Climate Action Mexico Project #7814

Help Local Leaders Save the Mesoamerican Reef

by Fondo Mexicano para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza, A.C.

Help Local Leaders Save the Mesoamerican Reef

Project Report | Nov 19, 2019
Meet our 2019 Cohort!

By MAR Leadership Team | MAR Leadership Team

MAR Leadership 2018 Cohort

We are excited to introduce you to the 2019 Cohort comprised of a total of 14 fellows from the four MAR countries in five teams (one from Belize, one from Guatemala, two from Honduras and one from Mexico).

In this fantastic group of innovators, three fellows come from government, two from academic institutions, six from civil society organizations, and three from the private sector. 71% percent are women, and 29% are men.

MAR-L has heavily invested in supporting leaders committed to improving fisheries in the region. Therefore, and with the understanding that the less ecologically degraded a reef ecosystem is, the more resilient and productive it is, we strive to scale up and launch successful projects that promote sustainable fisheries and sustainable community development with a gender perspective along the MAR.

The 2019 cohort leaders will design and implement the following six projects on sustainable fisheries and community development in the four MAR countries:

Biological and socioeconomic characterization of the Manjua fishery (family: Engraulidae) in the Caribbean of Guatemala
For a fishery without leaving traces in the Bay Islands National Marine Park
Tools for the transition to territorial rights of use in fisheries in the Tela
Turneffe Case Study to Create an Adaptive Lobster Fishery Management Model in Belize
Design of a community monitoring program for a sustainable elasmobranch fishery in the North of Quintana Roo.

The MAR-L Program will provide 2019 Leaders an opportunity to gain real-world, hands-on experience and develop personal, professional, and environmental conservation leadership skills. These skills will enable Leaders to be-come frontrunners in protecting the Mesoamerican Reef and associated marine ecosystems and lead efforts to conserve, protect, and restore marine ecosystems in their communities, countries and across the region.

The training cycle of the 2019 cohort includes:
- A two-week workshop (15 days total, including travel time) will take place on September 14 - 30, 2019 in Quintana Roo, Mexico. During this workshop, Leaders will be trained by international experts on sustain-able fisheries management, marine reserves, climate change, fisheries science and management, blue econ-omy, community development successful models, public policy advocacy, storytelling, resource mobiliza-tion, negotiation and conflict resolution, personal development and leadership styles.
- Four webinars of two hours each on topics of interest to the cohort members.
- A 4-day trip to Baja California Sur during the first half of 2020 (dates to be confirmed) to participate at the Marine and Coastal Conservation Exchange between the Gulf of California region and the MAR
- Networking opportunities with leaders of other cohorts.

Thank you for your support!

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Aug 16, 2019
Team Sharks in action!

By MAR Leadership Team | MAR Leadership Team

National Plan of Action Meeting

Dear Global Giving Friends,

We want to share with you the latest developments of the MAR Leadership 2018 Team Sharks.

The team has been working on the National Plan of Action (NPOA) for sharks, rays, and chimeras (Chondrichthyes) in Guatemala. After nine months of hard work, it is finally completed! The first step was the creation of an intersectoral working group to support and validate decisions and actions. The NPOA was identified as a priority to guide Chondrichthyes conservation and management efforts strategically. The development of the document has been a collaborative effort with DIPESCA (Guatemala’s Fisheries Department). One of the document’s strengths has been the participative process we have supported to integrate scientific and institutional feedback from experts, as well members from the working group, validating the content and the development of the plan.

The Fishery Department is now working on converting the document into a ministerial agreement so that it becomes an official document to support and guide national actions. The team sharks hope this process will take place no later than November 2019.

One of their followup goals will be to promote the creation of non-detrimental finding for Appendix II species for the country to comply with CITES. It’s been refreshing and certainly encouraging to have created an intersectoral working group to address the conservation and management challenges for sharks and rays in Guatemala for the very first time!

