Over the past eleven years, transformation of the Miguel Aleman restoration site was a permanent goal for Pronatura Noroeste, for the benefit of local wildlife. Thanks to donors, volunteers, Raise The River Foundation and Pronatura Noroeste´s own staff, this 469-acres natural site located on the Colorado River Delta ultimately breathed back into life with the plantation of over 100,000 native plants. 

Both the Colorado River Delta and the Gulf of California were officially declared Natural Protected Areas with the category of Biosphere Reserve by the Mexican government in 1993. However, for the last 40 years the Miguel Aleman site was a semi-desert plain with just a few animals living there, due to severe climate conditions, droughts, lack of water and the proliferation of invasive plants such as the salt cedar. All these changed dramatically with our intervention: when Pronatura Noroeste first arrived at the site in 2010, only 23 species bird species at the site. Eleven years later, Miguel Aleman site is a recoved habitat for over 122 bird species. 

This is a real conservationist success case in Mexico, thanks mostly to Pronatura Noroeste´s four incubation centers on the site. These centers produce plenty of native plants, such as the sweet mesquite, and some varieties of palo verde (blue, mexican, yellow and brea), as well as frutilla bush that produce a tiny fruit that feeds many bird populations, and the “cenizo brush” that serves as a natural shelter for roadrunners, quails and sparrows. Another benefit is that the growing of these populations increase stream flow and aquifer recharge, which is a crucial benefit not only for local flora and fauna, but also for local communities, with a lot more outdoor recreational activities.