Although Eco-Alianza's traditional anniversary GALA wasn't possible this year due to Covid-19 precautions, an outdoor awards ceremony last month honored Trudi Angell, this year's recipient of Eco-Alianza's Environmental Stewardship Award (commonly referred to as “Conservationist of the Year”).
As reported in our September Soundings, because of Covid-19 precautions, Eco-Alianza's 13th Anniversary will be celebrated along with next year's 14th Anniversary GALA in November of 2021 at the Hotel La Mision. Proceeds from the GALA normally provide the majority of funding for all Eco-Alianza conservation and education programs, so to raise the necessary program funding for the coming year, we are currently holding an Online Fund Drive that officially wraps up on October 31.
For the last six months, Eco-Alianza's employees, donors, and volunteers have played a critical role in seeing Loreto through an extraordinary time – the sudden exodus of most part-year Loreto residents, rampant unexpected unemployment, and the uneasy arrival of the Covid pandemic. At its peak, Eco-Alianza's Temporary Food Security Program for Unemployed Workers was providing twice-monthly food “despensas” to 2,300 local families. With an average of 4.0 people per family served, that's 9,200 people, or roughly half of Loreto's population.
If we are going to protect Loreto and this One Ocean, we see now more than ever that we cannot just treat the symptoms. The center of it all is sustainable economic development and food security. Caring for people and building community through the shared ethic of conservation has been Eco-Alianza's core mission from the beginning.
In celebration of this year's Loreto Blue Whale Festival, we spoke with Mariana Salgado, Park Ranger and Biologist for the Parque Nacional Bahía de Loreto (PNBL) and also to Bryan Olachea, a Blue Whale researcher who will present “Gigantes del Mar,” a free, bilingual Visiting Scientist talk at the Chili Willy large open-air palapa on the Loreto Malecon, just north of the lighthouse at 5:00 p.m. on March 20.
For two days in January, Loreto was buzzing with the news of a visit to Loreto by former U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. The morning of January 21, the photos below were widely circulated on Facebook, and Seven Seas, the yacht owned by director Steven Spielberg, was anchored in the Bay of Loreto National Park.
As part of its One Ocean Initiative, Eco-Alianza earlier this month kicked off a new campaign to engage Loreto's first-line service providers, captains of Pangas, in supporting and implementing the new Management Plan for the Bahia de Loreto National Park (PNBL). The campaign aims also to help promote the business culture and personal brand of the first-line workers – Capitanes Loretanos, who provide their services in the sport fishing and ecotour sectors, and traditionally have served as a magnet for Loreto tourism.
Hotel La Misión Adds a Touch of Elegance to 12th Anniversary Gala, Nov. 16. The Board and Staff of Eco-Alianza are proud of the advances we have made this year, and are eager to share some news about them at the upcoming 12th Anniversary Fundraising Gala, hosted by Hotel La Mision the evening of November 16. If you have not yet reserved your space, please do not delay as this event has sold out the last six years in a row. This will truly be an evening to remember, beginning with an amazing venue. If you are new to Hotel La Mision's 5th floor banquet room, you are in for a exceptional treat. According to General Manager Maria Gamez Castro, the “palapa roof terrace” took a year and a half to complete, including exquisite craftsmanship in the wood structure and thousands of woven palm leaves in the palapa-style roof. Windows on the entire east and west sides of the main hall provide panoramic views of the sea and Isla Del Carmen on one side and of the Sierra La Giganta mountains on the other. Egyptian marble floors throughout are perfect for dancing!
This past week, Eco-Alianza joined 14 other NGOs throughout northwestern Mexico, to participate in an annual conservation event managed by The Ocean Conservancy. The International Coastal Cleanup is billed as “the world's largest volunteer effort on behalf of ocean and waterway health.” Last year more than a million volunteers took part worldwide. In addition to picking up litter, volunteers fill out data cards recording every piece of trash collected, ultimately helping scientists trace the sources of ocean pollution.
Over the course of just a few days earlier this month, the scene at grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, and businesses in Loreto took on a decidedly “greener” hue. The state law, passed by the state's Chamber of Deputies on July 18, 2018, went into effect on August 16 – requiring stores to stop providing free single-use plastic grocery bags, plastic straws, and styrofoam takeout containers. At nearly every store monitored in the days following the deadline, plastics were scarce – being replaced by paper bags, cloth bags, and in some cases shoppers simply wheeling their shopping carts directly to the parking lot without using bags at all.
