By Gabriela Valle and Antonieta Valenzuela

The Community La Chorera Environmental Monitoring Committee was created on February 15, 2016 and it’s composed of a board and seven environmental observers.

Before creating the committee and with the aim of providing information about the monitoring activities, laws and regulations relating to environmental crimes, the members of the committee received training from the staff of the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA), that is, the environmental police in Mexico.

The role of the committee is to detect environmental crimes around the area of San Quintín Bay, such as illegal hunting or extraction of natural resources without permits, among others.

Once an environmental crime is detected, the observer completes a format, and this document is delivered to the Field and Operations Officer in San Quintín, and the Adaptive Management Coordinator of Terra Peninsular, the complaint is later sent to PROFEPA.

It is worth mentioning that the committee will continue until 2017 and to date four complaints related to environmental crimes in San Quintín Bay have been sent.

Temporary Employment Program successfully completed

The members of the Community Environmental Monitoring Committee together with the staff of the Department of Conservation, as well as the Department of Management and Finance of Terra Peninsular participated at the closing event of the Temporary Employment Program (PET) at La Chorera, San Quintín.

The event was also attended by Oswaldo Santillán, the deputy representative of the area of Natural Resources of PROFEPA in Baja California, and inspectors of the same office.

The Temporary Employment Program worked as an incentive for committee members to continue their environmental monitoring work in San Quintín Bay, and supported by PROFEPA.

The creation of the committee is part of the joint efforts between Terra Peninsular and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) to preserve the natural areas of San Quintín Bay, as part of the Adaptive Management strategy.