Bajaboy
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Salsipuedes: Challenges for Ecotourism in Mexico's Baja California
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/4817
In the construction of a framework for forging a socially acceptable and politically viable style of growth that respects natural resources and
guarantees their rational use and their preservation for future generations, innumerable forces converge. Sometimes these forces are at odds with each
other. They come from the federal, state, and municipal governments, from national and foreign investors, from academia, and from civil society
organizations.
In this context, the Baja California peninsula is a true laboratory providing multiple examples of the mosaic of challenges and the richness of the
cutting edge proposals to resolve them. In the central part of this exceptional region, the Reserva de la Biosfera del Vizcaíno (Rebivi) constitutes a
true microcosm, unique in the world, like other areas in the Mar de Cortés region of which it forms part.
But what to do with a territory like this, that broadly speaking presents varied obstacles to the promotion of "development"? Its topographical
characteristics are wilderness-like, it is very far from the continental mass and from the urban centers of Baja California Sur, that themselves are
small, which makes the introduction of public services like drinking water, electricity, roads, and sewer systems difficult; political organization is
null and social organization revolves around ejidos (rural collective farming communities) and cooperatives, complex figures and generators of
distrust toward private investment or public support. And this is, paradoxically, part of its richness.
The San Ignacio Mission, intact since the arrival of the Spanish, waits to be explored. Photo: Miguel Ángel Torres.
In the Reserve, one can enjoy, among many other attractions, the countryside, and get to know deserts with great vegetative and animal diversity,
fantastic age-old rock painting, oases that are a relief to the eye of the visitor, opportunities to view the ancestral journey of the grey whale—that
reproduces and conceives only in these lagoons—migratory birds that find refuge here, and Jesuit missions, almost intact, that served to colonize the
local ethnicities on the arrival of the Spanish.
SIERRA DE SANTA MARTHA, BCS—Driving at a speed of between 30 and 35 kilometers an hour, on a dirt road, some rural people stop their vehicle in front
of a group of 10 unknown people. It's getting dark, but no one is afraid, contrary to what one might think. The passengers are looking at six tourists
and four campesinos. A tire on their car, a sedan that couldn't stand the weight of the passengers and the pockmarked road, has punctured. Its license
plates are from Mexico City, more than a thousand kilometers away.
La Sierra de Santa Martha: In the Rebivi all types of ancient art can be observed. Photo: Miguel Ángel Torres.
Supportively, the peasants help the visitors to fix the flat tire. They part as great friends, as if they had had a long time to get to know each
other—but it is a chance meeting. The travelers ask for help reaching the highway, at a distance of some 50 kilometers. A few hours before, their loud
laughter had been heard as they came down from the a local rock art site—giant human and animal figures whose images have been seen all around the
world and whose origin goes back 4,500 years.
Here, the Santa Martha mountain range shares with the neighboring San Francisco range the prestige of being among the top five rock painting sites in
the world, which has earned them a place in the list of World Heritage Sites.
This is part of the El Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, located in the northern area of Baja California Sur state, one of the most geographically wild
parts of Mexico.
The El Vizcaino reserve was decreed a protected natural area and Biosphere Reserve on Nov. 30, 1988. It is located in the municipality of Mulegé, in
the North of Baja California Sur state. 45,985 people live in this municipality, of which 39,000 live in the Reserve—85% of the population of the
municipality and 9.2% of that of the state. It is considered that in the Reserve, similarly to in the Mulegé municipality, the population rate has
remained almost completely stagnant since the late 90s, with just 0.04% growth, which contrasts with the state's 12.8% growth rate. The density of the
population in the Reserve is calculated as slightly less than one inhabitant per square kilometer (0.7 inhabitants/sq.km.), making it one of the least
dense in Mexico. The following table illustrates the distribution of population in the Reserve by community and by gender.
