AS A RESULT OF THESE STRATEGIES, PRONATURA NOROESTE HAS A CONSERVATION AREA OF 6,500 HECTARES IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF CULIACÁN ALONE.
Ensenada, Baja California, December 13, 2016.- Through the Private and Social Land Conservation Program, Pronatura Noroeste, winner of the 2016 Ecological Merit Award, implements various legal tools for preserving natural sites in Sinaloa, strategies the association has developed in this entity since 2004.
Juan Carlos Leyva Martínez, coordinator of Pronatura Noroeste in Sinaloa, reported that the program’s efforts are currently focused mainly on the Lucenilla Peninsula – a site with an area of 6,500 hectares – in Pichihuila and Bahía Santa María.
“We have a monitoring program, we have a presence at the sites, we have personnel doing surveillance tours and establishing signage so that people know that it is a reserve; we organize workshops with key actors at the sites, with the state government and the municipality, to promote the fact that they are sites under a private protection scheme,” he explained.
He explained that the Land Conservation Program consists of the implementation of legal strategies for acquiring or administering ejido or private properties, intending to gain areas for their protection, management, or restoration.
LEGAL STRATEGY IN FAVOR OF CONSERVATION
Among the legal tools used by Pronatura Noroeste to increase the number of conservation areas in Sinaloa is the conservation easement, which consists of a voluntary agreement between the landowners and the organization and includes management measures.
Such is the case of the Lucenilla Peninsula, located in the municipality of Culiacán, which represents the first of the fruits of the Private and Social Land Conservation Program in Sinaloa, and more recently, the Ensenada Pabellones wetland, a 679-hectare property located in one of the most important refuge sites for shorebirds and waterfowl.
Juan Carlos Leyva reported that other tools they have used are the commodate and acquisition of land; however, in none of the cases does the legal strategy stop when Pronatura Noroeste obtains the rights to the site; on the contrary, the search for governmental decrees that guarantee its protection continues.
An example is Valle de Santa María, where Pronatura Noroeste has been acquiring land since 2006 for conservation purposes and subsequently obtained certification as Areas Voluntarily Destined for Conservation by the National Commission for Natural Protected Areas (CONANP).
“It is not only a property acquired by Pronatura Noroeste for conservation purposes, but also validated by the federal government as part of its public policies,” emphasized Juan Carlos Leyva.
Whether because of their ecological characteristics, the environmental services they provide, their integrity with the landscape, or because there is some threat that puts their conservation at risk, the protection of the sites selected as part of the Private and Social Land Conservation Program is essential.
