We are a nonprofit citizen organization working to achieve conservation of wetlands through the balance between development and protection of the environment, for the benefit of present and future generations. We are located in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, and we work mainly in the northwest zone of Mexico.
Mission
Promote and establish a system of preserved wetlands in northwestern Mexico, Led by local communities and through schemes that allow the continuity of the ecological processes and environmental services provided by these ecosystems, for the benefit of present and future generations.
Vision
Consolidate a system of preserved wetlands in northwestern Mexico.
Values
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Objectives
To have the necessary information on the wetlands of the region, in order to support and direct management strategies, environmental education and community strengthening to ensure the perpetuity of ecological processes, as well as the integrated management of the wetlands of the northwest of Mexico.
Support the communities and authorities of the three levels of government, promoting the implementation of various instruments to protect wetlands in the Northwest of Mexico, as well as an integrated management of them.
That communities know about information about wetlands in the region, their relationship with their environment, and how they influence the quality of life through environmental education projects and activities, the generation of educational materials and the Participation and / or organization of public events with this theme.
Strengthening communities living in and around wetlands, promoting, facilitating and supporting their participation with different social sectors and organized groups in the conservation and protection of coastal wetlands, in coordination with the three levels of government.
Develop institutional capacities to achieve our vision and mission.
HISTORY
Start
1988
En Ensenada, Baja California
Pro Esteros started in 1988 as a response to the effects of Estero de Punta Banda, located 45 kilometers south of the city of Ensenada, Baja California, which for many years had been considered – by students and researchers on both sides of the border – a natural laboratory on the proper functioning of this type of ecosystem, due to its good state of conservation. We started as a binational group, with two boards, one registered in the United States (USA) and another in Mexico. It is noteworthy that by that date only the state of California had transformed 90% of the coastal wetlands, which represented a great loss in biodiversity and natural resources, whereas most of the wetlands of the peninsula of Baja California were in state Semi-pristian, generally by their isolated location.
Our first projects were research, through which we study in depth the wetlands of Punta Banda and San Quintín. When we began the procedures to have some kind of protection, mainly at the federal level, we noticed the great lack of knowledge about these ecosystems, their ecology, the relevance of their functions and, above all, the multiple benefits that And not only was the community at large the one that did not know much about wetlands, but the authorities, which had a direct impact on decision-making.
From this situation we decided that the results of our research should be translated into everyday language, to be disseminated to the general public: we were ready to develop our first environmental education project, and since then we have strived to meet the needs and requests of Information for teachers about both wetland flora and fauna and local ecosystems, since the books they commonly used dealt with Mexico in general, and most of the examples were from remote sites and had no connection with our environment.
Initial Activities
Research and dissemination of science
Thus, to this date we continue to develop programs and educational materials for students from pre-school to high school, and for the general public, so we have a rich and wide range of activities and environmental education materials, such as courses, workshops, Field trips, photo exhibitions, bulletins, posters, among others.
After several years of exploring the region’s wetlands and carrying out environmental education activities in the surrounding communities, these communities have improved and deepened their knowledge of the processes that these ecosystems harbor, as well as the environmental services they provide. As a result of this work, wetland users or beneficiaries have been able to identify the threat posed by plans and projects promoted by people from outside of their community, such as marinas, golf courses and industrial developments, which would have devastating effects For ecological processes, and in response to the many calls for help we receive from fishermen, housewives, teachers, students, etc., we established a coordination of community strengthening.
Current development
Active coordination in community and environmental development
Through this coordination we offer the communities that are interested the knowledge and tools to inform themselves – through the appropriate channels – of the development plans for the areas they inhabit, and to jointly analyze the situation and act accordingly: we support them to be Co-responsible for decisions on the natural resources of their territory and, therefore, to be protagonists of their own development.