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Balandra RAVE Report
The Balandra RAVE took place from September 15 - 18 in Balandra, an
extraordinary biological and landscape site located 20 kilometers north
of the city of La Paz, which is located in the Gulf of California, near
the tip of the Baja Peninsula, in the State of Baja California Sur,
Mexico.
This RAVE has a particular sense of urgency because of the issue
involved: the need to decree a natural protected and marine area in a
region of great biological, economic, social and aesthetic relevance as
soon as possible.
The first class material obtained in this RAVE can give the proposal to
decree a natural protected area in Balandra the support and impact
needed to bring about decisive action from the decision-makers involved.
The Balandra RAVE was financed by the International Community
Foundation (ICF) which has worked for years for the protection of Baja
California.
As it is the goal of all RAVEs, the main objective of this one was to
gather outstanding visual material, both as still photography and
video, of all aspects of life in Balandra: landscape, land and marine
biodiversity, local people, recreation, economic activities, etc. to
help promote the conservation of the region by using photo exhibits,
web pages and articles in magazines and newspapers as lobbying tools.
So far the material received and selected shows that the goal of
obtaining visual material was successful and now it is time to put it
to use as back up of any actions taken towards the protection of
Balandra.
Background“Mexico proudly boasts more than 12,000 miles of impressively beautiful
warm shoreline beaches all around the perimeter of the country, except
for its northern border. None of these sandy shores are any more
splendid than those around the southern tip of the Baja peninsula,
where the arid desert meets the point at which the calm waters of the
Sea of Cortez come together with the white-tipped waves of the
awe-inspiring Pacific Ocean. One thing that you can be sure about: It
is always spectacular, always intriguing, always fascinating!!!”
This statement can be read in one of many real state magazines that
offer properties for sale in Baja. “Baja is for sale” and with it one
of the last untouched coastlines of North America. If this trend
continues, the extraordinary diversity of life in the Gulf of
California will be at risk. First it was Loreto, then Los Cabos, all
with the idea of attracting tourism and bringing money to boost
Mexico’s economy. But the truth is that very few of these economic
resources stay in Mexico and instead they bring illegal activities like
prostitution and drugs, and the loss of the local quality of life and
natural resouces.
From times immemorial, people in South Baja California have lived off
the land and sea as either ranchers or fishermen. This is their culture
and identity. It has been difficult for them to survive from these
activities in a desert area, but conditions have now changed and many
people have found employment and a home in this region. Mexican and
foreigner enterprises alike have been able to invest securely and have
created an important tourism infrastructure that generates jobs and
that is highly profitable.
From an ecological perspective, the Gulf of California is considered
one of the most important strongholds of whales and dolphins as 30% of
the world’s cetaceans can be found here. Sea mammals such blue whales,
dolphins and sea lions depend on this ecosystem for their reproduction
and survival.
The capital city, La Paz, has grown and changed, but the quality of
life found here is envied by many other cities. The beauty of the
natural surroundings is one of the main sources of the well-being of
the paceños (local people of La Paz). The wonderful beaches have always
been their place of rest, relaxation and recreation. First people
walked to them, then they drove and though these beaches have being
developed and they are public, the paceños prefer the ones where they
feel at ease, free of hotels and developments. Most beaches in La Paz
used to be like this until not so long ago.
This is the case of Balandra, the last place in La Paz that still has a
unique rugged scenic beauty and is practically untouched. For decades,
generations of locals have visited Balandra to enjoy its wonderful
landscape and peaceful waters. It is an example of a spectacular
natural landscape where the desert meets the sea making it unique
around the world, and one of the most beautiful places in the entire
country. Its inhabitants want to conserve it as it is because to them,
conserving Balandra’s integrity is to conserve its serenity, peace and
beauty.
Balandra is formed by a series of bays that harbour precious wetlands
and mangroves of enormous ecological, biological, and economic
significance. These biomes contribute to the healthy fisheries in the
region and are a place of rest for migratory birds and shorebirds.
It is of the utmost importance that Balandra is not only declared a
natural and marine protected area, but that its mangroves are
designated as a Ramsar site. On July 19th, 2004 Balandra was declared a
municipal Protected Natural Area of 1,917 hectares, but unfortunately,
due to private ownerships and interests this declaration was revoked
and huge developments are planned for Balandra.
So far, both the state of Baja California Sur and the city of La Paz
have given their unwaivering support to the people that have invested
in this region. Owners have the right to profit from their private
property, but the State is endowed to impose modalities to property
based on the right that all citizens have to enjoy an adequate
environment for their development; this right comes before any private
interest. In addition, the municipal governments have the ability to
create natural protected areas in order to protect natural wealth.
