EVENTS & PRESENTATIONS
# GALA AZUL
On march 13, the Coppel Foundation organize the Blue Gala dinner to raise funds to support conservation initiatives in the Gulf of California. Among the beneficiaries was the Baja California condor project.
Patricio Robles Gil coordinate two different tables at the Gala, sponsor by philanthropist Jaime Chico and Manuel Arango, these hosted presidents and directors of conservation organizations from Mexico and the United States, communicators, writers, pop singers like, Juan Vargas, Claudia Barrera, Ramon Perez Gil, Eric Hagsater, Oscar Moctezuma, Ivan Carrillo, Jorge Comenzal, Rodolfo Ogarrio, Gustavo Alanis, Jeronimo Sada, Guadalupe Bravo, Patrica Fuentes, Vance Martin, Trammell Crow, Anne Valer Clark, and Martin Goebel, among others.
Rocio Abud
Directora de la Fundación Coppel
Some of the attendees were given a photographic print of this female Baja California condor, NERA, number fifty-six, signed and numbered by its author, PRG.
"Business Leaders, Academics, and Activists Reaffirm Their Commitment to the Conservation of the Gulf of California"
The “Gala Azul” brought together leaders from various sectors at the Cárcamo Museum in Chapultepec to strengthen strategies for protection and sustainable development in the region.
The Cárcamo Museum in Chapultepec served as the venue for the “Gala Azul,” an event organized by Fundación Coppel and BDT&MSD that gathered business leaders, academics, authorities, and activists with the aim of reinforcing conservation efforts in the Sea of Cortez. During the event, key initiatives were presented for the protection of marine ecosystems and the sustainable development of coastal communities.
In his opening speech, Agustín Coppel Luken highlighted the importance of the event as a meeting point to promote collective commitment to the region:
“Welcome to the Gala Azul. A night dedicated to celebrating the connection between species, ecosystems, and human wills that intertwine to protect the future of the Gulf of California. It is an honor to share this space with you, who believe in the importance of protecting our communities and ecosystems for future generations.”
Among the projects presented, the reintroduction of the California condor in the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir stood out, as well as the “Marine Prosperity Areas” initiative, promoted by researcher Octavio Aburto from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. This proposal seeks to create ten conservation areas over the next ten years, impacting 100 communities and integrating a model of participatory governance and sustainable development. Aburto explained:
“Our model of Marine Prosperity Areas addresses this challenge, demonstrating that it is possible to improve human well-being while awaiting ecological recovery. If we strategically align restoration efforts, both communities and ecosystems can thrive.”
In his speech, Coppel Luken emphasized the need to adopt a balanced approach between economic development and environmental conservation:
“The Gulf of California is one of the richest regions in biodiversity in the world, but it is also home to communities struggling with poverty. Thousands of families depend on fishing, tourism, and marine resources for their livelihood. However, except for some admirable and recognized exceptions, overexploitation, improper use, pollution, and lack of planning prevail, which has put the natural ecosystem, its well-being, and the economic potential of the region at risk.”
The forum also promoted the “Sharks” exhibition, whose display at the Museum of Natural History in Mexico City was the starting point for a traveling exhibition throughout the country. Additionally, the Conservation Leadership Program was discussed, designed to train young people from coastal communities in the restoration and protection of marine ecosystems.
Coppel concluded his message with a reflection on the challenges and opportunities in conservation:
“Economic growth, poverty reduction, and environmental sustainability are not opposing concepts but complementary. There is no prosperity in an economy that devours itself and does not respect nature. In global markets, consumers seek sustainable products. Investments bet only on responsible companies. Those who understand this and act accordingly will surely have a place in tomorrow’s economy.”
Oldest trees, Centinelas de San Pedro Martir
The Mexican conservation organization Reforestamos México visit SSPM, to document some of the oldest trees in the park, to launch an adoption campaign with Unidos para la Conservacion, of some of the centenarians’ pines, firs and cedars, call Centinelas de San Pedro Martir, to support the administration of the park.
Juan Vargas show Ernesto Herrera, director of Reforestamos Mexico, some of the oldest trees
There are few places in Mexico that are truly wild like San Pedro Mártir. We have a lot to learn from these unique ecosystems in North America. Their level of conservation invites us to reimagine forest management.
Ernesto Herrera Reforestamos México
¿Would you adopt a 600-year-old tree?
¿Adoptarías un árbol de 600 años de vida? ESTE PAIS
https://estepais.com/tendencias_y_opiniones/adoptarias-un-arbol-de-600-anos-de-vida/
LECTURES
One of Catalina and Juan´s activities are to raise awareness about the arrival of the condor to the California Peninsula to the local communities. Every year they hold a roadshow in towns, rancherias, universities and Museum, for this purpose.
In these photos were taken during Holy Week, at SSPMNP Visitor Center. Catalina chat to some students from Ensenada.
On November 19, 2024, at the University of Baja California Sur (UABC), in La Paz, BCS. Juan and Catalina presented “The Return of the California Condor. An inspiring story of conservation”, with the idea of raising awareness that this bird has already been reported in the State of BCS, on Danzante Island, in the Gulf of California, an island that belongs to this southern state.
