For the past several years, one of Mexico's most pressing environmental controversies was whether or not the Mexican government and the Mitsubishi Corporation should develop a new salt mining operation within the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, one of the world's four breeding areas for gray whales. A candid text, Saving the Gray Whale provides an engaging capsule history of whale conservation in Mexico and a timely review of environmental politics.

Saving the Gray Whale is a splendid, must-read book for whale watchers and readers interested in Mexican environmental issues. The candid tone stems from the author's travels and research in Baja, not to mention dizzying trips to Mexico City, where the labyrinths of political power stray far from efficiency. The author combines analysis from historical reports, planning meetings and from encounters on the road or from a kayak paddled across San Ignacio Lagoon.

This book is a treasury of little-known facts ("Gray whales are not gray") and a straightforward review of environmental politics in Mexico -- at least as far as the government is concerned. The list of players is a must-read for anyone interested in environmental issues! Unfortunately, it does not have the same depth when it reviews how the conservation groups ("Non-Governmental Organizations") operate. Is the "Grupo de los 100" really Mexico's "most influential" environmental group? Likewise, what do The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund do in Mexico? Reports are kept hush and the author doesn't seem to question the lack of transparency.

Excerpts:

To read about conservation in the Third World is to enter a world of doomsday scenarios. Clearly, this case of the gray whale is an exception. Whereas other, more industrialized countries such as the Soviet Union, Norway and Japan were doing their best to clear the ocean of a range of large cetaceans after the 1950s, Mexico was moving in the opposite direction. (p. 5)

Gray whales are not gray. A newborn calf is coal black. The barnacles that quickly grow on gray whales and the depigmented skin tissue caused by barnacles that fall give the species a discolored gray and even white appearance. (p. 11)

In the last ten years, the stretch of coastline between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo at the southern tip of the peninsula has become an unplanned urban disaster. The Los Cabos tourist corridor is a parody of everything that is wrong with mega-resort coastal development. The stunning physical setting of Cabo San Lucas has been lost to the hotels, condos and marinas that blot the view of Land's End... Gray whales and humpback whales that once spent peaceful winters here now dodge sports fishing boats and giant luxury liners. (p. 30)

Contrary to the stereotype prevalent in the United States of corrupt Mexican government officials, most Mexican resource agency staffers are very dedicated to their jobs. While corruption at very high levels is a major problem in Mexico, the majority of federal resource agency staffers work long hours and receive paychecks infrequently. Park directors often pay the salaries of their employees out of their own pockets. For example, in 1977 the director of the Pinacate Biosphere Reserve -- home to endangered pronghorn antelope and bighorn sheep -- paid the salaries of his staff when federal funds failed to arrive. (p. 68)

An independent analysis of the (World Bank Global Environment Facilities Program) conducted by Pronatura, a Mexican conservation organization and The Nature Conservancy revealed that by 1995, although the World Bank had approved $3.9 million for disbursement, only $1.5 million fell into the hands of SEMARNAP. (pp. 72-73)

Whether organizations are involved in stopping multinational development in San Ignacio Lagoon or fighting over access to gray whale habitat in Magdalena Bay, these new groups are defining the gray whale conservation agenda themselves rather than empowering the Mexican state to solve problems. The political system in Mexico is often a fortress. Gray whales are helping open the doors to democracy. (p. 77)

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Ron Mader lives in Mexico City and travels frequently throughout the Americas. He hosts the award-winning Planeta.com: Eco Travels in the Americas website -- http://www.planeta.com -- and is the author of the Mexico: Adventures in Nature guidebook and the Exploring Ecotourism in the Americas resource guide.

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