By Gustavo D. Danemann, Executive Director of Pronatura Noroeste AC
14 years ago Dr. Fausto Ramírez Barreto knocked on the door of my office. He had a rather large folder under his arm, documenting the effort he was carrying out to promote the creation of a park on the San Miguel stream, in Ensenada, Baja California. “Imagine arriving in Ensenada and being welcomed by a beautiful park, worthy of our city,” he told me.
Pronatura Noroeste has an extensive experience supporting communities and governments to protect and use natural resources and landscapes, in a way that is compatible with their conservation. We have also worked to strengthen most of the natural protected areas in northwest Mexico, as well as the creation of the Bahía de los Ángeles Biosphere Reserve, decreed in June 2007. Don Fausto’s visit occurred timely, when we were still celebrating the Bahía de los Ángeles decree.
Added to this, I have to admit that I have a very personal interest in San Miguel. To begin with, I have lived in San Miguel for 25 years, and it is on this beach and stream where my three children learned to walk and for the first time splashed and put their heads under the sea water. On any weekend, dozens of residents and people from Ensenada, including my family, can be found in San Miguel, enjoying one of the few public beaches and natural streams left in the urban area, in a city with a marked deficit of green areas. San Miguel is also an iconic surfing break, and is considered the first place where this sport was practiced and popularized in Mexico. Like many other residents and users of San Miguel, those of us who are part of Pronatura Noroeste in Ensenada are sincerely interested in protecting the natural sites that have been preserved in this city. For all this, and although Pronatura Noroeste focuses mainly on the conservation of the great ecosystems and natural areas of northwest Mexico, we did not hesitate to join the cause promoted by don Fausto in San Miguel.
Nature conservation is a gradual and slow human process. This case was not the exception, and it took 14 years to achieve the designation of the “Arroyo San Miguel” State Park, which turns out to be the first Natural Protected Area under the jurisdiction of the State of Baja California. Today, September 17, 2021, the State Government published the decree that secures legal protection for the 67 hectares that comprise the beach and six kilometers of the San Miguel stream, leaving a historical legacy for our community, city and state.
Now begins a much more arduous work than the declaration itself, since the designation of the “Arroyo San Miguel” State Park is just the first step for its protection. It will now be necessary to join efforts and wills to organize the new State Park, clean the area from accumulated trash, install basic signaling, restore damaged areas with native vegetation, and deploy basic equipment, among many other actions, necessary to guarantee an appropriate and safe use of the site, as well as its conservation as the last natural stream in the urban area of Ensenada and its legendary wave.
Pronatura Noroeste will continue supporting the San Miguel community and the authorities so that the “Arroyo San Miguel” State Park becomes a model for the designation and operation of other natural protected areas proposed for Baja California. Thank you, Don Fausto, for your vision and tenacity, and thanks to all those who have given us their trust and support.
We invite people interested in learning more about the “Arroyo San Miguel” State Park to visit:
This blog is dedicated to Fausto Ramírez, who had the vision of creating a natural protected area on the San Miguel stream and beach. He began negotiations since the 1980´s and with great perseverance, managed to convince civil society and authorities to provide a natural public space for the Ensenada families.
Find the decree here.
