El Triunfo RAVE Report

Cristina Mittermeier

Feb 15, 2007

This report describes the genesis of the Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition (RAVE) through the planning and outcomes of the first RAVE, El Triunfo.

RAPID ASSESSMENT VISUAL EXPEDITIONS

EL TRIUNFO, MEXICO 2007

Some years ago, the cloud forest was recognized as the most threatened ecosystem on the planet. According to Conservation International (CI), in the Americas, these kinds of forests harbor several important endemic species and are well represented in two of the most diverse hotspot regions: the Mesoamerican –where El Triunfo is located—and the Tropical Andes. El Triunfo, located in southwestern Mexico is one of the biggest remnants of this valuable ecosystem and is the home of the very charismatic flagship species, the quetzal.

Roger Tory Peterson once said that the resplendent quetzal is the most beautiful bird in America and one that was worshiped by the Maya and the Aztecs as a divinity. It was in fact, so revered, that whoever killed one faced the death penalty.

Today, the Mexican people barely know that this bird exists. In some ways, this ignorance represents the large gap between human urbanized societies and nature. In addition to not knowing that the cloud forest of El Triunfo is one of the last and most important strongholds for this magnificent bird; people are also not aware that 40% of the hydro-electrical power in Mexico comes from a complex of four dams that are located at the foot of the Sierra Madre del Sur.

El Triunfo not only serves as a sponge that traps and releases rain water, it also nourishes the rivers and streams that feed these dams. The rich agricultural lands of the region benefit from this ecosystem which provides hundreds of millions of dollars worth of ecosystem service to the people of Mexico, free of charge and courtesy of the forests of El Triunfo.

Located in the southwestern corner of the Mexican state of Chiapas, El Triunfo is one of the biggest remnants of this valuable ecosystem, and its most important flagship species, the resplendent quetzal.

SCIENCE AND EXPLORATION

Conservation International's (CI) Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) deploys expert scientists to poorly understood regions in order to quickly assess the biological diversity of an area. RAP results are made available immediately to local and international decision makers to help support conservation action and biodiversity protection.

RAP and RAVE

RAP teams survey terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems throughout biodiversity hotspots,high-biodiversity wilderness areas, and key marine regions. Since the first survey in 1990, RAP scientists have discovered hundreds of new plant and animal species, and RAP data have contributed to the creation of several national parks. RAP also trains host country scientists and NGO staff, building local capacity for biodiversity assessment. By adding high quality visual documentation to areas where RAP expeditions take place, RAVE will help raise media attention by several orders of magnitude. CI excels at using science for conservation but needs to find a way of creating visually-compelling stories that can reach wider audiences. RAVE will be the perfect vehicle.

The Genesis of RAVE

Notes from Patricio

I have known Conservation International and the Mittermeiers since 1990, when Agrupación Sierra Madre and CI-Mexico shared offices in Mexico City. In 1991, we launched a joint campaign to protect the Lacandon rainforest. Later, we worked together in some of the titles of the CEMEX Conservation Book Series. It was back in those days when I first learned about CI’s RAP expeditions (Rapid Assessment Program). They would send a group of four or five scientists –a specialist in birds, reptiles, plants, etc—to remote ecosystems and in two weeks they would assess how important the area was in terms of biodiversity. This is one of the methods CI uses to define their strategies.

I thought about proposing a similar idea to CI. The idea was to send several photographers–a landscape, a macro and a wildlife specialist—with the team of scientists. Back then we didn’t have the great camera traps we do today. Soon after, I met photographer Jack Dykinga and talked to him about the idea of traveling together to document important places. At the same time, Cristina Mittermeier and I discussed ideas on how to finance a group of photographers that would go in a team to document an area.

Soon enough Jack and I had the opportunity to put this idea into practice. The first opportunity came through the publication of The Gulf of California: A world apart, which was not a very well orchestrated expedition. The second chance came with The Great Tamaulipan Natural Province, which provided us with a very interesting PAF (Photographic Assistance Program) that included five photographers but was not a rapid experience. Instead, we visited the region several times during a long period. However, the book and the images obtained during this project were decisive in the establishment of the Sierra de Tamaulipas Biosphere Reserve. Finally, we worked on the El Carmen-Big Bend story which produced an article in National Geographic and the book The Call of the Mountains, but which more importantly, helped to launch the El Carmen-Big Bend Conservation Corridor Initiative and become a key factor in the designation of the first wilderness area in Latin America.