Population by community and by gender in the Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve
Communities Population Male Female
La Bocana 1,084 564 519
Bahía Tortugas 2,679 1,374 1,304
Bahía Asunción 1,381 720 661
Santa Rosalía 10,451 5,271 5,180
Guerrero Negro 13,400 6,659 6,741
Punta Abreojos 808 412 396
San Ignacio 799 407 392
Ejido Benito Juárez 376 192 184
Colonia Laguneros 92 47 45
La Joya 697 355 342
Fco. J. Mújica 128 65 63
G. Díaz Ordaz 2,339 1,193 1,146
El Vizcaíno 2,500 1,275 1,225
Emiliano Zapata No. 1 457 233 224
The Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve is the biggest in the country, with 2,546,790 hectares. It makes up 77% of the surface of the Mulegé municipality and
34.6% of the state's territory. The largest part of the surface of the Reserve is common land (ejidos, 86%), followed in importance by mining
properties (9.7%). It has a buffer zone (86%) and the remaining 14% is referred to as the "nucleus." The total nucleus zone is made up of 16 nuclear
areas that cover part of the Vizcaíno desert, the northern region of the Ojo de Liebre Lagoon, shoreline sections of the Guerrero Negro Lagoon, the
islands of the Ojo de Liebre Lagoon, the rest of the islands within the reserve, and the area of the mountain range Tinajas de Murillo. The reserve
has an offshore strip of five kilometers within territorial waters for the purpose of including the migratory route of the gray whale, islands, and
fishing resources. Within this offshore strip there are 16 islands, of which the biggest and most important are located on the Pacific slope. The
Rebivi includes the following types of ecosystems: marine and coastal, desert, fresh water, agricultural (both modern and traditional), and others
(mining and orchards).
The Local Residents of the Santa Martha Range: Guides into a Magical Land
Don José, our 67 year-old guide, is very attentive to the visitors and knowledgeable about the region. Photo: Helene Michoux.
To get to the Santa Martha Sanctuary, you need to pass through San Ignacio, about 600 kilometers from La Paz, the state capital. At the Instituto
Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH, National Institute for Anthropology and History) you should buy a ticket, 30 pesos ($US3) per person, and
another small fee for permission to take pictures and video. Once you've paid the fees, the ticketperson will contact the Santa Martha base camp by
radio to request a guide and establish a meeting time.
What time do you plan to leave? In what vehicle? These are the first questions to be able to estimate the time you will arrive. Then you will learn
the name of your guide, and everything will be recorded in the record book, to control the number of visitors and the distribution of work among the
locals. This is essential because it turns out that our guide, for example, lives an hour away from the meeting point for tourists. "Where do you
live, Don Jose?" He replies, gesturing toward the mountains, "Up there, an hour and a half walk."
The guides—11 in all—that take turns guiding the tourists, charge 180 pesos, perhaps the only income they receive in several weeks. When asked, Don
Jose reveals he lives in the countryside, and grows certain plants seasonally, since there is no water in the desert. He grows tomatoes, chiles, corn,
and beans. He hopes that 2006 will be a better year than the last because it hardly rained at all.
Our guide is 67 years old, and never ever loses sight of the visitors; when one stops to rest from the intense hike, he takes time to whistle a
ranchera tune or tell us about the mountain goats, about today's sunset, to learn where his clients are from, and comment on the medicinal properties
of the local plants, or about the paintings. He is quite at home.
On the way to the paintings Don José tells us what he knows about the medicinal properties of the local plants. Photo: Helene Michoux.
On the way there, during a one-and-a-half hour hike, he demonstrates his knowledge of herbs. Garambulla is well-liked by the animals, it holds water,
and when its fruit ripens, it's delicious. The coyote melon , he tells us, fights diabetes and is good for kidney infections.
We are in the presence of a botanical encyclopedia on everything from cactus spines to trunks to leaves, in this far off land; we are very close to
the center of the earth.
The paintings are inside a cave. Where's the cave? This is the most frequent question as we grow tired from walking. It's at the top of the mountain,
in a crevasse we will reach after an hour and a half on the trail. The beauty of the painting gallery is impressive, because of the size of the work
and the silence found here. At times only the wind is heard, with a few rocks tumbling down the hill, kicked by some passing mountain goats. From high
above there is a beautiful view of the far off mountains and the nearby valley. It is a magical place.
These figures date back to approximately 4,500 years ago. Photo: Miguel Ángel Torres.
Crossing dry gulches, climbing over little hills, walking on flat red earth, mounds of rocks, now jumping over huge rocks—this stretch can also be
done by mule, horse, or burro, depending on what is available.
The place, in spite of so many interests created around ecotourism, is one of the good examples, like many around the Gulf of California bordered by
Sinaloa, Sonora, Nayarit, and the two Baja Californias. In the South wildlife has managed to survive, owing to the state's isolation from the
continental mass, the untamed territory, and its absence from governmental plans and private sector investments.
Just one paved highway goes from Los Cabos to Tijuana and Mexicali on the U.S. border. All along the peninsula, this highway offers side trips to
paradisiacal beaches, whale refuges, and, of course, the San Francisco and Santa Martha mountain ranges.
