A New Hope for the Vaquita
SCB's LACA Region and Marine Global Program rise to the challenge of saving Mexico's critically endangered vaquita.
©CEDO Intercultural (photo by Bill VanPelt) In Our Hands: Mike Sumner of Phoenix, Arizona, USA holds a vaquita calf that was found and brought to CEDO Intercultural in 1994.
To read info on vaquita population estimates and newspaper articles, please click HERE.
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Donate to fundraising efforts that will help support enforcement actions needed to save the vaquita.
No contribution is too small. Please click here to donate.
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Update 06/2016: #VaquitaShirts and #WearableEducation
SCB's partner and vaquita ambassador Memuco has been raising the profile of the vaquita on Mexican streets and in Mexican classrooms through his arts and crafts. Now you can help support this work - and spread the word. Memuco is making one of his designs available on a
t-shirt and babywear. Perfect as a gift and a conversation piece, proceeds will support Memuco's efforts to
reach new audiences and inspire the hearts and minds of the Mexican public.
Memuco, el embajador y colega de SCB ha elevado el perfil de la vaquita en las calles de México y en las aulas mexicanas a través de su arte y artesanías. Ahora tú puedes ayudar a apoyar este trabajo y difundir el mensaje. Memuco pone a disposición uno de sus diseños en una camiseta y en ropa para bebé. Perfecto como un regalo y un tema de conversación, lo recaudado apoyará los esfuerzos de Memuco para llegar a nuevos públicos e inspirar los corazones y la mente de la población mexicana".
https://memuco.biz/products/infant-short-sleeve-one-piece
https://memuco.biz/products/mens-vaquita-short-sleeve-t-shirt
Update 10/2015: New Ambassador for the Vaquita
Drawing inspiration from the new SCB Working Group on Conservation Marketing and Engagement, the Marine and LACA Sections put out a call in late 2015 for help over social media: we needed people living and working near vaquita-inhabited areas to help us find new ways to reach the people of the region. Monica Michelle Medina answered our call and, after discussions, joined our efforts to save the vaquita.
Monica is a bi-cultural, bi-national grassroots community activist and influencer who has studied business administration, marketing and has more than 15 years working in the non-profit community development field. She has lived in the Sonoran Desert between the United States and Mexico and speaks fluent English, Spanish and Italian. Crucially, she believes that empowering communities can be the catalyst for real sustainable community and economic development.
Monica works at the Instituto del Desierto Sonorense (IDS), where her mission is to help develop strategies within the community starting with cultural identity, environmental and conservation efforts, agro and eco-tourism to help the Sonoran Desert Pueblos thrive and be revitalized! IDS created Fiestas del Desierto, a festival focusing on the celebration of the cultural, ecological, culinary and ethnic environment of the Sonoran Desert. Fiestas del Desierto has had more than 400 talents from around the region and more than 1,300 participants.
Monica brought with her the talents of local Sonoran artist Guillermo "Memuco" Munro Colosio and together they helped SCB generate support for vaquita conservation. The pair have already been hard at work while we at SCB have been trying to iron out the details!
Facebook users can find out more about Monica here: https://www.facebook.com/XawillyShmaap; the Fiestas del Desierto here: https://www.facebook.com/FiestasDelDesierto; and Memuco here: https://www.facebook.com/MEMUCO.
We welcome aboard these new partners in our efforts to save the vaquita and explore new conservation outreach options.