BACKGROUND

A letter from Patricio Robles Gil....

“In 1985, Fulvio Eccardi –an Italian born photographer—did several photographic trips to El Triunfo, spending as many as five months in a row in the field. His work as a conservation photographer helped push NGOs, governments and other agencies to declare El Triunfo as a biosphere reserve in 1990. It was in one of those trips, that he captured, what for me is the most wonderful photograph of a quetzal. This image inspired me to launch a campaign in 1993 to support conservation of this forest. Now I understand that it was at that moment when the first idea of the RAVE was born. The need of images of El Triunfo for that year's campaign was solved sending a team of four Mexican photographers. We spent ten days in El Triunfo, but we were not very successful, as not a single good image of the quetzal or the horned guan –a very rare endemic of the area—was obtained. Therefore, through Agrupación Sierra Madre and Unidos para la Conservarción we did booklets, exhibitions using Fulvio's pictures and inviting artist Robert Bateman to donate prints of a quetzal painting to support the Natural History Institute of Chiapas in his effort to protect these forests.”

About a year ago I decided to go back to El Triunfo, because I missed the experience of being there and because I still wanted a good photo of the quetzal. I remembered that my good friend Jack Dykinga also wanted to go to this forest, so I gave him a call. Soon after Fulvio Eccardi joined the team, now as vicepresident of El Triunfo Conservation Fund, an organization that manages a trust fund partly financed by the Packard Foundation, that implements and develops field conservation projects and works with the coffee communities in the area. Later, Tom Mangelsen asked to join the team and we accepted gladly. In Germany, after some beers during the Lindau Conservation Photograpy Symposium, Florian Schulz told me he wanted to photograph in Mexico so that he could go back to Germany and give talks to raise funds for conservation, so I invited him to come along.

I was not only thinking about the idea of having a group of photographers going to a region, but I was also thinking about the important things they might do after the expedition to support the conservation of El Triunfo. At this time all the photographers had accepted to work for free, while Agrupacion Sierra Madre and Unidos para la Conservacion –the other conservation NGO that I work for—would pay the remaining costs.

THREATS TO EL TRIUNFO

There are some environmental threats in El Triunfo that are of particular note. The first one is a planned road that will divide the Reserve in two fragments, with predictable ill-fated consequences. The second one is the risk of natural disasters, like land slides, that can be avoided if the forest is preserved. Disasters like the one that occurred in 2005 after hurricane Stan –when the ensuing flood filled the hydro-electrical dams with sediments and washed away several roads and railways— may allow us to approach important agencies like the Electricity Federal Commission (CFE) or the Transportation and Communications Secretary of Mexico, to demonstrate to them the importance of making small investments to preserve the forest and prevent such disasters instead of paying millions later to restore the damages.

BIOLOGICAL. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC RELEVANCE

El Triunfo has great biological and economical importance for its ecosystem services. The social relevance lies with the communities that live on the slopes and hillsides of the mountain and make a living of the shade grown coffee, working with Starbucks and Conservation International to protect habitat for migrating birds. El Triunfo is also a reflection of the global warming effects. In 2005 the region was hit by hurricane Stan that left not only big scars in the mountain that where documented by aerial photography, but the flood washed out some towns downstream.

Why El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve in Mexico?

1. The El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve in the Sierra Madre of Chiapas protects one of the last great remaining cloud forests in the hemisphere and it is reported to have a greater diversity of tree species than most forests in North and Central America.

2. It is part of the Mesoamerican Hotspot. It contains by itself 24% of the animal species registered for Mexico and it is a key region for migratory birds

3. In the high parts of the mountain range, the dense cloud forests provided shelter to the elusive horned guan (Oreophasis derbianus) and one of the last remaining populations of resplendent quetzals (Pharomachrus mocinno)

4. El Triunfo is also one of the few spots where traditional organic shade-grown coffee plantations have been sustained thanks to conservation alliances like the one held by Conservation International and Starbucks Coffee™

5. Being one of Mexico’s highest precipitation regions, many of the streams that irrigate the coast and heartland of Chiapas are born here. This is a key ecosystem to guarantee the sustainability of the fresh water supply to the region.

