Mexico's 'Wildlife Without Borders' Program U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service | |
go to original December 15, 2014 |
Mexico makes up only 1 percent of the Earth’s land area but is home to one-tenth of all species known to science. In addition to the tremendous biodiversity inside its rainforests, Mexico is a vital stop over and wintering habitat for birds, mammals and insects migrating from the United States. Our two countries are linked by mountain ranges such as the Sierra Madres, the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, watersheds, oceans and wildlife that move across our shared border. Ultimately, what happens to rainforests in the Yucatan affects fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico.
The U.S. and Mexico share 450 species listed under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and over 100 species on the U.S. Endangered Species list. Increasingly, these diverse species are threatened by deforestation, unsustainable land-use practices and the illegal wildlife trade. They include sea turtles, gray whale, bats, condor, jaguar, manatee, pronghorn, desert sheep, insects (such as the monarch butterfly), and a variety of migratory birds.
The Wildlife Without Borders – Mexico program has been working since 1995 to conserve our shared natural wealth. The program provides small grants, delivers Signature Initiatives and coordinates the Trilateral Committee by partnering with Mexican universities, research centers, non-governmental organizations, private industries, local communities and indigenous people.
In 2012 the program funded 19 projects, in addition to Signature Initiatives: Managing for Excellence, Stewards of the Land, and Voices for Nature.
Our partnerships and projects include:
Training in Chiapas for 250 wardens from 40 reserves throughout Mexico and Central America. This enables park rangers to face challenges including logging, illegal wildlife trade, forest fires, and human settlements.
Working together with Ecologia y Conservacion de Ballenas, AC to train more than 300 tour operators from Jalisco, Nayarit and Oaxaca on humane, responsible and meaningful best practices for approaching and observing humpback whales and their calves, as well as, navigating in their breeding waters.
Supporting the 2012 Mexico's National Ecological Merit Award winner, "Union de Sociedades Cooperativas de la Red de los Humedales de la Costa de Oaxaca" in their efforts of coordinating the more than 50 local grassroots organizations (fishermen cooperatives, NGOs, peasant farmers associations), government agencies, and educating civil society (ejido owners, schools, tourists) to conserve, protect and restore the coastal wetlands and biodiversity of the Oaxaca.
Learn more at U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!
From activities like hiking, swimming, bike riding and yoga, to restaurants offering healthy menus, Vallarta-Nayarit is the ideal place to continue - or start - your healthy lifestyle routine.