The majestic landscapes of Baja California are at permanent risk of suffering a new colonization by foreign investors who receive all kinds of
incentives from the federal and state governments to invest in real estate development and recreational areas for ecotourism. But it is poorly
understood, to say the least, whether this concept automatically carries with it a respect for natural resources, the creation of quality jobs for the
local people, a healthy competition with the locals, and a social consensus on how to carry out these projects.
Although Don Jose, the guide in the Santa Martha range, at times makes only 180 pesos a month during the tourist off season, he doesn't complain.
"It's better this way, because too many people here is not so good; they litter and scare the animals, the tranquility is lost." And this sentiment is
shared by the residents from the state capital, La Paz, to San Ignacio lagoon, the ancestral refuge of the gray whale.
The Kuyimá Cooperative Earns its Certification: Learning from Experience
Every year there are more companies that offer services for ecotourism, also known as alternative tourism. Kuyimá is one of them. It offers trips to
the Santa Martha range for $50 per day per person for groups of four or more visitors. With 16 years of experience, the firm Ecoturismo Kuyimá just
obtained certification as a sustainable enterprise from Green Globe 21, an international organization supported by 27 industrial and governmental
organizations that certified that Kuyimá carries out its activities complying with the principles of sustainability in the social, environmental, and
economic spheres.
On this point, José de Jesús Varela, better known as Josele, Kuyimá's general director, explains, "We undertook the certification process because we
saw it as an instrument to better our internal administrative operations and as a market incentive." He adds that it isn't that the company isn't
selling itself out, but rather that the requirements fell in line with what they were already doing, so that it was rather natural that they would
comply with them and they were the first in the world to obtain the Green Globe 21 certification.
He explains that the certification helped them to improve: "We had a lot of information scattered about and we had to organize it. We have our records
of water consumption, use of detergents, both biodegradable and not, paper consumption, people working here, how many are from here, what training we
have received, how much we assign directly for conservation, how many jobs we generate, what we do with organic waste, with solids, how we handle it,
what percentage we recycle, what we are missing."
Kuyimá was formed at San Ignacio Lagoon in 1990 in order to take advantage of whale watching, an activity rather looked down upon by the local
fishermen who kept alive the legend of the devil fish in reference to the mating whales displaying extremely violent movements. In the past only
Francisco Mayoral González (Pachico) would take small groups from an American company in his small boats to see the whales, according to Josele.
Pachico Mayoral: Empirical ecologist receiving groups that he takes to see the whales. Photo: Miguel Ángel Torres.
In 1994, even though Kuyimá would hire a few locals to take the tourists to observe the whales, it was seen as an outside company that robbed work
opportunities from the locals thanks to its international contacts and contacts with the state government. Today it is criticized because it gives low
quality sporadic jobs to the local people. It is not considered local even though the younger generations recognize its benefits for the area. When
the company began operations in the whale sanctuary, the majority of the fishermen did not know how to read or write, they lived by eating manta rays,
and lodged the tourists in their dwellings with no more conveniences than blankets and a roof. Now their children have gone to universities and
environmental education centers. They are better prepared for alternative tourism and to work hand in hand with the residents of San Ignacio, a town
some 50 kilometers from the lagoon. By means of the internet they compete to attract visitors, something unthinkable a decade ago.
The Reserve's Treasures Attract Visitors
The marine mammals that travel the two coasts and the lagoons of the Reserve find protection, refuge, and food, as well as pristine conditions that
make possible increased opportunities for the gray whale to mate and give birth. The gray whale is under special protection. The most recent census
reports populations of at least 2,500 gray whales in the Reserve zone.
The coasts, the lagoons, and the marshes are very productive, and, as a consequence, the coasts have one of the richest fishing areas in the world.
The complex lagoon and marsh areas are conserved in excellent condition. The annual migration of birds on the Pacific route find in the Reserve
extensive protected areas in which to rest and feed. Thousands of sea birds, shorebirds, and raptors feed in the rich shorelines, in both winter and
summer.
The Rebivi has a great variety of flora and fauna, both terrestrial and marine. In this region the greatest number of plant groups on the whole
peninsula is concentrated. Approximately 8.3% of the flora are recognized as being endemic to the geographical region of the Vizcaíno desert. Here we
find species like the berrendo, which is in danger of extinction, and the feral sheep, which is considered threatened.
The reserve is situated in the arid region that belongs to the natural macro region known as the Sonoran Desert. It is considered a transitional zone
between the deserts of the southwestern United States and the subtropical deserts of Mexico. The Rebivi is composed of three subdivisions of the
Sonoran Desert: the Viscaíno Desert which is the most representative since it makes up 95% of the Reserve's area; the Gulf Coast which is situated on
a narrow strip on the eastern edge of mountainous region in the eastern reserve; and the Magdalena Region, a small area to the southwest of the
Reserve.
