These projects were selected during a certificate course Pronatura Noroeste taught with UABCS directed at students from all over the country and focused on the community improving its relationship with the natural environment and thus protecting the nesting and feeding areas of these birds.

In coordination with the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur (UABCS), we at Pronatura Noroeste trained 23 students in October and November 2021. The certificate course, “Behavior change tools for the conservation of priority sites for shorebirds in the Mexican Northwest,” was 120 hours long and was delivered virtually.

The objective of this course was to train students through innovative strategies based on behavior change theory. These strategies consist of generating guidelines for people to modify activities that result from ignorance and damage ecosystems altering the habitat of shorebirds and affecting the quality of life for the region’s inhabitants.

Selected conservation projects

 Among  the course´s results, we undertook several specific projects with the participants, like the “Environmental awareness campaign to provoke a change in behavior associated with the management of solid waste in Guerrero Negro, with a particular focus on the Bird Refuge,” under the leadership of Nallely Arce Villavicencio, professor at UABCS and consultant to the Pronatura Noroeste Bird Conservation Program. The aim of this campaign is for 70% of the population to change their habits about the deposit of domestic solid waste. Without a doubt, this could generate a change of attitude in the population to create a harmonious relationship with nature, in addition to the population acquiring environmental knowledge and valuing the site’s importance for shorebirds and migratory birds.

The program’s relevance derives from the fact that, according to estimates, in Baja California Sur more than 1 kg of garbage is generated per inhabitant every day. B.C.S. is one of the five states that generate the most garbage in Mexico and is only surpassed by Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Nuevo León, and Baja California. It has been found that most garbage produced in B. C. S. is solid and of domestic origin, so this intervention would result in a benefit for the community, the ecosystem, and the birds that inhabit it.

Another project linked to the certificate course was proposed by Norma Soraida Gonzáles Bernal, a Gulf of Santa Clara resident, and had the theme, “Conservation of the habitat of shorebirds and Pejerrey in the Gulf of Santa Clara, Sonora, through a behavior change campaign for village residents.” It focuses on an extraordinary phenomenon that happens every year in the Gulf of Santa Clara during which the Pejerrey goes to the sandy beach to lay its eggs, which are the primary food source for other birds and in particular, the Pacific Red Knot, a species that increases its weight by 40% during its stay in the gulf. This is a critical event for the Pacific Red Knot as it recovers the energy needed to continue its long migratory journey to Alaska (USA) and Wrangel Island (Russia).

Actions to protect the nesting and feeding area of ​​shorebirds.

Environmental issues and the damage to fauna in the Gulf of Santa Clara are also due to the practices of the beaches’ visitors, who considerably damage the habitat of the birds through the movement of people and, above all, by the use of motorized vehicles that travel without any precautions, running over eggs and killing large numbers of birds and fish.

To prevent this damage, we will delimit 10 hectares in the breeding area of ​​the Pejerrey with the collaboration of the students of the certificate course. Similarly, the group will design and install at least 10 signs to identify the areas where off-road vehicle traffic is allowed. At the same time, we will target beach users and residents of the town with knowledge of the problems that threaten shorebirds and Pejerrey.

Each of the selected projects will receive $150,000 pesos from the Packard Foundation. Thanks to this generous contribution, the activities described can be implemented for a year with advice from Dr. Roberto Carmona Piña, a Researcher at UABCS and Scientific Advisor to Pronatura Noroeste, Víctor Ayala, a technician from the same laboratory, and Natalie Rodríguez Dowdell, Coordinator of Bird Conservation for Pronatura Noroeste.