Posted by I am happy to announce that National Geographic Society / Waitt Grants Program has funded an expedition to the last untamed Mexican River: The San Pedro Mezquital. Together with my friend and colleague Jaime Rojo, we will travel along the three Mexican States that the river crosses: Durango, Sinaloa, and Nayarit. More importantly, this river supplies most of the freshwater for the largest Biosphere Reserve wetland area in the Gulf of California: Marismas Nacionales.
As a function of its relatively pristine state, the San Pedro Mezquital crosses and nurtures unique ecosystems with rare floral and faunal assemblages, as well as singular traditional cultures ranging from the Huichol People in the high sierras to the Meztitlán swamp fishermen in the mangroves of Marismas. Because of its sheer inaccessibility, it has received relative protection from the anthropogenic threats experienced by other riparian ecosystems in Mexico. With the help of several NGOs such as WWF-Mexico and SuMar, we will be able to make this incredible journey. This expedition is of immediate importance for both science and conservation of the San Pedro River, and will serve to further future collaborative efforts of conservationists, academics, and the Mexican government in the protection of an untouched land-ocean connection.
In collaboration with Jaime, we will be posting our adventures, with images and videos, and important scientific findings that we will get during our expedition.
Photo by Octavio Aburto / WWF
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