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One of the many pleasures of spending the last 14 years working for non-profit conservation organizations was meeting inspiring people and seeing their projects and battles firsthand. Helping dedicated volunteers in their hard work to save endangered species and their habitat, whether through purchasing land or working on public policy is rewarding work.
Every time I visited the states of Guanajuato and Querétaro in Central Mexico, I came back refreshed, recharged, rededicated to my work. What inspired me? The work of groups such as Sociedad Audubon de Mexico (Mexico Audubon), Grupo Ecologico Sierra Gorda and Aztlan Eco-Hacienda. The collaboration between Sociedad Audubon de Mexico and a local tour operator in San Miguel De Allende helps make these groups accessible to tourists.
Travelers interested in supporting nature tourism can visit Central Mexico on an interesting tour blending history, culture, nature and interaction with local conservation activists. One recommended tourism circuit features the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Eco-Hacienda Aztlan, Sociedad Audubon and their Rio Laja revegetation project, and the Monarch Butterfly Reserve.
Each month more than 16,000 children from 167 schools are involved in the environmental education programs. Grupo Ecologico is introducing organic gardening, composting toilets to clean up local creeks, and vented, fuel efficient wood-burning stoves into homes to slow down deforestation. The men receive training and stipends for reforestation, resulting in a 95 percent tree survival rate.
By focusing on social and economic needs they have shown the direct benefits of protecting local habitat. The communities were successful in requesting that the Mexican government declare 1 million acres in the Sierra Gorda Mountains as the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve. Grupo Ecologico is managing the preserve and implementing a long-range management plan. They are attempting to determine the carrying capacity for visitors in sensitive wild areas while maximizing the communities' income potential.
The tour included three nights in the area, with trips to the different habitats for birding and nature watching, folk dancing by the local arts school (casa de cultura), lectures by local historians and meals in local restaurants. We stayed in two different state-run hotels, one of which was rescued from the auction block by Grupo Ecologico. The Hacienda Nicolas Conca still boasts a huge ceiba (kapok) tree, and some of the best trees for birding we found on the trip.
The Sierra Gorda Bioreserve encompasses 5 different habitats. It is fascinating to watch the countryside change from arid brown land with ocotillo, candelaria, columnar cactus and tree-sized prickly pear to the verdant pine-oak forests poking above the clouds, then to tropical deciduous forest and rainforest.
Our nature walks turned up interesting birds like the Squirrel Cuckoo, Elegant Trogan, Blue-crowned Motmot, Rose-throated Becard, Masked Tityra, Blue Mockingbird, Great Kiskadee, tanagers and euphonias. Grupo Ecologico also offers a strenuous two-hour mountain hike to see a colony of Military Macaws roosting in one of the world's largest limestone sinkholes.
Grupo Ecologico works with Las Posas, just outside of Xilitla, San Luis Potosi. Las Posas is English eccentric Edward James' former retreat. He created a walkway linked to surrealistic architectural sculptures leading to a lush rainforest waterfall. The opportunity to see Emerald Toucanettes, a variety of parrots, Montezuma's Oropendulas and other tropical birds combined with James' artistic vision set in the jungle made this an extraordinary destination.
They're introducing new management techniques such as Permaculture, composting, recycling, and letting most of the land rest between light grazing periods. The land, once barren is recovering. The increase in vegetation has slowed erosion, allowing more water to be absorbed into the ground and water to return to their creeks. They have now counted over 130 bird species at Aztlan, up from the 21 they found when they first started working there.
Our group gorged on a dinner loaded with fresh, organic vegetables. We enjoyed a campfire under an ancient fabled mesquite, said to have housed one of the co-founders of Querétaro City for a night when he sought refuge from a pack of Mexican wolves. For the city-bound, the clear night sky uninterrupted by light pollution was an added treat.
Our morning birding trip was a short downhill hike to a canyon overlook. We arrived just as the rising sun was gently warming the desert hillside. A constant parade of Broad-billed and Violet-crowned Hummingbirds, Vermilion Flycatchers, Cactus and Canyon Wrens, Black-vented Orioles, Lesser Goldfinches, Yellow-eyed Juncos, Black-chinned Sparrows and other birds entertained us. For those who were new to birding, it was a bit of a relief to be able to get good looks at the birds in the scrub rather than the brief glimpses we'd been getting previously in the dense vegetation of the Sierra Gordas.
Audubon members took us birding along the Rio Laja and to the reservoir which provided an interesting mix of desert birds like the Crested Caracara and roadrunners combined with shorebirds, ducks and pelicans. Anyone who finds themselves in San Miguel should check the English language newspaper and/or the library for news of Audubon field trips or bird walks.
Unlike the Sierra Gorda reserve, the ejido members were not involved in the creation of the reserve, and are now demanding to clear more of their land for farming and logging. Although some claim that this situation will lead to the disappearance of monarchs east of the Rockies, tourism that involves more of the ejido members in direct profits holds promise.
While most tourists visit the El Rosario reserve, we went to the newly opened and still relatively undeveloped Rincon de Villalobos. The bus drove us to the 10,000-foot elevation parking area, a field kept open by grazing. Trained ejido members took us into the forest to the monarch roosts. There were two populations of monarchs in Rincon de Villalobos when I visited in mid-November. The smaller group is located less than a half mile from the parking area. It was easily reached, with only the last section of the trail being a steep uphill climb. There are guides that offer horses to transport people across the open area, but only foot traffic is allowed into the forest. The second, larger group of butterflies required another half-hour of hiking to reach.
Tree limbs drooping from the weight of clustered monarchs were unforgettable. We were there on a cloudy day with an occasional ray of sun warming the air. When the sun shone, clouds of butterflies would erupt from the trees, filling the sky. Sometimes, the butterflies will actually descend on visitors, astonishing them with whisper of thousands of beating butterfly wings.
Knowing that there was some tension about property rights, I tried to express my gratitude to our guides and the park guards for protecting and sharing the reserve. I found myself unable to express my thanks without getting teary-eyed and choked up, which may have spoken more than any words I managed to utter.
As if the monarchs weren't enough, the icing on the naturalist's cake at the Rincon de Villalobos was the presence of an endemic Mexican bird, the Red Warbler. This brilliant red dart of a bird with a small silver patch on its face was fairly common around the site, as was a six-foot high lupine, reminiscent of Texas Bluebonnets on steroids.
If you want to see the butterflies on your own, the Mexico Tourism Ministry has a web site at http://mexico-travel.com (this is not a typo, there is no www in the address!). I did a search on monarch butterfly and found hotels in Zitacuaro and other towns. For help making reservations, the web site directs you to 1-800-44-Mexico if you are in Canada or the U.S. Their English brochure on the Monarch also lists a toll free number which will work within Mexico: 800-4-50-23. Albuergue (Hotel) Don Bruno in Agangueo (direct dial from the U.S. 011-52-715-80026) had several options to get to the reserves, and there are public busses that will get you close to the reserves.
For background information on the monarch reserve, Endangered Mexico: An Environment on the Edge contains a chapter on the politics surrounding the reserve, and Mexico: A Hikers Guide to Mexico's Natural History outlines a hike from Agangueo to see the butterflies.
However you go, you will be welcome and secure in knowing that your presence is making a difference for wildlife conservation and the local environment.
For the past 14 years Sandra Skrei worked for non-profit conservation organizations. She is now developing environmental conservation programs and promoting ecotourism operations from Austin, Texas. She can be reached via email at .
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