Mexico Office

The staff in the Mexico office of Defenders of Wildlife, created in 2002, coordinates and implements Defenders’ various programs in Mexico. These programs include national and international wildlife trade and habitat conservation, particularly as it affects Defenders’ priority species and ecosystems and the progressive development of wildlife law and policy in Mexico. The Mexico office staff works throughout the country on the various programs from the northern Gulf of California to the Southern Yucatán Peninsula.

To implement the office programs, Defenders has partnered with many non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government agencies and top scientists. Forming different NGO coalitions has enabled this office to achieve many of its objectives. Several of their conservation communications campaigns have been done in alliance with the Environment Ministry, Wildlife Enforcement Agency and Fishery Commission, and their research on wildlife trade has enabled them to work with top scientists in their field.

Key Programs:

Sea turtles: Defenders is working both nationally and internationally to secure the protection and conservation of endangered sea turtles by getting fisheries to ban or convert to fishing gear that decreases by catch, conducting education campaigns to teach people not to capture sea turtles or buy sea turtle products, working to establish more regulations that protect sea turtle nesting and feeding sites and by working together with fishermen and coastal communities to protect sea turtles.

Parrots: Of the 22 species of parrots that inhabit Mexico, 20 are at risk and half of them are endangered. The main threats are habitat destruction and poaching. Defenders completed a report identifying illegal trade in parrots as the main threat to many of these species. Defenders is working to get Mexican authorities to ban trade in wild parrots and teach people to stop buying them.

Mangroves: Mexico has lost 65% of all its mangroves and the annual rate of deforestation of mangroves is the highest for any forest ecosystem. Mexico stands to lose 50% of its remaining mangroves in 25 years if deforestation is not stopped. Defenders has worked for many years to get a regulation in place that protects mangroves.

Marine mammals: Mexico is home to a diverse array of marine mammals that includes whales, dolphins, porpoises, sea lions, seals and manatees. All marine mammals are protected by law but they still face many threats, especially entanglements in fishing gear and ending up as bycatch in many fisheries. Defenders is working to achieve better protection for them by getting fisheries to ban or change to fishing gear that decreases bycatch and by ensuring the establishment of more marine reserves.

Key Accomplishments:

Conservation and Protection campaigns

• Published landmark study of illegal trade in parrots which spurred the Deputy Chamber of Congress to pass a bill banning capture of wild parrots (2007).
• Led efforts to establish shark regulation to ban shark finning, ban the use of drift nets, protect 95 sea turtle nesting and feeding sites, mandate the use of circle hooks, ban fishing beneath 40 meters, protect whale and sea lion calving sites, among many other conservation measures (2007).
• Helped reform wildlife law banning all activities that destroys mangroves (2007).
• Helped win resolution for the protection of hawksbill turtles at third Conference of the Parties of the Inter- American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles (2006).
• Led efforts to get reform of Wildlife Law banning the capture and trade of sea turtles and their products for commercial or subsistence use (2006).
• Helped get reform of Wildlife Law banning imports, exports and re-exports of marine mammals and primates (2006).
• Led efforts to get the Mexican Government to close borders to imports of wild birds from countries which have registered cases of avian flu (2005).
• Helped to establish the decree designating refuge areas for the critically endangered Vaquita porpoise (2005).
• Helped to stop projects for seismic testing in the Gulf of California and Yucatan Peninsula that would harm marine mammals and sea turtles (2004)
• Helped win resolution for the protection of leatherback turtles at second Conference of the Parties of the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles (2004).
• Led efforts to uplist the lilac-crowned parrot and yellow-crested cockatoo to Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which bans international trade of these species (2004).
• Helped achieve the first Mexican regulation for the protection of mangroves (2003).
• Led efforts to uplist the yellow-headed parrot, yellow-napped parrot and blue-headed macaw to Appendix I of CITES, which bans international trade of these species (2002).
• Led efforts to defeat UK proposal to register Cayman farm for green sea turtles at COP 12 of CITES, which would have weakened international protection for the species (2002).

Communication and Education Campaigns (2002-2007)

• Created five comic books on illegal trade of sea turtles (45,000 copies) and distributed them in Mexico and many countries in Central and South America, as well as Asia and Europe.
• Sea turtle posters depicting all Mexican species have been successfully distributed in Mexico and many countries in Central and South America.
• The sea turtle identification and handling guide for longline fishermen has been translated into three languages and distributed in many countries in South America.
• Made several printings of the Traveler Passport Guide to Sustainable Tourism which informs travelers of what species and products not to buy while in Mexico
• Created a radio show called “Supervivencia” which became the highest rated show on the station with over 400,000 weekly listeners