U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners with Mexico to Fund Wildlife Conservation
OutdoorHub 05.24.12
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is partnering through its Wildlife Without Borders program with 24 conservation organizations in Mexico to conserve wildlife and its habitat. The Service provided $903,000 in 2011 for conservation projects and leveraged an additional $2 million in matching contributions.
Nearly $700,000 was awarded through the Service’s Wildlife Without Borders-Mexico small grants and signature initiatives programs to projects that build the capacity of Mexican decision makers, wildlife managers and local communities to conserve important wildlife populations and natural areas. Just over $200,000 from the Wildlife Without Borders-Marine Turtle Conservation Fund supports efforts to protect sea turtle nesting in Mexico.
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proud to continue our longstanding partnership with the Government of Mexico,” said Teiko Saito, Assistant Director for International Affairs. “By working together, we can protect shared ecosystems and nearly 600 threatened U.S. species that depend on habitats in Mexico for survival.”
Here are several examples of work underway with partnering organizations through the Wildlife Without Borders program in Mexico – a country comprising only one percent of the Earth’s land surface, yet containing ten percent of all species known to science: In the Priority Conservation Region Urique-Batopilas, Sierra Tarahumara, Chihuahua, support from Wildlife Without Borders-Mexico has enabled Ecologia y Comunidad Sustenable, A.C. to gather ancestral knowledge from the native Raramuris community to design conservation education programs and establish a habitat corridor for bats that migrate between the U.S. and Mexico. At the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the state of Michoacan, funding supports ALTERNARE, A.C. and their efforts to train local people to protect resources monarch butterflies depend on during hibernation.On the Pacific coast of Mexico, the Wildlife Without Borders-Marine Turtle Conservation Fund supports turtle camps operated by Kutzari, A.C. at four main nesting beaches, protecting leatherback sea turtle nests from poaching, depredation and tidal inundation.
The Service’s Wildlife Without Borders-Mexico program works through small grants and three signature initiatives: Voices for Nature, Managing for Excellence and Stewards of the Land. Grantees are developing training and outreach programs to address grassroots conservation challenges. These initiatives strive to be innovative and results-driven, building new partnerships and conservation networks. As of 2011, at least 5,000 Mexican decision makers, wildlife managers, and community members have benefited from the program.
Funding for wildlife conservation projects through Wildlife Without Borders – Species, Regional, Global – is provided through a $15.5 million suite of grants across the globe. For more information on the Service’s Wildlife Without Borders program, including detailed summaries of 2011 grant projects from Mexico and other regions, visit www.fws.gov/international.
