iLCP Yucatan RAVE Participating Photographers

Christian Ziegler
Tom Mangelsen
Garth Lenz
Brian Skerry
Michele Westmorland
Pete Oxford
Klaus Nigge
Tom Peschak
Roy Toft
Cristina Mittermeier
Kevin Schafer
James Balog
Paul Nicklen
Florian Schulz
Daniel Beltra
Jack Dykinga
Steve Winter

Balan Madhavan

Octavio Aburto

Shannon Switzer

Images from the Yucatan

RAVE will be highlighted at

WILD9 November 6-13, 2009

YUCATAN RAVE

In July 2009, the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) began their 7th Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition (RAVE) to the Yucatan Peninsula. Fellow and National Geographic contributing photographer Brian Skerry to Isla Holbox off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico to photograph the migrating Whale Sharks as the first installment of the Yucatan Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition (RAVE). There, Brian has spent 14 days exploring the waters around Isla Holbox in search of Whale Sharks to photograph for the Yucatan RAVE. In addition, to photographing the whale sharks Brian also documented the surge in Whale Shark tourism and explored the potential for impacts to the Whale Sharks from this through photographs. The photos captured during that time will be used by iLCP and partner organizations at the WILD9 Congress in November 2009 as well as in presentations to key Mexican decision makers to ensure the newly created Whale Shark reserve is properly protected and that new approaches to whale shark tourism are generated. Joining Brian for segments of the expedition will be National Geographic Explorer in Residence Dr. Sylvia Earle, marine conservationist Shari Sant, iLCP President and Founder Cristina Mittermeier, and iLCP Director of RAVE Trevor Frost. 

August 2009: ilcp emerging photographer Claudio Contraras is in Tabasco at the moment photographing frogs and he will head to Yucatan in mid-August to photograph the flamingo colonies.  Claudio is working with Niños y Crías, a mexican non-profit that does conservation work in Mexico.

September 2009, the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) will begin their 7th Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition (RAVE) to the Yucatan Peninsula. The RAVE is scheduled to precede the world’s longest running public international forum for the environment, WILD9, which will convene in the city of Merida in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula from the 6th to the 13th of November 2009. The WILD9 congress will welcome a large contingent of Mexican and global political, conservation and business leaders, which offers the ILCP a rare opportunity to present the images and multimedia from the RAVE directly to the decision makers that can shape a new vision for the development and conservation of the Yucatan Peninsula. 

YUCATAN BACKGROUND
The Yucatán Peninsula has an area of almost 134,400 sq. km (51,892 sq. miles) which spans the Mexican states of Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo; the northern part of Belize; and Guatemala's northern department of El Petén. The peninsula also has approximately 1,600km (1,000 miles) of coastline and a very unique geology. Composed almost entirely of limestone most of the Yucatan has no surface water because all of the rainwater drains through fissures in the limestone to an underground system of streams and lakes so vast it contains about 25 percent of Mexico’s total fresh water supply. Ecologically, the Yucatan Peninsula is composed of a complex mosaic of dry forests, lowland moist forest, and montane forests with intermittent coastal swamps and mangrove forests that fringe the Caribbean coast. The Yucatan is also located within the Mesoamerican Biodiversity Hotspot and has high levels of species endemism. Unfortunately, over the past several decades the Yucatan has seen some of the highest deforestation rates in the world, in addition to rampant development for tourism infrastructure and large numbers of forest fires.

RAVE DETAILS
The Yucatan RAVE will focus on documenting the threats posed by deforestation, tourism, and forest fires on existing protected areas, important unprotected areas (i.e. corridors) and specific flagship species (i.e. Jaguar) throughout the Yucatan. The themes and threats of the RAVE include: Underground Wilderness, Impact of Tourism & Tourism Infrastructure Development, Coastal Environment, Freshwater, Mesoamerican Tropical Forests, Mayan Sites, Saltwater Intrusion, Ecological Impacts from Hurricanes, Habitat Fragmentation, Tourism Development, Mangrove Destruction, Coastal Island Development, and Biodiversity loss. To address those themes and threats the following geographic areas and species will be the primary focus of the Yucatan RAVE: Cenotes, Caves, Mangroves, Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Calakmul-Sian Ka’an Corridor, Rio Lagunas, Holbox, Celestun, Chetumal, Sierra Caral, Amphibians, Jaguar, Manatees, Flamingos, Monkeys, Crocodiles, Whale Sharks, and Bats. 

Thank to our Yucatan RAVE Partners and Sponsors: