Anchored in the Sierra Madre Occidental between the Michis Sierra and Urica Sierra is Michilia. One of the Natural Protected Areas of Durango, it was declared a biosphere reserve in 1977 and two years later joined the UNESCO Program: Man and the Biosphere. The hills, valleys, and canyons in this area are home to species like the Black bear (Ursus americanus), Puma (Puma concolor), Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), and Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi). In addition, they provide valuable ecosystem services that are essential for the entire basin, such as air filtration, soil for primary activities, and water harvesting.
Water runoff from this area feeds Marismas Nacionales, a Ramsar site on the coast of Sinaloa and Nayarit that preserves the surface of the most important mangrove in the Mexican Pacific. This comprehensive vision of the basin is essential to ensuring the interconnection the ecosystems have so that the activities carried out in the mountain do not negatively impact the middle or lower basin, and therefore the biodiversity and populations that inhabit each.
In addition to the difficult access and risks in the area, La Michilía is impacted by productive activities like extensive ranching, which is not organized, and invasive exotic species that have been introduced to the site. For this reason, with a comprehensive view of the basin for conservation work, Pronatura Noroeste collaborates with the reserve’s management to facilitate processes that help integrate the Management Program and the formation of the Advisory Council to supports governance in the area from 2020-2021.
The Management Program as the guiding axis of any Natural Protected Area has as an objective to mitigate the effects of activities conducted on the site and other parts of the basin. The involvement of the community in its creation is essential for decision making and the success of the conservation sites. In this sense, the support of Pronatura Noroeste to integrate said program will be conducted using participatory methodologies to evaluate, together with the community, ecosystem services and management activities.
“The new approaches recognize the community should be included. Participatory methodologies allow for the exchange of knowledge, information, and traditional knowledge. They are processes of great value that help construct environmental governance,” said Aimeeé Cervantes, Pronatura Noroeste Consultant.
Cervantes also explained that the work conducted with the communities of Suchil and Mezquital will make it possible to know the current state of the site, identify the most important ecosystems and ecosystem services derived from them, recognize if they remain stable and see trends, project how the activities will impact the ecosystem or other productive sectors, and visualize the desired state to propose specific conservation activities.
Participatory workshops for building the management program will resume when authorities define the conditions for safe fieldwork. “This is the opportunity the people who live in the Natural Protected Area have to influence decision making,” concluded Aimee Cervantes.
If you would like to support the conservation projects in the La Michilia Biosphere Reserve, donate or contact Araceli Bernal, Communications Coordinator, at abernal@pronatura-noroeste.org.