The battle to declare a protected natural area in Balandra continues.
Government, local NGOs, academic institutions and citizens are
participating to support the proposal to obtain this decree. It is a
unique example of civic participation in Mexico. So far, up to 20,000
signatures have been gathered among the population of La Paz, which is
10% of the total population. If huge developments are built here a lot
will be at stake: not only the unbelievable scenic beauty and the
biological richness of the region will be affected, but this will be a
decisive between those who believe in conserving the nature and beauty
of the Gulf of California, and those who are only interested in short
term profit. It is essential to keep what remains of Baja wild. This is
the real attraction for tourists. If this is lost it will become just
another holiday destination like many others around the world.
RAVE PARTICIPANTS
Flip Nicklin is widely regarded as the premier whale photographer of
the world. He has more than 5,500 dives under his belt. He has become
marine mammal photographer for the National Geographic with 18 articles
in National Geographic Magazine and several books to his name
including, With the Whales and Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises,
published by the National Geographic Society. His most recent book
Whales and Dolphins in Question by James G Mead and Flip Nicklin, was
published by Smithsonian. He was part of an Imax movie crew filming
Nomad of the Deep.
Fulvio Eccardi is a biologist and photographer of Italian origin. For
the last thirty years he has dedicated himself to the research and
dissemination of topics related to wildlife and conservation, as well
as the use of natural resources. In 2003 his photographic exhibit
México, Naturaleza Viva was mounted outdoors on the fences of
Chapultepec in Mexico City. It was visited by more than five million
people. He is editor and co-author of several books on natural history
and conservation, and editor of the Comisión Nacional para el
Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO) bulletin.
Jack Dykinga, a winner of a “Pulitzer” Prize in photography, he stands
out as one of the most renowned landscape photographers in the world.
His talent to take majestic and descriptive images has made him one of
the favorite artists of magazines like Arizona Highways and National
Geographic. His work reflects the fusion of the documentary focus of
photo-journalism with large format landscape photography, and a special
interest on environmental issues in Mexico and the USA.
Miguel Ángel de la Cueva has documented the landscape and cultural
heritage of the Baja California peninsula since 1998. His work has
received numerous awards from state and national councils of the arts
in Mexico, including Jóvenes Creadores in 1998 (Young Emerging
Creators) and has received twice the Difusión del Patrimonio grant. His
photographs have been published and collected nationwide. He is founder
of Planeta Península, A.C., an organization dedicated to the
understanding and preservation of Baja California Sur’s natural
habitats and cultural traditions. His first photographic book Oasis of
Stone, Visions of Baja California Sur with text by Bruce Berger
received a Silver Medal in the Nature 2 Category at the Foreword Book
of the Year Awards in Expo Book America, New York in 2007. At present
he is focused on documenting the biodiversity and cultural heritage of
the oases of the Baja peninsula along with his project “Desert America”.
Octavio Aburto was born in Mexico City in 1973. He has a major in
Marine Biology at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur where
he is a full-time professor. He has given courses on Marine Ecology,
Ecology of Fish, and Marine Amniotes. He also has a Master degree with
a specialty in marine resources management, and at present he is taking
a doctoral program on Marine Biology at the Scripps Institute of
Oceanography at La Jolla, California, and he is a candidate to be
National Researcher for the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología.
His whole research has been done in the Gulf of California mainly
focusing on reef fish, fisheries and management of these resources,
including the design of natural protected areas.
Michael Calderwood is an English photographer that arrived in Mexico in
1973 with the purpose to travel and photograph the country. Thirty-four
years later he is still capturing Mexico’s soul in its environment,
landscape, and architecture. He is best known for his spectacular
aerial photography. He was the image maker of one of the first nature
books in México “El Laberinto de la Ecología” in 1981, and his book
Mexico, Higher Vision is probably one of the coffe-table books that has
sold more copies in Mexico. Another of his outstanding books is “Isla
Espiritu Santo” (2002) that highlights the history and conservation
efforts of this beautiful island of the Gulf of California.
Ralph Lee Hopkins A world travel photographer, he has documented the
wild places from the Arctic to the Antarctic with Lindbland Expeditions
for the last 18 years. He is founder of the Lindblad Photo Expeditions
and director of photo expeditions for the Lindblad/National Geographic
Alliance. One of the wild places he is more committed to is the Gulf of
California. He teaches workshops for Arizona Highways, National
Geographic Expeditions, and Santa Fe Workshops.
