Victory! Protection ... for a Critical Gray Whale Nursery in Baja Mexico
Each year, Pacific gray whales migrate 10,000 miles from the Arctic to Baja, Mexico, to reach their last undisturbed breeding and calving grounds. IFAW helped save their sanctuary from industrial destruction.
Laguna San Ignacio, on Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, is the last unspoiled
gray whale nursery in the world. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and
the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve. Yet Mitsubishi Corporation and the government of
Mexico wanted to build the world’s largest salt factory in this critical
birthing lagoon.
Through a joint commercial venture called Exportadora de Sal, S.A. (ESSA), Mitsubishi and the Mexican government planned to decimate 116 square miles of coastal tidal flats and mangrove forests to turn them into evaporation ponds. Seventeen diesel pumps would remove 6,000 gallons of saltwater per second from the lagoon, and a 1.25 mile-long pier would be built right in the whales’ migration path.
The threat to this undeveloped area was enormous. Its diverse habitats — from mountain to desert to coastal estuary — support a number of endangered animals, nearly 300 species of birds, and 560 plant species.
The area is also home to eight small communities whose traditional means of support is based on fishing. In recent times, some have dedicated themselves to sustainable activities such as ecotourism, taking advantage of the area's natural resources while respecting the delicate balance of the lagoon's ecology.
The people of Punta Abreojos and other the local communites were critical to the international coalition's efforts to oppose the proposed plant. Their active resistance and commitment were the basis of the successful international campaign to protect the future of Laguna San Ignacio.
Through a joint commercial venture called Exportadora de Sal, S.A. (ESSA), Mitsubishi and the Mexican government planned to decimate 116 square miles of coastal tidal flats and mangrove forests to turn them into evaporation ponds. Seventeen diesel pumps would remove 6,000 gallons of saltwater per second from the lagoon, and a 1.25 mile-long pier would be built right in the whales’ migration path.
The threat to this undeveloped area was enormous. Its diverse habitats — from mountain to desert to coastal estuary — support a number of endangered animals, nearly 300 species of birds, and 560 plant species.
The area is also home to eight small communities whose traditional means of support is based on fishing. In recent times, some have dedicated themselves to sustainable activities such as ecotourism, taking advantage of the area's natural resources while respecting the delicate balance of the lagoon's ecology.
The people of Punta Abreojos and other the local communites were critical to the international coalition's efforts to oppose the proposed plant. Their active resistance and commitment were the basis of the successful international campaign to protect the future of Laguna San Ignacio.
;)
Photo © IFAW