FINANCING A RAVE

Patricio Robles Gil

Cristina and I talked about this being the first ILCP expedition and discussed how we should call the project. PAF or Photographic Assistance Programs for its abbreviation in Spanish was the first name I used in Mexico to describe this kind of expedition lead by several photographers. This Spanish name would clearly not work for an international audience, so Cristina came up with the wonderful idea of RAVE (Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition). I looked for the word rave in a dictionary and in addition to the well known meaning of "wild party" it also means "to write or speak with wild enthusiasm". Other ILCP photographers, including Kevin Schafer – had thought about a RAP parallel expedition concept and so we just put all our ideas together into what now has become the RAVE.

Cristina was very active on the promotion of this first RAVE and we both went together to National Geographic Research and Expeditions Council and to Conservation International communications department to find a financial sponsor for this expedition. NG was very excited and the following two weeks were a succession of emails and phone calls that went on until the day before the depart to Chiapas, on April 1st.

In Mexico, Reforestamos Mexico –a local but very influential NGO—was the first one to commit with $5,000 USD and Maria José Cruz –a member of this organization—was invited to form part of the team as a writer.

However, more money was needed to cover the expenses of food, video cameras, flight tickets, etc… and Unidos para la Conservacion communication fund was footing the entire bill. On the day before we left, Fulvio managed to get a commitment from the government of the State of Chiapas to help with the costs related to guides, mules, hotels and a three-hour flight over the reserve after the expedition to get some aerial photos. NG and CI got into the pool with USD $17,000 and USD $5,000 respectively, confirmed just before we left.

EXPEDITION GOALS

The main goal of this expedition was to obtain visual and written materials that will help promote the region to a wider public and that will empower the conservation community to address the conservation challenges facing the region. We believe we were able to not only fulfill, but exceed all the expectations that we set for ourselves in this RAVE and we hope that this model will be useful for future expeditions.

PRESS AND MEDIA

We held a press release before the expedition and we got a lot of press coverage. Amy Gulick, another ILCP photographer and writer will work with Nature's Best magazine on an article about the expedition. We also found out that the Dan Rather in High Definition TV show is interested in doing a piece on the RAVE once we fulfill our commitment to National Geographic. Several presentations on the results of this RAVE will take place this year, including one at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC and another at the Wild Photos symposium in London.

Some of the expected outputs of this trip include a short video, a book, a calendar and publication in several international magazines. Also four presentations are already being prepared in Mexico to raise funds for El Triunfo. Altogether, these kinds of actions represent how conservation photographers can make a difference.

RAVE PARTICIPANTS

Five of the world’s top nature photographers will join their skills to promote the conservation of this magnificent region. A team of professional writers and communication advisors will join the RAVE team to compile a detailed logbook of the expedition. The photographers who will participate in the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve RAVE will be: Thomas D. Mangelsen – Recognized as one of the world's premier nature photographers Tom was awarded in 1994 with the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award, sponsored by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and British Gas and was named North American Nature Photographer Association's (NANPA) Outstanding Nature Photographer of the Year in 2000. Two years later, he received an Honorary Fellowship from The Royal Photographic Society and in 2005, Tom was named one of the 100 most important people in photography by American Photo Magazine as well as being honored with Nikon’s Legend behind the Lens recognition.

Jack Dykinga – Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Jack Dykinga is one of World’s most respected landscape photographers. His skill in creating images that are at once majestic and factual has made him a favorite of prestigious publications such as Arizona Highways magazine and National Geographic magazine. Jack’s work reflects the merging of a photojournalistic, documentary approach with large-format landscape photography, focusing on environmental issues in the United States and Mexico.

