Faced with the obvious impacts of urban growth near the mangroves of El Mogote, Baja California Sur, a group of organized women, known as the Guardianas del Conchalito, are determined to protect this ecosystem.
The impacts of urban growth near the mangrove forests in El Mogote, Baja California Sur, in northwestern Mexico, are evident to the Guardianas del Conchalito, a group of 12 organized women who have taken action to restore it. However, along the way they accuse having been criminalized by the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) and the private security of real estate and tourism projects in the area.
Since 2023, the Guardianas began monitoring the mangrove forests of El Mogote with the support of the organization Costa Salvaje and the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (Conanp), the latter being responsible for conserving part of a federal zone on the El Mogote coastline through an agreement.
Once a month, they leave their many jobs, rent a boat with a captain and spend a whole day crossing to the other side of the bay of La Paz to El Mogote. There they identify the different species of mangroves there, their flowers, their fruits and their seeds, to restore the forest by planting and collecting seeds.
“The truth is that it is a job that requires many hours because you have to walk long distances and we depend on the tide to be able to do it. For El Mogote we have to rent a boat, hire a captain, (pay) for gasoline because it is a larger area and requires more expenses such as food, which depends on the hours and the material of recurrent use such as measuring tapes,” explained Daniela Bareño, a member of the Guardianas.
While doing these tasks in El Mogote, the Guardians claim to have been harassed by the private security of the Paraíso del Mar tourist and residential megaproject, which through its promoter, the company Desarrollos Punta La Paz, owns some 350 hectares in the area that it bought from the Government of Baja California Sur in 2002 and another 158.34 hectares from private individuals.
“There in El Mogote, our companions have been chased away. They have called Profepa and Profepa has even tried to get them out. We are trying to do good and sometimes it is very frustrating that they give priority to those who have more money, to those who did harm to the ecosystem than to us who want to restore and do this type of thing. But we have had problems with the people at the hotel, they send the security guards to call our attention, to chase us away and Profepa intervenes in that. But my colleagues remain firm that they are not going to leave because it is a public space and they are not leaving,” Bareño denounced.
Today, the Paraíso del Mar project has condominiums, houses and 1,686 residential lots for sale; a championship golf course, tennis court and four pickleball courts; two swimming pools, a port, which threaten the mangrove forests, which are recognized as a Ramsar site.
For this article, an interview was requested by telephone, email and WhatsApp to Paraíso del Mar, but as of the time of editing the text, no response was received from them.
In Baja California Sur, the coverage of natural coastal wetlands remained constant from 2000 to 2019. However, losses were observed in the Ensenada de La Paz, according to the presentation by Miguel Sánchez, researcher at the Center for Research in Food and Development (CIAD) at the VI Mexican Congress of Mangrove Ecosystems in 2023.
At the same event, Giovanni Ávila, a researcher from the Academic Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences at the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur, explained that the seven mangroves in the Bay of La Paz face similar pressure factors, the main one being urban development and the change in land use, as the Guardians claim is happening in El Mogote.
“What is affecting them there are the spaces that have been taken up for construction. In one part of the condominiums, they pruned a lot of mangroves and also covered a water inlet. A year ago, we started to do tours. The Sinaloa organization Humedales Sustentables did a hydrological study and took water samples. The result was that there was a lot of salinity; that is also because since there is no longer any flow, the water stagnates, produces too much salt and causes the mangroves to dry out. The affected area is large and it is urgent that it be restored so that it does not continue to dry out,” said Bareño.
Member of the Guardianas del Conchalito, in Baja California Sur
Daniela Bareño monitoring El Mogote. Source: Las Guardianas del Conchalito
The future of El Mogote
Paraíso del Mar has not fully exploited its potential, since according to its master plan and environmental impact statement, it intends to build a 2,120-room hotel, a second golf course, a beach club, an extended golf clubhouse, a private marina for 500 spaces, restaurants and a market.
Paraíso del Mar has proclaimed El Mogote as “the best island living” and sells it to its clients as “a private tourist community with a mile and a half of isolated beach that you can call your own,” according to its website.
Despite that, the Guardianas are determined to protect their mangrove forests, because that ecosystem represents the future of the South Californian traditions and the fishing that provide well-being to the local community.
“We fishermen are the ones who take the greatest care of these types of ecosystems and spaces because we use them responsibly. We know that if there is a restored ecosystem, there will be healthy marine species and we will have sustainable fishing, since the mangrove acts as a nursery for fish and many other species. For me, it is worth taking care of it because it leaves a seed for future generations and it is doing good for everyone,” said Bareño.
In addition to Paraíso del Mar, there are many other projects seeking to establish themselves in El Mogote, near the mangroves and wetlands, such as the case of the Lumai project to which the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources denied the environmental impact authorization.
Source: animalpolitico
