Protecting Wild Cat Habitat

Thanks to the donors to this campaign, Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda (GESG) is able to articulate the expansion and protection of a biocorridor of vital habitat within the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve. The ecosystems of the Sierra Gorda are suffering from ever-increasing pressure due to human population growth and demand for resources. Illegal logging for construction and mercury mining, two particularly dangerous threats to the area's biodiversity, continue in spite of the Sierra Gorda’s status as a protected area.

As a result, it has become ever more important for us to maintain and expand the network of private natural reserves that we steward. These reserves have become true sanctuaries, places where we can completely restrict extractive activities. We are able to do this only by maintaining an on-going presence in the reserves and cultivating respect among the local people for the work that we do. Local communities understand that once we have established a parcel of land as a reserve, from that point forward the land will be utilized only for the protection of biodiversity.

In recent years, one of these protected plots measuring almost 3000 acres - the Cerro Prieto reserve, situated on a high mountain ridge and comprised of temperate and cloud forests - had become completely surrounded by illegal logging activity. Thus, expanding it to protect more forests was a high priority for us at GESG. With this goal in mind, we partnered with our long-time ally from the United Kingdom, the World Land Trust, to purchase two adjacent parcels where, several months before, loggers had begun to cut down ancient cedars. We were also fortunate to protect an additional adjacent parcel through the generous support of the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory, an ally from Texas that collaborated in the past on the establishment of two other reserves. This expansion of the Cerro Prieto reserve is certainly a good beginning to 2016, allowing us to repel the advance of chainsaws and other human activities on these valuable forests.

In other happenings, as part of our efforts to increase the economic value assigned to the region's ecosystems and strengthen our Payments for Ecosystem Services programs, we achieved the registration of our NAMA (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action) proposal with the federal Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT). Our NAMA is an innovative strategy for capturing carbon in forests and soils through a strengthening of the Querétaro State Mechanism for Carbon Compensations (developed by the state government under our guidance), which has sufficient resources to protect forests within Querétaro state as well as to replicate soil management best practices in other Mexican states.

In more good news, word of the discovery of two new magnolia species in one of our reserves made headlines in several well-known international publications, including the BBC, Smithsonian, ARKive, Maptia, and the Daily Mail among others.  

Finally, as a way of celebrating the ecosystem diversity of the Sierra Gorda and honoring some of its species, we are excited to share two new videos:

Sierra Gorda, Arca de Vida (on the Sierra Gorda's biological diversity)

Ajolotes, Señores de las Pozas (on threatened salamanders in Mexico)

Links:

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Although I looked for them every chance I had, amphibians were most noticeable for their absence by the end of the rainy season in the Sierra Gorda. This should not be such a surprise when, at the global level, 41% of amphibian species is at risk of extinction. More are disappearing every day, and the factors leading to their disappearance continue unabated.

As a child, I remember tree frogs and toads showing up in the potted plants and patio of my mother's house, the night-time mating choruses of frogs in the Jalpan River, and colorful Bell's salamanders adorning forest paths. Today, these sights and sounds have become sadly rare.

As a group, amphibians managed to resist other massive extinctions of life on Earth. However, this sixth massive wave of extinction, which humans have brought on with our hubris and delirious greed for natural resources, is turning out to be more rapid, vicious, and deadly than the others, and the future is looking bleak for amphibians.

For the moment, as we continue to grow unsustainably - polluting, monopolizing, and destroying our planet's natural resources - we are all looking for good news. That is why, when a tree frog showed up in the kitchen sink a couple of days ago, for me it was a cause for celebration.

This chance encounter gives me hope for the future of amphibians in the Sierra Gorda. It also means that your support for our conservation efforts, which has allowed us to keep the chainsaws out of our forests, is providing a refuge for this threatened group of animals.