Florian Schulz - Florian is a professional nature and wildlife photographer based in southern Germany, who spends eight to ten months a year photographing in the field. He focuses his photography on long term conservation photography projects like the flagship Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (www.Y2Y.net) in which he has been the leading photographer. His images have won numerous awards in leading international photography competitions like the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Nature’s Best, Banff Mountain Photography Competition and GDT European Nature Photographer of the Year.

Fulvio Eccardi - A biologist and photographer native to Italy, Fulvio has spent the last 30 years in Mexico researching and publicizing themes about nature and its conservation, as well as the use of natural resources. In 2003 the large-format photographic exhibition Mexico, living nature was presented at the outdoor gallery along the railings of Chapultepec Park, in Mexico City, and was visited by 5 million people. As a publisher and co-author of several books on natural history and conservation, he has amassed an impressive archive of images at the service of scientific and cultural dissemination. He is also the vice-president of El Triunfo Conservation Fund.

Patricio Robles Gil – His name has become synonymous with conservation photography. Founder of two of Mexico's most successful conservation organizations, Patricio has become a key player and a visionary for a new conservation model that involves the commitment of private citizens, corporate leaders, governments, and non governmental organizations. In 15 years he has published an co-authored 23 books where global conservation strategies are launched and last wilderness are presented. In 2006 he was named North American Nature Photographer Association's (NANPA) Outstanding Nature Photographer of the Year.

LOGISTICS

The logistics presented a few very special challenges. Carrying all the food and equipment up the mountain for a thirteen-day expedition required 16 mules that traveled for 6 hours up-hill on a forest trail to get to the campground, located 700 meters above the departure point. The team did a fast evaluation of the cost of their combined equipment –including tripods and cameras—and they found they were carrying USD $500,000 worth of fancy toys!

The team also brought laptop computers and a power plant along with three video cameras –that recorded a total of 30 hours of video under the expert handling of cameramen Fabricio Feduchy and Jaime Rojo. The group consisted of a total of 15 people from five countries (Italy, Germany, United States, Spain and Mexico), including photographers, cameramen, computer experts, a writer, technicians and a doctor. As an anecdotic fact we missed renowned painter Robert Bateman by a week; he had been there on a birdwatching trip with Victor Emanuel Tours

SPECIAL CONCERNS

There was general concern about having so many individuals with strong personalities (and opinions) working together. Each member of the team had to deal with everyone else’s ego and with the pressure of having younger people in the team. Needless to say, the selection of the photographers and the crew was done considering not only each person’s skill but also their nature and personality.

NOTES FROM THE TEAM LEADER

There were some goals to be achieved and no written plan to follow. As a leader, I followed the rhythm of the weather, the wildlife and of course, of each photographer's interest, as they made clear to me what they were most interested in. There was even a small expedition to the Pacific slope to a place located 800 m below to photograph some rare endemics like the Cabanis' tanager. The selection of the time of the year to visit the reserve was decided on base to the nesting season of the quetzal and other birds. In this area it rains more than 250 days of the year and sometimes up to 190 mm in only 30 minutes. Because here are whole months when you cannot go up the mountains, we had to go during the dry season. This means less cloud and fog, almost no blooming of orchids and bromeliads, and very few opportunities to photograph insects and amphibians. The team was very lucky to find three active quetzal nests, two of them very tame. They also found lots of horned guans, which was surprising considering that when Fulvio Eccardi was there 20 years ago, he only got one picture of this elusive animal. This means that the conservation measures taken by declaring El Triunfo as a biosphere reserve have been working. The team also photographed many endemic species of birds and reptiles. There are several interesting elements that make this first RAVE very photogenic, including first and foremost, the quetzal. In addition, there are many charismatic endemics –like the horned guan—but it is the forest by itself that is most special. The size of the trees – which include some of the tallest in Mexico with some species being up to 70 meters—and the concert of sounds of birds, made the team feel very much at home. Every day I looked at the day’s results in the computers to make sure we were covering the amazing diversity of species in the region.

A few closing thoughts:

A wide number of subjects were covered during this RAVE, including biodiversity, water, fog, ecosystem services, macro, environmental threats, forest mood, fires, land slides, the coffee plantations, people, panoramic landscapes, birdwatchers, etc…

•Jack Dykinga shot over 200 large format frames of the landscape and ended up with 35 great images.

