When a 30-foot-tall section of the U.S.-Mexico border wall was constructed in San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge in 2020 no environmental reviews were conducted to study its impact on wildlife. Because of decisions made nearly a decade ago, no such study was required.
Lost, then, was the chance to analyze this wall’s impact on a crucially important migration corridor, which for generations has supported the movement of myriad species between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Madre Occidental.
This construction project is now an uncontrolled experiment in how these barriers will change the evolutionary path of hundreds of plants and animals—if not doom some of them to a tenuous future.
This is why I’m proud to announce that Wildlands Network is addressing these problems now. In partnership with the Sky Island Alliance, we’re using remote cameras to study wildlife movement and behavior at this section of wall. By understanding its effects, we can propose ways to remedy the barrier's impacts.
This is just one example of Wildlands Network's multifold projects to protect biodiversity. With your support, we're making sure nature in the Borderlands remains vibrant for generations to come.
For the wild,
A jaguar, nicknamed "El Jefe" who roamed Arizona’s Santa Rita Mountains as recently as 2015 was just spotted again in central Sonora, nearly seven years since he was last recorded. The recent photos were taken as part of the Borderlands Linkages Initiative, a collaborative of eight organizations led by Wildlands Network.
“The reappearance of El Jefe is a sign that large-scale, habitat connectivity persists between Arizona and Sonora, despite growing threats by development, mining and the border wall,” saidJuan Carlos Bravo, Conservation Programs Director at Wildlands Network.
A new report by Wildlands Network details sites along the U.S.-Mexico border that are in most dire need of environmental restoration following construction of the border wall during the Trump Administration.
“We’re essentially destroying our land, our protected lands that Congress decided to set aside for cultural and environmental resource preservation,” says Wildlands Network Borderlands Program Coordinator Myles Traphagen. “We need to reflect upon where our values are now, and if it's really worth destroying our own home.”
This year's Salazar Symposium will focus on transboundary conservation, specifically across the U.S.-Mexico border. Given our expertise in this arena, Wildlands Network is involved in producing the event.
We will discuss the unique opportunity this region presents toexplore how to improve conservation outcomes for both people and ecosystems – and how to do so in the context of multinational collaboration. For more information, and to register, click here.
ICYMI:
We recently hosted a virtual discussion with Ignacio Jiménez, author of Effective Conservation: Parks, Rewilding, and Local Development, about a groundbreaking and time-proven formula for favorable conservation outcomes around the world.
You can check out the recording of the event, here.
Wildlife need you, John!
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Thank you for supporting continental-scale conservation!
