By Roberto Pedraza Ruiz | Jefe de Tierras Silvestres
As we have already mentioned, this year has brought with it the worst drought that the Sierra Gorda has experienced in many centuries. You can deduce this because the several hundred year old junipers of the Jalpan River are drying up due to the lack of runoff, which is a huge loss for the region and its beauty. It is a real shame, because the old sabinos could not withstand the drought that this 2023 brought us.
Although some relief has been provided in the higher parts of the sierra, where the cold fronts have brought humidity and the forests in some areas no longer suffer from water stress, the capacity of the springs has not recovered, which predicts a very complicated dry season next year for the water supply for the fauna, communities and neighbors of the Sierra Gorda.
This is an unprecedented crisis and unless a "miracle" happens and an unseasonal hurricane or tropical system brings considerable rainfall, the year will close with a deficit of 2/3 of the rainfall we receive on average. However, the forecast is that it will be a wetter and colder winter than the historical average (due to the effects of El Niño in the Pacific), which, although not enough to alleviate the drought, could be an important ally for the next forest fire season.
In the management of the reserves, we repaired the fences in Cañón del Fresno and Cerro Prieto, where the livestock of a few neighbors are always a headache, but the reserves are all well, without looting of wood and where life can take refuge. And we again set up camera traps in the Hoya Verde reserve, where we have recorded black bears, pumas, jaguars, old bushbucks and other species on other occasions.
Despite the low rainfall, the fires did not make a dent, and this is surely related to the carbon offsets paid to landowners through the Querétaro Low Carbon Emissions Seal and the World Land Trust. In this way the reserves are not "conservation islands" but we are managing the landscape at a higher level, with excellent prospects for the coming year and beyond.
It is clear to us that we are doing the right thing by protecting the reserves, because between humans, cows and pigs, we represent 96% of the biomass (kilograms) of all mammals on the planet. The remaining 4% is divided among whales, lions, raccoons, deer, foxes, or armadillos, which are some of the 5,420 species of mammals.
Returning these spaces to wildlife is the right thing to do.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