Patricio Robles Gil His name is synonymus of conservation photography.
Founder of two conservationist organizations in Mexico, he has become
one of the main visionaries and promotors of an innovating model of
conservation based on the participation of society, leading
entrepreneurs, governments and non-governmental organizations. For the
last 15 years he has been co-author and editor of 23 books that present
new strategies of nature conservation worldwide and the last wilderness
areas on the planet. In 2006 he was honored as Nature Photographer of
the Year by the North American Nature Photographer Association (NANPA).
The whole RAVE was reported exclusively by Dolly Mascareña of
TIME-Warner Company. This report includes interviews with individuals,
the local government and NGOs as well as with the Federal Government.
A great amount of photographic material was created, yielding
approximately 6,000 images in several formats from 35 mm to large
format, both digital and film, plus 10 hours of video. By distributing
work this way, all the subjects were covered from diverse angles and by
different visions fulfilling the main purpose of this RAVE.
Ralph Lee Hopkins concentrated on human issues though he made digital
images on different topics like nature (mostly birds), local people
using Balandra, development issues, panoramics of nature, aerials from
La Paz to Balandra, as well as images of the other photographers.
Michael Calderwood is an expert in aerial photography so he focused on
taking mostly medium format aerial shots of the landscape, including
the Balandra biome, a dam, Mogote, la Paz, and panoramics of the
mangroves and Balandra from the south. He worked with film.
Flip Nicklin was in Balandra for only 2 days. His presence gave great
strength to the RAVE because of his international prestige and
commitment to marine mammals. He concentrated on marine mammals (whales
and dolphins) and marine human recreation. He worked with digital
cameras.
Fulvio Eccardi’s images are mainly of marine wildlife both from the sea
and the air. He got great pictures of whales, dolphins and ospreys. His
images are digital.
Jack Dykinga a landscape, large format photographer, captured the
essence and beauty of the landscape. His reputation as a photographer
and conservationist gives the RAVE a quite unique voice. He worked with
film.
Octavio Aburto followed Flip in the boat trips. He got great underwater
pictures of sea lions and other sea life. He took a very unique vision
of the emblematic Mushroom of Balandra from under the water. His
material is digital.
Miguel Angel de la Cueva was an overall inland photographer documenting
local people in Balandra, fishermen in the mangroves and landscape.
Patricio Robles Gil took digital images, slides and panoramics
concentrating on the mainland, the people, and the quality of life of
the paceños’. He also made 360° multi-frame landscape pictures each
comprised of over 100 images, to show the whole of Balandra from the
ground. He also coordinated a group photo of the local tourists at
Balandra with the team of Niparaja. They posed with the book where over
20,000 signatures have been gathered.
One of the important sides effects of this RAVE was precisely the
participation of two local photographers that not only came up with
great images, but that helped the other photographers with their better
knowledge of the area. The learning process went both ways for local
and outsiders, as this experience will empower these two local
image-makers that will become an asset for future battles in the
region. One of them, Miguel Angel de la Cueva is now a member of the
ILCP’s Emergent League of Conservation Photographers
The Balandra RAVE shared and was able to capture the vitality and
resourcefulness of the local environmental NGOs that have, among other
things, made a 100-meter-long painting to save Balandra, which was
photographed on the site together with the activist groups.
Romeo Saldívar, Emilio Castillo Díaz and Patricio Robles Gil filmed and
recorded ten hours in video of images and interviews.
It is important to clarify that the photographers’ payment was only 2/3
due to the fact that there were extra expenses which were not
considered in the original budget.
Another outstanding note is that Flip Nicklin donated his fees to the two local photographers.
Closing thoughts
Balandra has become an emblematic cause and our work to help its
preservation has infused it with a burst of fresh energy and has helped
strengthen the conservation movement in the Gulf of California as a
whole.
Given that the RAVE was able to capture the essence of Balandra in
film, from its biological importance to the beauty of the landscape, to
its outstanding universal value, we are confident that the materials we
have created will help establish a protection decree for Balandra and
will also promote its inclusion as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO
heritage center.
Jacques Cousteau once said: "The Gulf of California is the aquarium of
the planet", wouldn’t it be a tragedy for nature and society that this
pristine land would also become urbanized and the coastal ecosystem
lost? The International League of Conservation Photographers has done
what is in its hands to support the local people and goverment to avoid
this dreadful happening.
DOWNLOAD full report here >>>>
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