San Cosme - Punta  Mechudo Corridor

 

       In 2,000, Niparajá has come to realize that Baja California Sur’s greatest conservation challenge is the protection of the peninsula’s last major stretch of unroaded coast, along with adjacent waters and islands.  Between the southern end of the Bay of Loreto at Punta San Cosme and the northern end of the Bay of La Paz at Punta Mechudo, the Sierra de la Giganta extends a 130-kilometer coastal escarpment that remains free of major development.  Thinly populated, with roughly 300 permanent residents gathered in small communities along the coast, the terrain is biologically intact, providing a home to desert mountain sheep (Ovis canadensis) and numerous endemic species.   So far, the terrain’s extreme ruggedness has protected its wild beauty. 

 

     Known as the San Cosme–Punta Mechudo Corridor, the coast is a patchwork of privately and publicly held parcels, each with a different natural character, history of local use and set of owners’ expectations.

 

      The area is contiguous with the National Marine Park of Loreto to the north, and to the east with the islands of Santa Cruz, San Diego and the San José archipelago, which form part of the Area of Protection for Flora and Fauna of the Gulf of California.  Effective management of these areas is currently curtailed due to remoteness and insufficient federal funding. 

 

     The corridor offers an outstanding opportunity to preserve unique terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems, but the challenge to proper management is equally great.  Piecemeal approaches will prove inadequate.  Successful conservation of the corridor will require open processes in which representatives of the three levels of government, landowners, inhabitants, scientific investigators, non-profit organizations, foundations and interested citizens can all work together to achieve common goals. 

    

Program Objectives

 

     To protect the ecosystems and associated biodiversity of the San Cosme-Punta Mechudo corridor, Niparajá will promote:

1. Integrated land management.

2. Community development through biologically sustainable projects.

3. Ecologically sound public policies in the corridor and adjacent  coastal and marine areas.

4. The ability of existing protected areas to conserve biodiversity in  the southern Gulf of California.

 

Current Projects

1. Land acquisitions and conservation easements.

2. Oasis management.

3. Charcoal production feasibility study.

4. Environmental characterization of the Corridor.

5. Identify the socio-economic indicators for continued study in the area.

6. Analysis of legal tools and other administrative alternatives for marine protection around San Jose Island archipelago.

7. Inventory and analysis of fisheries.

8. Community development projects.

• Analysis of sustainable economic alternatives for local ranchers and fishermen.

• Big horn sheep (Ovis canadensis) management in Ejido San José de la Noria.

• Export of living rocks and tropical fish.

• Community organization support.

• Infrastructure and equipment for rural schools.

 

Future projects

1. Land acquisitions and conservation easements.

2. Zoning projects.

• Consultation on planning for the Municipality of Loreto

• Formulation of proposal for the corridor

3. Sustainable economic alternatives for local ranchers and fishermen.

4. Wildlife management with ejidos for bighorn sheep and deer.

5. Organization and regulation of fisheries.

6. Management  programs for micro-watersheds.

7. Support for community development

 

 

Last update

May, 2005