{"id":1973,"date":"2012-10-17T15:59:54","date_gmt":"2012-10-17T20:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rideintobirdland.com\/en\/enlife-and-work-of-joann-andrews-indefatigable-protector-of-the-yucatan-peninsula-part-iii-of-iiiesvida-y-obra-de-joann-andrews-protectora-incansable-de-la-peni%cc%81nsula-de-yucata%cc%81n"},"modified":"2019-06-21T20:27:02","modified_gmt":"2019-06-21T20:27:02","slug":"vida-y-obra-de-joann-andrews-protectora-incansable-de-la-peninsula-de-yucatan-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rideintobirdland.com\/en\/life-and-work-of-joann-andrews-indefatigable-protector-of-the-yucatan-peninsula-part-iii-of-iii\/","title":{"rendered":"Life and work of Joann Andrews, indefatigable protector of the Yucatan Peninsula (part III of III)"},"content":{"rendered":"

RIDE INTO BIRDLAND<\/em><\/strong> is proud to present the third installment of our reportage about the life and work of noted conservationist Joann Andrews, Founder and Honorary President of Pronatura Peninsula de Yucatan. Read on to learn how, even in the face of constant environmental challenges, Pronatura\u2019s programs to preserve forests in the Yucatan Peninsula shed a light of hope on the future of Mexico\u2019s majestic jaguars.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The majestic Jaguar (Panthera onca) can weigh up to 120 kilos and needs overlapping ranges of 50 Km2 to hunt for prey. This fine specimen was photographed in captivity at Xcaret Park (Photo \u00a9 Iv\u00e1n Gabald\u00f3n)<\/p><\/div>\n

Part III<\/strong><\/p>\n

The spirit of the Jaguar<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Imagine walking along the trails of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, in the Yucatan Peninsula. All around you the forest is alive. You can see it, feel it, hear it. Suddenly something moves. You freeze.\u00a0 Four\u2026 no, wait, five Ocellated turkeys cross the trail in single line a few meters ahead of you, entirely oblivious to your presence. You watch in awe as they walk, proudly displaying their iridescent feathers in metallic blue, green and red. Then, as quickly as they appeared, they are swallowed again by the forest. You remain standing there, now with a big smile stamped on your face.<\/p>\n

I asked Joann Andrews to mention something that gratifies her after so many years of environmental work, and that is the vision she described to me.\u00a0 Seeing a group of five Ocellated turkeys walking at leisure, members of an endemic species hunted nearly into extinction (Agriocharis ocellata<\/em>), is not just gratifying but also an indication of the reserve\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The Ocellated Turky, with its iridescent plumage worthy of a king. (Photo \u00a9 Iv\u00e1n Gabald\u00f3n).<\/p><\/div>\n

There are jaguars out there as well, Joann tells me, and four other species of smaller felines (Puma, Margay, Ocelot and Jaguarundi, five of the six species extant in Mexican territory). \u201cThey\u2019re always pretty careful about staying away from people\u201d, she says with a hushed voice that suggests complicity with the cats of the peninsula. Even the mighty Jaguar (Panthera onca<\/em>), top predator on the land and a highly efficient carnivore that can weigh up to 120 kg and grow to almost two meters, has long ago learned to avoid us, the human species.<\/p>\n

Seclusive as they may be, the Peninsula\u2019s felines are regularly photographed by Pronatura\u2019s trap cameras.\u00a0 According to data gathered by the organization, more than fifty percent of Mexico\u2019s surviving jaguars live on the Yucatan Peninsula, a remarkable fact made even more stunning if one considers the entire region makes up less than 10% of Mexico\u2019s territory. The Peninsula is really the last hideout for the jaguar, which says plenty about the importance of the region\u2019s forest reserves, but the case that can be made for the jaguar is not based only on ecological considerations. \u201cIt\u2019s so much of the Mayan heritage\u201d, Joann says. \u201cIf we really care about identifying the Peninsula as one of the great centers of Mayan culture, we must consider that the Mayas thought of the jaguar and the rattlesnake as the two power symbols, the jaguar also being king, the sun, the most powerful animal, almost a godlike figure. He still exists here, and losing him would be like exterminating a great symbol of power that these people at one time had and still have in the jaguar. Plus the beauty of him, and the fact that he has survived for so long\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jaguar photographed by trap-camera in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (Courtesy PPY \/ SMAAS)<\/p><\/div>\n

The number of jaguars on the Peninsula has actually increased in recent years, thanks to sustained conservation efforts that include enforcement of heavy fines on hunting and promotion among local communities of important environmental concepts. Calakmul, for instance, was a heavily hunted area when Joann was first there from 1969 to 1976. In 1989 the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve was established and the situation began to improve, particularly thanks to successful efforts by reserve guards to keep hunters out.\u00a0 With a total extension of 6,883 km2, the Calakmul reserve adjoins to the south with other mostly undisturbed or protected forest areas in Belize and the Guatemalan Pet\u00e9n, which makes for a much larger preserved area.<\/p>\n

