WWF's work in Mexico - Species

Mexico harbours the most important nesting sites for leatherback in the Eastern Pacific. A 95% population decline over the past 15 years has meant that the species is close to extinction in this area.

WWF is supporting conservation work by leatherback researcher Laura Sarti to help increase the coverage of nest protection in Mexican beaches, as well as introduce by-catch reduction measures in fisheries policies.

A recent agreement between three Mexican states (Oaxaca, Guerrero y Michoacan) for the protection of leatherbacks is a window of opportunity to ensure nesting sites safe arrival and departure for the turtles that breed along the Mexican coasts.

Monarch Butterfly Program
The Monarch Butterfly Conservation Fund is an innovative program, established in great part due to the efforts of WWF's Mexico Program Office and our partners in Mexico. This new conservation scheme will help preserve the high-altitude pine and fir forest that serves as the over-wintering home for the Monarch Butterfly.

Each fall, the Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) travel from Canada and United States southward approximately 2,800 miles until they reach their wintering habitat in central Mexico.

WWF in collaboration with the Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature have supported the new Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, through the Monarch Butterfly Conservation Fund, an innovative conservation scheme to protect and restore the critical wintering habitat for the Monarch.

This new conservation scheme will help preserve the high-altitude pine and fir forest that serves as home to one of the most remarkable natural phenomena on the planet. The Fund is a way to integrate community needs with conservation goals by:

• Paying valid logging permit holders for the timber not harvested inside of the core zone of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.
• Providing conservation service payments to communities to replace income lost from logging.
• Providing the framework to support sustainable income generating projects in the buffer zone of the Reserve and to fund law enforcement activities.

For more information of the Monarch Butterfly Program, please visit http://www.fws.gov/international/DIC/regional%20programs/mexico/monarch.html

Marine Vaquita, a Critically Endangered species
The marine Vaquita (Phocoena sinus), the smallest porpoise in the world with a maximum length of 4.88 feet, is listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as "Critically Endangered".

Though only discovered in 1958, 1997 estimates from the National Fisheries Institute of Mexico and the US National Marine Fisheries Service suggest that only 567 individuals survive in the wild. The few remaining Vaquitas are particularly vulnerable because they are often caught and killed in gillnets, set to catch fish and other species.

A Multi-pronged approach
Since 2000, WWF and its partners have developed a long term "Conservation and Sustainable Development Strategy for the Recovery of Vaquita and its Habitat" consisting of 4 main elements: Conservation, Socio-economic aspects, Communication and Legal framework.

The baseline refers to the protection and conservation of natural resources by ensuring the employment of fishing methods that are harmless to the Vaquita population or its habitat together with the promotion of economic alternatives for regional fishermen.

The Vaquita strategy is conceived as a complex project which objectives are:

• The establishment of a Vaquita refuge and protected area, covering the distribution area of the species, in addition to the protection provided by the current limits of the Upper Gulf of California Biosphere Reserve.
• Elimination of risk factors (gill nets, shrimp trawling nets) in the species distribution area.
• Establishment of sustainable economic alternatives with the participation of public, private, and fishing sectors.
• Improvement of law enforcement and regulations with government agencies considering the strength of management and financial capacities of the Upper Gulf reserve; and
• Awareness and communication campaign for the Vaquita in order to promote the socio-economic goals, the societal response, marketing and fundraising for the strategy implementation.