Protecting Coral Reefs in the Mexican Pacific: Q1 2019 PROGRESS UPDATE

WILDCOAST is making considerable progress with protecting coral reefs in the Mexican Pacific! It’s been quite a busy first part of the year for this organization. Over the course of this grant, WILDCOAST has developed and distributed 5,000 Wildlife and Dive Guides for the 13,613-acre marine portion of Oaxaca’s Huatulco National Park. The organization is currently working with the Huatulco Hoteliers Association to distribute the guides. A printed short survey will be included for the hotel guests to complete to help evaluate the impact of the guides. The organization is also partnering with Isla Espiritu Santo National Park to create a new guide for the 48,655-acre park.

In addition to guides, WILDCOAST implemented the first coordinated network of mooring and conservation buoy systems in the Mexican Pacific. With grant funding, the organization installed a total of 200 mooring and conservation buoys in Huatulco National Park and an additional 10 mooring buoys in Espiritu Santo National Park that will protect more than 150 acres of corals. WILDCOAST also facilitated trainings with eight park rangers from the national parks of Huatulco, Cabo Pulmo, Isla Espiritu Santo, Isla Isabel and Islas Marietas, on the installation and maintenance of mooring buoys. WILDCOAST carried out buoy maintenance in seven bays in Huatulco National Park that were impacted during the 2018 hurricane season and large swell events.

To advance their training goals for this grant, WILDCOAST facilitated trainings with a total of 80 tourism outfitters in Huatulco, Isla Isabel, Espiritu Santo, and Cabo Pulmo National Parks to improve on-site coral reef visitor management and best visitation practices in the parks. In partnership with Isla Isabel, Espiritu Santo, Huatulco, and Cabo Pulmo National Parks, WILDCOAST also facilitated an exchange of thirty park staff and tourism outfitters to improve visitor management in the four protected areas.

To support in building community support and stewardship for local reef ecosystems in Oaxaca (Huatulco), and Baja California Sur (La Paz, Los Barriles and Cabo Pulmo), a total of 2,732 community members were engaged in activities including presentations at local schools as well as conservation themed photographic exhibits and informational stands during local festivals.

Lastly, WILDCOAST identified hard coral species to be included in the Mexican Act for protected species (NOM-059). We submitted two proposals to the Biodiversity Department of SEMARNAT to include two hard coral species in Mexico’s endangered species list (NOM-059).

Project Name: Coral Reef Conservation In Mexican Pacific
Organization Name: WILDCOAST
Year Grant Awarded: 2017
Progress Update: Quarter 1, 2019 Project Update

STRENGTHEN RESPONSIBLE VISITATION PRACTICES OF CORAL REEFS: Q1 2019 PROGRESS UPDATE

WILDCOAST is starting the year strong with their Oaxaca Sea Turtle Conservation Project and has made great progress with a number of their goals.  First off, planning activities began to get ready for carrying out 12 monitoring trips this year. To this end, WILDCOAST met with local community partners and the Mexican Sea Turtle Center and additionally analyzed data from the nine monitoring trips that took place in the 2018-2019 season.  They estimate more than two million turtles nested at Morro Ayuta in the 9.3 mile stretch of beach and they are excited to begin their studies in 2019!  They also initiated planning activities with local partners for beetle control implementation that affects the sea turtles for the 2019-2020 arribada season that commences in August.  WILDCOAST also worked with the Mexican Sea Turtle Center to renew a collaboration agreement to develop conservation protections for the Morro Ayuta area.

Towards their goal of designing education materials, WILDCOAST developed an initial draft of a guide for sea turtle habitat visitation for local communities and visitors that includes maps, other visuals, and visitation best practices.  The organization also engaged 98 students from a local indigenous village in sea turtle conservation experiential learning activities and in Huatulco, WILDCOAST reached 130 local residents and tourists through an environmental festival to promote conservation of sea turtles.  WILDCOAST is also hard at work collaborating with the Mexican Sea Turtle Center to organize a workshop to train locals in the immediate response to oil spills and oiled wildlife. Lastly, WILDCOAST initiated a needs assessment for the indigenous communities of Rio Seco and Morro Ayuta.  Great work WILDCOAST!