El Viscaíno Biosphere Reserve covers the municipality of Mulegé and its ejidos. Map: Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The protected area includes a coastal plain composed of ridges, plateaus, and shallow gullies; it has phenomenal geographical features like the
Placeres mountains and the Santa Clara mountains, the marshes that are found on the western coastal strip, as well as the various desert plains and
the flood plains in the zones near Ojo de Liebre and San Ignacio lagoons. There are great mountain masses on the eastern peninsula and isolated hills
like El Colorado, El Hermoso, and the Serrucho mountain range. The San Francisco range includes a group of high points truncated and lengthened with
steep cliffs. In this mountain mass three volcanoes known as the Three Virgins stand out; the one known as Azufre (Sulfur) is still active and one can
appreciate in the immediate area fumaroles of water vapor and sulfur. The town of Santa Rosalia is surrounded by a mountainous formation in which the
hills El Calvario and Cerro Verde stand out.
In spite of its status as a protected area the Rebivi is not exempt from threats. In the mid-90s there was an attempt led by Mitsubishi, ultimately
dropped, to expand the saltpeter beds from Guerrero Negro to San Ignacio lagoon. More recently, the area showed up in federal government plans to
build at least two nautical scales to receive large scale tourism on its land.
The reserve has extensive lands for birds to nest and feed, but it is also threatened. Photo: Helene Michoux.
It has been precisely the previously mentioned characteristics that have attracted both national and international visitors interested in the
conservation, use, and preservation of the natural resources, as well as the application of plans and financial resources to mitigate the poverty of
the region. This has turned things around in such a way that the conglomerates of non-governmental organizations from the United States and Mexico,
governmental agencies, and organizations of fishermen and local tourism providers have formed the Alianza de Conservación de la Laguna de San Ignacio
(San Ignacio Lagoon Conservation Alliance) whose history has only just begun, with much hope.
Large Scale Tourism vs. Low Impact Tourism
The chief current threat to the diversity and the richness of natural resources and the prevailing way of life, so appreciated by natives and
outsiders, is the Nautical Stair, a federal government project to build 27 yacht stations on the coast of the Sea of Cortez in places that according
to environmentalists and service providers constitute natural refuges that are already used by sailors in the Gulf of California without the need for
building infrastructure.
The project has excited large national and international investors who have expressed their intention to invest in the construction of marine steps
along with commercial centers, large scale tourist hotels, and luxurious residential centers for foreign retirees, all in the name of ecotourism and
specifically on the popular beaches, which are destined to disappear, just as is happening at a dizzying speed in the southern part of the state from
La Paz to Los Cabos.
Ecotourism is being confused with tourism involving dangerous sports, hunting, and fishing, that has nothing to do with the intentions of low
environmental impact, conservation of resources, and the participation of the population in making decisions about projects, and even less in the
distribution of the benefits among the local population. The federal government is also taking advantage of the opportunity to capitalize on the
rising desire for tourism to enjoy remote places far from the great commercial centers with no regard for the environmental impacts that it causes.
Baja Expeditions, a cutting edge company in ecotourism on the peninsula, was founded by Arizona native Timothy Means, who is aware of what the region
has, and what it has to lose. It combines the whale watching business, kayaking, hiking, and the obligatory environmental education of its
collaborators in order to raise consciousness and challenge its clients: "Salsipuedes" (Leave if you can) is its motto and its slogan, which can be
read on the facade of the office where the excursionists plan trips and receive environmental education. Many have been unable to leave. Tim signs up
Italians, French people, people from various Mexican states, and others. He is one more person in love with the peninsula, which he defends from every
proposed project of "progress in quotation marks," as he likes to say. And like him, many others have come to these hidden places from many corners of
the country and the world, many people who fight against the transformation of the most popular beaches of Baja California Sur into commercial centers
and luxury residences. There are many who oppose unmeasured urban growth accompanied by destruction of the landscape and growing poverty, and seek to
avoid the expansion and, if possible, correct the sorry living conditions of the people of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, which, judging by
appearances, are perfect examples for opposition to development.
