With air temperatures hitting the high 90s this week, one has to admit that our mild Loreto spring has slipped away. While the afternoons feel steamy, the warm nights are a bit of heaven for outdoor dining and evening walks. Loreto beaches are filled from afternoon into the rise of moon behind Carmen with children splashing in the warm water and the spread of family picnics on the sand. Volleyball games pop up at the north end of the Malecon, and kids chase one another on scooters up and down the waterfront. There’s a sense of happiness permeating the air.

Environmental Education has always been at the core of Eco-Alianza’s initiatives. We believe that to teach children is to train the next generation of environmental leaders, thus furthering a sustainable society. Our experience is that what our youth learn, intellectually and experientially, they share with peers, siblings and parents, thus expanding the reach of our programs. We provide them with life tools, such as critical thinking and problem solving, with a foundation in conservation.

Thanks to the generous donors and supporters over our 15-year history, Eco-Alianza has focused its energies and resources on making a difference in the lives and community of Loreto and surrounding areas of Baja California Sur. With an initial aim of providing and expanding Environmental Education, our strategy has evolved to support additional core programs in areas of Watershed Conservation, Sustainable Fisheries, Resource Management, and alternative Livelihoods.

Our mission is to create healthy and vibrant communities by empowering civil society and government to protect and conserve our natural and cultural environment. We can achieve these through our formal partnerships between Parque Nacional Bahía de Loreto, Channel Islands National Park and the University of California Natural Reserve System.

The Board of Directors of Eco-Alianza proudly announces the election of L.C.P. Carlos David Posadas Solano as our new Executive Director. For several years, Carlos has served on both our Advisory Board and as a member of our Board of Directors. We look forward to the application of his enthusiasm, dedication and commitment to our mission of environmental education and protections for Loreto and its surroundings.

Eco-Alianza de Loreto proudly announces the selection of Sula Vanderplank, Ph.D, as Executive Director of the newly established CEMA, Centro de Estudios del Medio Ambiente, a planned international field station for research, conservation and public service, based in Loreto, Baja California Sur. Sula brings her broad background in conservation-science projects focused on coastal systems to bear upon this exciting project. CEMA, is an international partnership begun six years ago with the University of California. Born from Sister Park initiative in collaboration with the Channel Islands National Park, Ventura, California, which resulted in an international treaty signed by the United States and Mexico, CEMA is unique in its mission.

At the end of October this year, the first permanent GPS station was installed in Loreto.  Permanent, geodetic-grade GPS is a quantum leap beyond the GPS device you take hiking or operating inside your smartphone.  “Geodesy” refers to high-precision measurements of the surface of the earth, changes in the land surface, and precise positioning or navigation.  Geodetic GPS equipment can measure locations hundreds of times more accurately than hand-held GPS equipment, providing the levels of precision needed for most scientific and many commercial applications.  Permanent GPS receivers operate at a fixed location, taking measurements constantly, and providing a base station for any other GPS surveying or measurement in the region.