulipeco (Glaucidium sanchezi), el tercero para la Sierra Gorda y nuevamente en una reserva privada administrada por nosotros, por lo que su importancia local para la especie es evidente.

Links:

• Leo