Project Name: Sea Turtle Conservation Project
Organization Name: WILDCOAST
Year Grant Awarded: 2018
Progress Update: Quarter 1, 2019 Project Update

Strengthen Responsible Visitation Practices of Coral Reefs - Q2/3 Progress Update

Q2/3 Progress Update: WILDCOAST has made significant progress in achieving their coral reef conservation goals and expanding the reach of their efforts in the Mexican Pacific community. Five thousand copies of the Huatulco National Park wildlife and dive guide were printed, and the guide is also being adapted for Espiritu Santo and Cabo Pulmo National Parks. Coral reef conservation education has been delivered to over 700 community members through workshops, art experiences and Earth Day and International Wetlands Day festivities. To further their efforts in securing federal protection of coral species, WILDCOAST raised community awareness by featuring two photographic exhibitions on the corals and mangroves of Mexico as part of the 100 years of conservation in Mexico celebration. Coral reef visitation best-practices trainings were facilitated for 55 tourism outfitters in Huatulco, Isla Isabel, Espiritu Santo, and Cabo Pulmo National Parks. WILDCOAST has expanded the first Mexican Pacific system on mooring infrastructure from Huatulco National Park to other protected areas in the Mexican Pacific, training four rangers in Espiritu Santo National Park and working to install six mooring buoys for this marine zone.

About Grantee: WILDCOAST conserves coastal and marine ecosystems and wildlife. In 2017, we will keep conserving special wild places including: Baja’s Pacific Islands Biosphere Reserve, a brand new 2.7 million-acre wildlife reserve offshore from Baja’s Pacific coast, that we advocated for over the past five years; Laguna San Ignacio, a pristine gray whale birthing lagoon where we have helped to conserve 450,000-acres of habitat; Magdalena Bay, a lagoon that provides sanctuary for gray whales in Baja, where this year we helped to conserve over 182 miles of shoreline and 3,709-acres of mangrove islands; Morro Ayuta beach in Oaxaca, where our team is busy protecting the more than 600,000 Olive Ridley sea turtles that nest there each year; and the coast of California, where we are leading the effort to manage over 500,000 acres of marine protected areas that are home to elephant seals, gray whales, black sea bass, green sea turtles and the elusive leopard shark.

Project Summary: Support the conservation of coral reefs in 687,767 acres of six protected areas in the Mexican Pacific by improving coral reef monitoring, strengthen visitation management, and advancing coral reef legal protection. 

Project Nominated by ATCF Member: Eagle Creek
Project Name: Strengthen Responsible Visitation Practices of Coral Reefs
Grant Amount: $30,000
Grantee Name: WILDCOAST
Location: Mexico

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Strengthen Responsible Visitation Practices of Coral Reefs - Mexico

Q1 Progress Update: During the first quarter of the grant period, WILDCOAST advanced project activities focused on improving visitation management, monitoring, and legal protections for key coral reefs. WILDCOAST worked to create a wildlife and dive guide of Huatulco National Park, as well as conducted eight workshops to provide education on coral reef conservation activities to 135 students. The conservation group also began developing the first Mexican Pacific system on mooring infrastructure in coral reef protected areas, training six Huatulco park rangers on installation and adding five buoys to the system. In their efforts to secure federal protection of coral species, requests were submitted to include two coral reef species on the Mexican List of Endangered Species. WILDCOAST is now focused on planning a workshop among toursim outfitters from Huatulco and Cabo Pulmo with the support of National Commission for Protected Natural Areas (CONANP) to promote best visitation practices and learn how to adapt successful strategies for visitors management.

 "WILDCOAST is very excited to receive the generous support of the ATCF to help us protect coral reefs in the Mexican Pacific. Our work in places like Cabo Pulmo and Huatulco has had a significant positive impact on local reefs and surrounding ecosystems. Now we can expand our efforts to conserve a broader area and implement even more effective conservation strategies such as new mooring buoy systems, enhanced outreach, and legal protections for key coral species." - Zachary Plopper, Conservation Director
 

About Grantee: WILDCOAST conserves coastal and marine ecosystems and wildlife. In 2017, we will keep conserving special wild places including: Baja’s Pacific Islands Biosphere Reserve, a brand new 2.7 million-acre wildlife reserve offshore from Baja’s Pacific coast, that we advocated for over the past five years; Laguna San Ignacio, a pristine gray whale birthing lagoon where we have helped to conserve 450,000-acres of habitat; Magdalena Bay, a lagoon that provides sanctuary for gray whales in Baja, where this year we helped to conserve over 182 miles of shoreline and 3,709-acres of mangrove islands; Morro Ayuta beach in Oaxaca, where our team is busy protecting the more than 600,000 Olive Ridley sea turtles that nest there each year; and the coast of California, where we are leading the effort to manage over 500,000 acres of marine protected areas that are home to elephant seals, gray whales, black sea bass, green sea turtles and the elusive leopard shark.

Project Summary: Support the conservation of coral reefs in 687,767 acres of six protected areas in the Mexican Pacific by improving coral reef monitoring, strengthen visitation management, and advancing coral reef legal protection. 

Project Nominated by ATCF Member: Eagle Creek
Project Name: Strengthen Responsible Visitation Practices of Coral Reefs
Grant Amount: $30,000
Grantee Name: WILDCOAST
Location: Mexico

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