•Tom Mangelsen –who confessed to me that he loves blinds—concentrated on the quetzal, spending 8-10 days in a blind set on one of the nests. He also brought a panoramic camera and photographed the wildness of the area.

•Fulvio Eccardi spent some time in the quetzal blind to reacquaint himself with his old friend, but he also got coverage of other birdlife and was assigned to fly over the reserve on a beautiful cloud covered day in which only the highest hills were visible above the fog.

•Florian Schulz, one of the younger members of the team went to the Pacific slope to photograph the Cabanis' Tanager. He also got great shots of the fer-de-lance snake and the horned guan, maybe the best ever. He spent two days with the quetzal as well and he worked intensively with the camera traps. We set three camera traps with a total of 500 hours. Florian's camera got a wonderful shot of a group of white collared javelinas. Tom's camera also got the javelinas and the tepezcuintle, a large neotropical mammal. Together, we photographed a good representation of the biodiversity of El Triunfo. A total of 52 species of birds –almost 18% of total—was covered, including 10 endemics from the cloud forest and 4 charismatic species. Five mammals were covered, mostly by the camera traps. Seven reptile species, one amphibian and some insects were also included.

As team leader, I was concerned about not missing opportunities in the day-to- day photography. Everybody wanted to be in one of the two quetzal nests, including myself. In the beginning I wanted to avoid having members of the team going back to the blinds because we had already photographed the quetzal, but something amazing happened that changed my vision. The bird captured our minds an imagination. Its presence was something unreal and we all agreed that this story was as much about the biodiversity, the forest and the coffee as it was about the quetzal. It was then that I realized that every moment spent in those blinds was worthwhile. Almost everyone in the team got a bad bout of the stomach flu and was out of commission for at least one day. The disease didn't affect all of us at the same time, but after the first few members of the group got the symptoms a general concern grew amongst the team. Only Fulvio and Patricia –the expedition doctor—were not affected. The last day we walked down to one of the coffee-growing communities. We had a three-hour meeting with fifteen family leaders who depend on coffee-growing for their living. We talked and listened to their concerns. They are protecting the forest with a sustainable operation of coffee growing, but they don't make enough money to live from the land and the conservation easements are very low. With such low incentives they were considering cutting down the forest to sell the wood and plant more coffee, which is a great threat to El Triunfo. We ended the expedition with a presentation of the RAVE at the Tuxtla Gutierrez Zoological Garden – which serves as headquarters for the Natural History Institute of Chiapas. Our audience included many nature lovers, the press, and a chorus of wild chachalacas and howler monkeys, who with their dusk calls, made their own statement.

Everybody agreed that the place and the experience had exceeded their expectations. El Triunfo had never been documented by such amazing eyes, and now the images we created will speak louder than any words.

As a conclusion, we can say that it was a successful trip. The total expenses of the expedition were USD $35,000 if we consider that neither the photographers nor the rest of the team received any payment for their work. This expedition was financed by different sources including the photographers, Agrupacion Sierra Madre, Unidos para la Conservación, Reforestamos México, National Geographic, Conservation International, and the Government of the State of Chiapas. Technical and logistic support came from organizations such as the National Commission for Protected Areas of Mexico, El Triunfo Conservation Fund, The Cougar Fund and Images of Nature. And of course, the ILCP and the WILD Foundation, which despite not having supported the RAVE financially did so in every other way. All of them deserve credit for the success of the El Triunfo RAVE.

Despite the enormous success of this first RAVE, we cannot forget that this is only the first step. Going on an expedition and obtaining good images is what nature photographers do. As conservation photographers we have to go further and show that we can make a difference with the images. I chose this team not only because of their diversity of skills but also for their commitment to support the results of the RAVE . !I spoke with each member of the team and they are all committed to continue raising funds and keeping the story of El Triunfo RAVE alive.

I hope this expedition really makes a difference and I hope that one day the word “rave will be listed in the dictionary as "to speak, write and photograph with wild enthusiasm". If the RAVE endures as an independent tool directed by the ILCP, the opportunities and flexibility of this initiative can grow with time and perhaps become a great story-telling tool for conservationist around the world.