MAR Leadership Network in action:

In addition to the creation of the NPOA, we carried out an exchange between fishers from Honduras (Omoa) and Guatemala (Sartún and Quetzalito) to support the strengthening of their internal organizational capabilities. The exchange was a great success; the fishermen talked to each other about the importance of organizing committees to unify their voice. Sarstún fishers shared with the other groups the need for having internal rules and regulations, as well as the importance of sustainable fishing. The words from the committee of Sarstún were so powerful and inspiring that for the first time, 32 fishermen attended Quetzalito’s committee meeting; this is a significant change from the usual 7 participants.

2018 MAR Leaders have been invited to participate in this process through a series of workshops supporting shark team’s work with the fishing communities: Sandra from Honduras was invited to speak about sustainable fishing. Nelson also from Honduras will be invited speak about sustainable fisheries and the importance of a groups organization (August) and Mariela, from Mexico, will share her personal experience being a fishing woman and the founder of the tourism project “Women of the Sea” (September). We want to inspire women in these communities and promote their inclusion in both fishermen committees.
Team Shark members’ experiences:

National Plan of Action Meeting Participants

Elisa and the Vice-minister of MAGA Guatemala

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May 16, 2019
Marine and Coastal Conservation Exchange (MCCE)

By MAR Leadership Team | MAR Leadership Team

Marine and Coastal Conservation Exchange (MCCE)

Cabo Pulmo, in the state of Baja California Sur, is an outstanding example of community-led conservation success. It serves as a proof of concept that can be replicated in the MAR region. It represents an innovative, non-extractive model for the Blue Economy1. This success is attributed, among other things, to the policy adopted 24 years ago by the federal government and the Cabo Pulmo community to conserve its marine resources under a Natural Protected Area in the category of National Park. The community collectively put its fishing gear down and was able to build an alternative livelihood. Its inhabitants found in sustainable tourism an advantageous livelihood alternative. Cabo Pulmo National Park is nationally and internationally recognized for the biomass increase of wildlife concerning that existing before its decree. “It is clear that the people of Cabo Pulmo’s desire for sustainability and conservation spawned a thriving ecosystem and economy, instilling a deeply rooted sense of pride and responsibility for the marine world in the community”.

On the other hand, the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR), the largest cross bordering barrier reef in the world and one of the wealthiest and most diverse ecosystems, has accomplished significant advances to promote a Blue Economy that guarantees a permanent natural capital for the sustainable development of coastal communities. International and local organizations in Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras committed to the conversation of the MAR continually face threats such as coastal development, overfishing, terrestrial contamination, and climate change. Nevertheless, they have aligned their visions to create a Blue Economy development model adopting a systemic focus to canalize resources to the region and safeguard its natural capital.

Through the Mesoamerican Reef Leadership Program by the Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature, along with its allies, MARFund, LegacyWorks Group, Lindblad Expeditions, and Overbrook Foundation are developing essential initiatives to achieve sustainability within the Gulf of California and within the MAR region. One initiative is the Marine and Coastal Conservation Exchange (MCCE) between these two regions that took place 14-18 May in Cabo Pulmo, BCS, Mexico. The objective of the MCCE was to enhance the successes and lessons learned in both the Gulf of California and the Mesoamerican Reef region to strengthen and improve the conservation, protection, and restoration of marine and coastal ecosystems while improving the livelihood of local communities.

Forty people are participating in the meeting from which 14 are MAR Fellows of the 2018 cohort from Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Quintana Roo. Themes discussed included the process of establishing and managing Cabo Pulmo National Park and other MPAS in the MAR region and the role of science and the local community within Cabo Pulmo’s success. Experts on communication campaigns from the Gulf of California Cabo Pulmo’s will explain how the media and social networks helped to defend Cabo Pulmo from massive tourism developers. By the end of the meeting, a round table with Cabo Pulmo community members and the National Commission on Protected Areas (CONANP) will be held to discuss the challenges and future of Cabo Pulmo given the high demand from the tourism sector.

¡Big thanks to our friend in Cabo Pulmo for your hospitality and for sharing your knowledge with us. Congratulations to all of you for a successful and inspiring model of community development. Hope to see you in the Mesoamerican Reef!

Mario Castro sharing Cabo Pulmo's story

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