El Independiente
El Sudcaliforniano
November 27, 2024. Presentation via Zoom for the Permanent Seminar for Sustainable Development. “The Return of the California Condor to Mexico.”
This seminar is sponsored by CANACO of Tijuana and CONCANACO SERVYTUR México.
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# THE ASSOCIATION OF ZOOS, hatcheries and aquariums of Mexico, awards the Chapultepec Zoo, theAZCARAM recognition for the most impactful reproductive achievement: Mexican species California Condor.
Receiving the award Fernado Gual, Director of Mexico City zoological Parks
# RECOGNITION, on the 6 of June, 2023, in the world´s environmental day, Juan Vargas and Catalina Porras, where recognized by the State government of Baja California and the consulate of the United States in Tijuana, B.C.
The recognition was personally given by Thomas Reott, US Consul in Tijuana BC. For the two decades of dedication and commitment to bring back the California Condor to the Baja Peninsula, where it was extirpated in the early 1970´s.
Thomas Reott & Juan Vargas
Juan Vargas & Catalina Porras
# Photo exhibit, of 23 portraits of the Baja California condors, at Mexico City National History Museum. This exposition name Cóndor de California, una Historia de Conservación Inspiradora, Will be at the Museum until the month of July. On the 26 of April two of Mexico most renown conservationist Ramón Perez Gil and Rodrigo Medellin will give a about the importance of the species, at the inauguration of the exhibit.
# The Chapultepec Zoo will send this May 2023, another two young condors that where born at the Zoo in 2022, to the Sierra San Pedro Martyr National Park.
https://twitter.com/AztecaNoticias/status/1650628944926842880?t=yfHmfAmp9fX9ODWa2Hl0PQ&s=09
# Abril, 2023. These tree different links present one of the biggest threats to avian species, the bird flu. This disease has caused already the death of tree confirmed California condor, in the Arizona population.
https://www.npr.org/2023/04/08/1168788132/avian-flu-california-condors-northern-arizona
# This spring 2023, the Museo de Historia Natural of Mexico City open a photo exhibition of 23 Baja California wild condor portraits, the title CONDOR DE CALIFORNIA: UNA HISTORIA DE CONSERVACION INSPIRADORA. California Condor: an Inspiring Conservation Story. The idea behind this presentation is to observe and value each individual as a living been, that needs our support and compassion not only because is an endanger species, but because it is an esencial part of the natural world. The exhibition also presents a print of a tree meters condor in full flight, that helps children to realize the huge size of these birds, when they compare the it with their own body size. The exhibition will stay outdoors until late July, 2023.
# This spring, 2023 Juan and Hiram did a condor awareness tour, around cities, towns and communities, near The Sierra San Pedro Martir National Park:
1-4 SECRETARIA DE TURISMO- NANCY SERRATOS ECONOMIA Y PESCA
5-6 DIRECCION BOMBEROS
7-8 CORREOS DE MEXICO
9-18 MINERVA ESCUELA PRIMARIA ESTATAL MATUTINA JAIME NUNO
19-23 SECRETARIA PROTECCION AL AMBIENTE, SECRETARIO CONSEJO
24-25 ESCUELA SECUNDARIA NUMERO UNO
26-27 CASA DE LA CULTURA
28-29 RANCHO AGUA CALIENTE FELIPE TORRES
30-31 ELIAS JEFE KILIWA OFICINA INPI INSTITUTO NACIONAL PUEBLOS INDIGENAS
32-33 MUSEO DEL CARACOL ENSENADA
34 ESTUDIANTES UABC
They gave talks of the importance and presence of this unique vulture in the region, they also gave pamphlets and the 2023 condor classic calendars.
# On march 2023, for the very first time in 20 years, a kit fox Vulpes Macrotis was spotted at the northeast desert portion of Sierra San Pedro Martir.
CALIFORNIA CONDOR TRIBAL HEADDRESS
In October 2022, the Amazonian tribal chief Tashka Yawanana visited the San Pedro Martyr condor site sponsor by The Wild Foundation, to observe the condors and to do a ritual on their behalf. With permits form the Mexican government, we collected condor feathers left in the aviaries and on the feeding site, so Tashka could take them home, to his community in Brazil, where his friend Vinyya would create a headdress for him in the fashion of the Yawanawa tribe headdresses made traditionally for ceremonies and rituals.
Last November, Tashka wore the headdress to the COP27 in Egypt, and to tree different presentations, where he spoke to large audiences. He said: “These feathers stopped more people at the COP27 than any other headdresses I have worn before to other conferences.... truly fascinating, the power of a huge bird coming back from extinction.”
DR JANE GOODALL HOLDS A CALIFORNIA CONDOR FEATHER AT HER SPEECH AT WILD9, 9TH WORLD WILDERNESS CONGRESS IN MÉRIDA YUCATÁN MEXICO
In 2009, the English primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall help up a California condor feather during her speech at Mexico’s World Wilderness Congress in Mérida Yucatan. Two months earlier she published a book about how endanger species are being rescued from the brink of extinction, where one of the stories featured the California Condor. The book is titled: Hope for Animals and Their World: How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued from the Brink.
