Por Gabriela Valle
A workshop on “Good Governance for the Conservation of Shorebirds in the San Quintín Lagoon Complex” took place on August 2 and 3, 2016 in the Caracol Museum of Sciences in Ensenada. It was organized by Terra Peninsular with the support of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) and the United States Forest Service.
The aim of this workshop was to reach agreements with the different key actors in San Quintín Bay, under the good governance model, in order to improve the management of the bay so that it continues to be a favorable environment for shorebirds that arrive there during their migration.
Two important aspects were defined during this workshop: the first is the proposal of creating a Natural Protected Area (ANP in Spanish) in San Quintín; while the second consists on a management plan to establish dialogues in order to make progress with the process of creating an ANP under a joint agreement.
To achieve the latter, different activities were conducted to identify the stakeholders involved in San Quintín Bay and to see how they are involved in the site’s conservation activities.
Other objectives of the workshop included the discussion of a conceptual framework on governance applicable to sites of importance for the conservation of shorebirds in Mexico, learning and application of tools for managing governance, and reflection on those underlying ethical foundations for good governance practices for conservation.
In addition, the second day included a bird watching trip to La Lagunita, in Ensenada, with the attendance of all the participants of the workshop.
The workshop was attended by the head of the Secretariat of Environmental Protection of Baja California, Thelma Castañeda; the Head of Protected Areas, Sergio Hirales; the municipal delegate of San Quintín, Luis Reyes; people from the communities of San Quintín and the aquaculture sector, as well as staff from Pro Esteros A.C., CICESE, CONANP, Ramsar and environmental consultants.
