Wildcoast
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wildcoast is an international conservation team based in Imperial Beach, California, dedicated to the preservation of coastal wildlands and wildlife. Through community outreach, activism and media campaigns, the organization eliminates threats to imperiled beaches, bays, lagoons, and islands and develop reserves to protect them into the future.
The Wildcoast Wildlands Program focuses on four ecologically significant sites on the Baja California peninsula and the U.S.-Mexico border that host high levels of biodiversity, endemism, and productivity: Laguna San Ignacio,Bahía Concepción, Bahía de los Angeles and the U.S.-Mexico Border Coast. Sea turtles, fish, aquatic birds, and marine mammals depend on these areas for feeding, nesting, and migrating, yet their existence is threatened by resort developers, multi-national mining companies, and poachers. Wildcoast is preserving these large and diverse sites by establishing national parks and nature reserves, supporting grassroots activist efforts and carrying out a high-impact strategic media campaign with our partners in local communities, other non-profit organizations, and interested individuals.
Under one such plan in Bahia de los Angeles, Wildcoast has worked with the Mexican conservation organization Pronatura-Noroeste to enact 15 conservation easements with local landowners resulting in the protection of 2500 acres (10 km²) of coastline. In another project in San Ignacio Lagoon, Wildcoast has partnered with Pronatura-Noroeste, NRDC and the International Community Foundation to protect 145,000 acres (590 km²) on the southern shore of the gray whale calving lagoon and UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In 2003 the organization helped defeat a planned Mexican government mega-resort project planned at 27 coastal sites in Northwest Mexico.
The organization's "Don't Eat Sea Turtle" campaign features celebrity model Dorismar, who asks men (in Spanish) not to eat sea turtle eggs to become sexually potent. This campaign caused a controversy in August 2005 when the National Institute of Women in Mexico blasted the campaign for being "sexist." However, Mexican environmental officials praised Wildcoast and the campaign for having significantly reduced black market demand for sea turtle products in Mexico.
Along the U.S.-Mexico border, Wildcoast is working to reduce the closure of beaches due to toxic sewage spills from the Tijuana River. Named the most polluted beach in California, Imperial Beach is the center for the work of Wildcoast to make sure that children are not exposed to toxic water pollution.
