ENSENADA, Baja California, March 3, 2016 – Safeguarding and rescuing the natural wealth of northwestern Mexico has been the driving force that has kept the region’s largest civil conservation organization, Pronatura Noroeste, active, busy and innovative for 25 years.
In the framework of World Nature Day, Pronatura Noroeste celebrates the extensive catalog of projects and programs in favor of the environment, accumulated over the last quarter of a century, designed and carried out by more than a hundred professionals and specialists working in the field in the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Sinaloa, Nayarit, the western portions of Chihuahua and Durango along the Sierra Madre Occidental, the coasts of Jalisco and Colima, the Gulf of California and its islands, and Mexico’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the Pacific Ocean, corresponding to the aforementioned states.
“Twenty-five years ago a group of Mexicans decided to found a civil association through which they could channel their genuine interest in collaborating in the conservation of the natural areas and resources of northwestern Mexico. Their objective: to promote the development of society in harmony with Nature. These Mexicans understood, 25 years ago, that it is not possible for a country to develop by turning its back on the conservation of its natural capital; and that this natural capital represents the basis not only of the economy, but also of culture, life and the very essence of a nation”, recalled Dr. Gustavo Danemann, Executive Director of Pronatura Noroeste during his speech to commemorate the organization’s 25th anniversary.
Mexico is one of the five most biologically diverse countries worldwide and does not hesitate to express its pride in this unique condition. However, our country often seems to forget that this privilege implies an enormous responsibility to ensure its conservation. Since its inception, Pronatura Noroeste has worked arduously to prevent, correct, or repair the effects of careless use of its natural resources.
On World Wildlife Day and celebrating the organization’s twenty-fifth anniversary, Pronatura Noroeste reaffirms its commitment to conservation with absolute conviction.
During the celebration event, C.P. Gastón Luken Aguilar, Founder and Honorary President of Pronatura Noroeste’s Board of Directors thanked individuals, foundations, and organizations, Mexican and foreign, for their support and trust in the organization.
“I thank those who have trusted us. In the early years, we had to mature the organization to keep the wolf away from the door. The wolf is no longer at the door, we are now outside the house working without the danger that there is no future or livelihood for the organization. We have achieved the empathy and understanding of diverse people and institutions, and the understanding of the authorities through original proposals for collaboration,” said Luken Aguilar, emphasizing that the organization, although it is strengthened by its achievements and advances in conservation material, reaches its first quarter of a century with its sights set on all the work that remains to be done.
Mr. Enrique Hambleton von Borstel, founder and President of the Board of Directors of Pronatura Noroeste outlined the challenges looming on the organization’s horizon: “The next quarter century will be very different from the one we have already experienced. The present is showing us new and transformative conservation opportunities. The health of the systems that enable life on our planet is at risk and in some cases in grave danger. Identifying these new pathways is up to us,” he said.
With tangible and significant advances for the conservation of northwestern Mexico such as the creation of the Natural Protected Area “Bahía de los Ángeles, Canales de Ballenas y Salsipuedes”, the restoration of hundreds of hectares of the Colorado River Delta, workshops, classes and environmental education events with thousands of children, youth and adults, the conservation of more than one hundred and fifty thousand hectares of priority ecosystems, projects for the conservation of fresh water and the main tributaries of the northwest, innovation in techniques and management plans for productive activities such as fishing, Pronatura Noroeste is strengthening its Marine Conservation and Sustainable Fisheries, Land, Bird, Water and Wetlands, Natural Protected Areas Support, Threatened Species Recovery, Conservation Education, and Climate Change programs with new proposals to address the region’s environmental problems.
See the following videos for more information: (In Spanish)