Alianza de Conservación de la Laguna de San Ignacio: A Pioneering Organization
As a result of the accumulation of experience, not to mention the consequences of the "other globalization," a new organization of pioneering
principles and structure called Alianza de Conservación de la Laguna de San Ignacio (San Ignacio Lagoon Conservation Alliance) was conceived. Through
specific conservation and sustainable development goals it unites 43 families of the Luis Echeverría community, on the San Ignacio Lagoon, and the
non-governmental organizations Pronatura, Wildcoast, International Community Foundation, and Natural Resources Defense Council.
Sunset on the San Ignacio Lagoon. "The community should decide" is the philosophy of the new Alliance. Photo: Miguel Ángel Torres.
This event has been transcendental for several reasons: the lagoon was declared by UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site; it is a refuge not only for
whales, but also for sea turtles, migratory birds, and land animals like the puma and the berrendo. All of the territory is made up of ejidos, which
means that the lands are administered collectively, except for family use areas. The area has shifted to the new lifestyle of conservation easement,
which implies that for ages and ages, this will be its vocation regardless of changes in administration that come with new generations of leaders.
The conservation easement agreement protects 45,000 hectares, 80% of the Luis Echeverría ejido's territory, and leaves that lagoon hopefully outside
projects like the Nautical Stair and the extensive exploitation of fishing and tourism, activities that will be subject to regulation and monitoring
by the non-governmental organization Pronatura. In order to support alternative productive projects, the ejido will receive $25,000 dollars annually
in perpetuity that will be deposited in a trust administered jointly with the International Community Foundation as well as a one-time payment of
$545,000 destined for programs in individual areas. Raúl López Góngora, a commissioner of the Luis Echeverría ejido, explains that while in other
parts of the Peninsula they are selling property that becomes a source of speculation or a place for real estate construction, they intend to conserve
the ejido and experiment with new ideas. Up to now, the residents make a living from fishing and whale watching that lasts from October to March.
The Alianza hopes to extend the experiment to the rest of the ejidos around the lagoon. "The concept is that the community itself should decide what
it wants for the future and how it can best utilize its resources," explains Miguel Angel Vargas, coordinator of Pronatura's land conservation
program.
Translated for the Americas Policy Program by Patricia Black.
Miguel Angel Torres is cofounder and co-director of Periodismo para Elevar la Conciencia Ecológica (Journalism to Raise Environmental Awareness),
responsible for this series of investigative articles on sustainable development in the Gulf of California. The series was produced thanks to the
support of people from all over the region and sponsored at the request of the Fondo Educación Ambiental (Environmental Education Fund), el Centro
Internacional para Periodistas (the International Center for Journalists), and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
Micheline Cariño has been an investigative professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur (Autonomous University of Baja California Sur)
since 1989, and is the author of 6 books and more than 80 articles.
To reprint this article, please contact americas@ciponline.org. The opinions expressed here are the author's and do not necessarily represent the
views of the CIP Americas Policy Program or the Center for International Policy.
For More Information
Gulf of California Environmental Series Index: Spanish and English
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For media inquiries, email americas@ciponline.org or call (202) 536-2649.
Published by the Americas Policy Program. Copyright © 2008. All rights reserved.
Recommended citation:
Miguel Ángel Torres and Micheline Cariño, "Salsipuedes: Challenges for Ecotourism in Mexico's Baja California," Americas Policy Program Investigative
Series (Washington, DC: Center for International Policy, December 13, 2007).
Web location:
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/4817
Production Information:
Author(s): Miguel Ángel Torres and Micheline Cariño
Translator(s): Patricia Black
Editor(s): Laura Carlsen
Production: Chellee Chase-Saiz
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shari
Select Nomad
Posts: 13050
Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
Member Is Offline
Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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Interesting article but the population data seems outdated for our area. It was also interesting how Kuyima was seen as outsiders starting a business.
There is often a resentment from the local population towards ejido members who came from the mainland and now control the majority of the area and
have displaced many local people from their ancestral land, homes and jobs. With the stroke of a pen in mexico city, thier rights were usurped by
outsiders who were "given" huge tracts of land by the government. I know of several areas of conflict between cooperativas and ejidos...where
controlling these pristine beaches mean big bucks. I see the old families pushed aside and run off their land by the new ejidos who stand to make a
fortune selling them off.
When the ejidos were formed, many local people who lived here for generations didn't understand or see the need to "join" an ejido which was a group
of outsiders...why would they? and now they are suffering for that...literally outside the loop...sad and not fair in my opinion...kinda similar to
the indigineous issue...no one owned the land so to speak and all of a sudden the ejidos own it and control it leaving the locals wondering how that
could happen. Now with big investments at stake...the local population might get some low income jobs out of it...but the newcomer ejido members will
strike it rich....or not.
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