Beyond\u2019s the reserve\u2019s northern borders, however, trouble is brewing, as people who have lost their land in Tabasco or Veracruz have come to settle in the area of the Calakmul municipality. \u201cThe Secretary of Agriculture has many different projects for these people to come in and settle with government assistance right on the edge of the Calakmul reserve and the Balan Kin and Balan Chen state reserves as well\u201d, Joann explains. \u201cThey\u2019re bringing in goats, sheep, cattle and pigs. The pigs wouldn\u2019t be so bad, because the settlers always keep them very close to their homes, but in the case of sheep and goats, they have to go out and forage. And this is just yummy-yummy food for jaguars\u201d.<\/p>\n

The ensuing conflict is fueled by different branches of government carrying out opposing initiatives: protecting the reserves and at the same time providing incentives for human settlement in areas too close to the reserves. \u201cWe have increased the number of jaguars, but they\u2019ve introduced what really is bait to them\u201d, Joann continues. \u201cWe know we just can\u2019t have these animals so close to our reserve, but at the same time, what are these people going to live on? Their dream is that the cattle ranch they couldn\u2019t have in Tabasco, they can have it here. And then they have baby calves, and there\u2019s a good chance that the jaguar will come in to hunt them, particularly the nursing females, they\u2019re the boldest ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paradoxically, changes in human settlement patterns have resulted in improved conditions for the environment in other parts of the Peninsula. \u201cAn enormous number of campesinos have migrated to cities\u201d, Joann says. \u201cMexico has now more people in cities than in the country, and you have migration to the United States as well. So you see areas, particularly in southern Yucatan, which are just abandoned. It\u2019s sad for Mexico in the sense that nobody is raising corn, but for the wild animals, they\u2019ve recuperated quite rapidly\u201d. Some species, however, have fared better than others. \u201cI don\u2019t think the deer are doing so well, because they are hunted intensively and the meat is sold in Canc\u00fan\u201d, she continues. \u201cThe problem with hunting the peccary<\/em> and the tepezcuincles<\/em> and the deer for meat to sell mainly to Quintana Roo, is that it\u2019s just the very prey the puma and the jaguar need. So you\u2019re really destroying the food chain and that\u2019s a huge preoccupation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The Central American Agouti (Dasyprocta punctata) is a large rodent that is hunted by both\u00a0\u00a0jaguars and men. (Photo \u00a9 Ivan Gabaldon).<\/p><\/div>\n

An adult male jaguar, according to some studies, needs overlapping home ranges of up to 50 sq km, where it prowls in search of prey that includes deer, peccary, monkeys and other smaller mammals, as well as lizards, birds and the occasional crocodile.\u00a0 Preserving patches of forests is not enough: corridors are needed for the jaguar population to remain genetically healthy, \u201cplaces where they can slip across\u201d, as Joann puts it. Adult male jaguars have been photographed swimming across the Panama Canal to find a female on the other side. \u201cOne of these corridors would be from Northern Yucatan Peninsula, including Pronatura\u2019s private reserve, El Zapotal, all the way through the Sian Ka\u2019An reserve and down to Belize and Guatemala. Preserving these corridors is very difficult with the big four-lane highways and constant human development reaching new areas\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Calakmul Reserve adjoins forests in Belize and Guatemala. (Map by Google Earth)<\/p><\/div>\n

The jaguar constantly faces loss of habitat to human occupation, as forests are cut down for agriculture and urban development. They also face competition with human hunters and have been hunted themselves since ancient Mayan times for their beautiful skins or to protect livestock. Even today, in spite of standing legislation, jaguars are often killed. \u201cThe local men love the excuse that the jaguar is eating a domestic animal, it allows them to kill one\u201d, Joann says of hunters who have yet to realize the importance of preserving the species. \u201cIt\u2019s sad to say, but it\u2019s a macho thing that men love to do. Saturday night they all drink together and say, we\u2019ll go out and get it tomorrow. On Sunday they all get their guns and go out until they get him\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"

An actor at Xcaret’s “Mexico Spectacular” stage performance wears a costume that suggests how the ancient Maya may have used jaguar skins for battle or ceremonial dress. (Photo \u00a9 Ivan Gabaldon)<\/p><\/div>\n

Pronatura Peninsula de Yucatan has worked with the Mexican government and the ejidos<\/em> near El Zapotal to devise counter-measures.\u00a0 \u201cThe area really isn\u2019t susceptible to good cattle raising, it\u2019s just too rocky, with poor water resources\u201d, Joann explains. \u201cSo the government will pay you not to do anything with it if you can show that it has real potential as an area for natural resources. We\u2019ve justified this by working with the ejidos<\/em> and setting up discreetly placed trap cameras that take pictures of all these animals\u201d. The trap cameras have thus become instruments not only for the collection of scientific data, but also for the acquisition of legal evidence that may result in the preservation of the areas involved.<\/p>\n

