Soundings Newsletter

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.

Eco-Alianza and UC Natural Reserve System Enter Formal Partnership Photo courtesy of UCNRS Eco-Alianza will visit the Bodega Marine Reserve later this summer. Eco-Alianza's founders and supporters couldn't have been more elated by the "Breaking News" introduced at the top of last month's Soundings. A five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of California establishes Loreto as an official "Sister Reserve" and names Eco-Alianza as the Mexican entity empowered to shepherd potentially dozens of scientific [...]

BREAKING NEWS ~ Eco-Alianza Signs Sister Reserve Agreement with the University of California Natural Reserve System As this issue of Soundings goes to “press” we have received exciting news from California, detailed in an introductory announcement from the University of California Natural Reserve System (view the announcement by clicking HERE). This initiative is an important project Eco-Alianza has been working to develop for five years and will benefit Loreto in countless ways. Our July Soundings newsletter will be a SPECIAL EDITION focused entirely on the new Sister Reserve agreement with UCNRS.

Anticipation is building for Eco-Alianza's second annual One Ocean Film Festival. In last month's Soundings we announced the four feature films we've planned for this year's two-night festival. In addition, we are pleased to announce that Friday night's line-up will begin with an introduction by director Eréndira Valle of La Paz, who will screen her 12-minute short film, Whale Sharks of La Paz. The documentary explores conservation efforts to protect these massive creatures in the southern part of our state.

Plan to be at Eco-Alianza’s CenCoMA headquarters on Thursday at 5 p.m., as Marine Biologist Christian Raúl Torres Romero recounts details of his six research trips to the Biosphere Reserve of Isla Guadalupe, 220 miles southwest of Ensenada.

For some of us it seems surprising that a new year is upon us and that almost a month has already slipped by. At Eco-Alianza we're still exceedingly proud of the year just passed, and want to share with our supporters a glimpse at some of the highlights.

This year's November 16 Gala was a resounding success and we at Eco-Alianza are grateful to all who joined us for our 11th Anniversary celebration and fundraiser! We also want to thank our loyal supporters who could not attend, but who helped significantly with generous donations.

As we reported last month, Eco-Alianza supporters have made possible the continuation of a program to protect and monitor the nests of the marine park's Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas). As of “press time,” Sea Turtle nest monitors have documented and protected 28 nests on nine beaches, including La Pinta, Oasis, Salinitas, Nopoló, Juncalito, El Taste, Ligui, Estero Las Lisas, and Ensenada Blanca.