Another program devised for settlers that keep livestock near the reserve works like a government-backed insurance policy (Fondo de Aseguramiento Ganadero). Again trap-cameras play a vital role: \u201cThey have taken pictures of jaguars coming in and munching on pigs, goats and other animals, coming in closer than you would have thought. If you can prove your animal was eaten by a jaguar, the government will compensate you for its value\u201d. PPY has also worked with the ejidos<\/em> to make films celebrating the wild flora and fauna in their area. \u201cThey\u2019re really proud of them\u201d Joann says, \u201cthey show them in their schools, we have a wonderful relationship with them\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Trap cameras are being used not only for scientific data collection, but also as tools to produce legal evidence about wildlife activity needed to support several of Pronatura’s programs. (Courtesy PPY \/ MSAAS)<\/p><\/div>\n

Aiming to empower local communities to tap into the economic potential of ecotourism, Prontura has also implemented successful programs to educate and prepare nature guides. In Campeche a group of fifty potential guides \u201chave been immersed in English and birdwatching, and taught how to take people on trail walks and show them all the exciting things in the forest, and also how to be careful\u201d, Joann tells me. \u201cWe have Campeche Tourism really interested, and they\u2019ve given the Guide Certificate. We have the most guides in the Conhuas area, and they\u2019re making quite a lot of extra money, both boys and girls\u201d.<\/p>\n

As important and positive as all those initiatives are, an integral change to a more sustainable model of development is needed at all levels of society if the Peninsula\u2019s natural resources and habitats are to be preserved for future generations. Mass tourism has brought a mixed bag of positive and negative things, but expecting it to continue growing endlessly is simply not realistic and certainly not advisable: the Peninsula is not limitless, the environmental costs would be huge, and over-development eventually leads to a general downgrading of tourist destinations, as has been proven by experience in other parts of the world. The key buzzword is \u201csustainable\u201d, but just stamping it on something does not make it so, as Joann is quick to point out: \u201cIt\u2019s usually just a word used to allow development to come. And what\u2019s sustainable about it is that you can make money doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

To prove her point, she ellaborates: \u201cAlmost any of the protective regulations can be twisted one way or another. Let\u2019s take one: you can\u2019t destroy the mangrove forest, it\u2019s on the endangered list. But the developers say it\u2019s not really endangered and there\u2019s enormous pressure to fill in the mangrove forests, it\u2019s the only way they can get more development along the Yucatan and Quintana Roo coast. So they\u2019ll say, we\u2019ll pay for mitigation, we\u2019ll invent a mangrove forest in another area. You must know, that\u2019s just impossible really. Certain NGOs get the mitigation money and they\u2019ll throw seeds out, but there isn\u2019t the salinity or anything to make that delicate balance which is the mangrove forest.\u201d The pressure is constant, she explains, and even after two of the mangrove species have been included in a new endangered species list (which means no mitigation is allowed), the mangrove \u201cgets destroyed overnight and nobody does anything until three weeks later, and then what can you do?\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The beautiful Mangrove Warbler (Setophaga petechia), one of many species whose survival is directly connected to the mangrove ecosystem. (Photo \u00a9 Iv\u00e1n Gabald\u00f3n).<\/p><\/div>\n

The challenge ahead remains a great one, Planet Earth is in trouble everywhere and more than ever before every action counts. The big question about how to balance human and environmental needs will always be facing us and no organization can control all the variables affecting that dilemma, not even governments or coalitions of governments. Territories with rich ecosystems are becoming rare luxuries, and scientists are often seen scratching their heads as they watch global warming and other environmental situations deteriorate much quicker than they themselves had forecast. The entire human race needs to evolve towards a better relationship with the planet, one that is not destructive, but this will not happen easily and certainly not overnight.<\/p>\n

Through many years of sustained work, Pronatura Pen\u00ednsula de Yucat\u00e1n has taken hold as a solid environmental organization, carrying out positive programs with endurance, leading by example and creating an institutional framework for future generations of conservationists to work in. It all started with Joann Andrews\u2019 determination to protect the forests of the Yucatan Peninsula, and it is our privilege to ask her how she sees the road ahead. Can we still learn from orchids how to thrive in Planet Earth, our host, without behaving like destructive parasites? \u201cThe good part is that there are a lot more concerned people, young people\u201d, Joann says. \u201cMexicans love their nature, particularly the Maya people too in this area, so it\u2019s really wonderful to work with them.\u201d An optimistic reply that should not surprise us coming from Joann Andrews: she knows from experience that we, the human species, can still be touched by the spirit of the jaguar.<\/p>\n

A spirit so powerful it reaches us like traveling wind through lush tropical forests, urging us to save this unique part of Planet Earth we call Yucatan Peninsula.<\/p>\n

I.G.H.<\/p>\n

For more information about the programs and activities organized by Pronatura Pen\u00ednsula de Yucat\u00e1n, please visit their website by clicking on the logo below.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RIDE INTO BIRDLAND is proud to present the third installment of our reportage about the life and work of noted conservationist Joann Andrews, Founder and Honorary President of Pronatura Peninsula de Yucatan. Read on to learn how, even in the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,10],"tags":[20,37,50,64,66,88,98],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rideintobirdland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1973"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rideintobirdland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rideintobirdland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rideintobirdland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rideintobirdland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1973"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/rideintobirdland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10142,"href":"https:\/\/rideintobirdland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1973\/revisions\/10142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rideintobirdland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rideintobirdland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rideintobirdland.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}