Protecting the Wild

It's infographic hour!

This infographic to the left compares all kinds of wilderness metrics in North America.

Mexico wins on the Ecological Footprint front, but loses on the Wildness front, surprisingly.

And that's something we've been concerned about over here at BT for years... We'd love to find a way to funnel some funds into supporting Protected Areas in Baja. We've got a few National Parks already, San Pedro Martir and Parque Constitucion being two you'll recognize if you've been on a few treks, and also some Marine protected areas, both in the Gulf of Californias and on the Pacific coast of Baja.

But that's not enough! Not for us. We know (and you've probably seen) some of the incredible wilderness areas that Baja has to offer, and we certainly think there needs to be more resources put towards protecting them. Don't you?

The map also highlights Mexico's water problems. Although we've got the smallest per capita consumption, we've also got the smallest availability and the least margin for error! That's why innovations like Cuatro Casas hostel's passive solar water distillation system count with every drop of water they help us save.

Anyway, check out the party responsible for this cool image, The Big Wild, which is based in and focused on Canada and has all kinds of fun ideas going on.

Next, check out this awesome new interactive map of Marine Protected Areas in North America, part of the North American Environmental Atlas. They also have this hilarious, soundtracked promotional video of their map. Look for Baja!

Viva la Vaquita!

Though you may never have heard of them, the little white Vaquitas are one of the rarest and certainly the smallest of all whale species. And guess what? They're endemic to Baja's Gulf of California (that means this is their only habitat in the world)!

They live in the northern part of the Gulf, where the waters are warm and the small fish are plenty. They have always been a rare species, with a low population and rather elusive behavior, so much so that to this day, some Baja fishermen claim they're only legend! This, however, is quite untrue. They have been around for quite a while, and in fact are now in trouble due to overfishing in the Gulf, water pollution, and reduction of water flow in the Colorado River. They also occasionally get caught in fishermens' gill nets.

The last survey in 2008 put their numbers at just 250 individuals, which is hardly enough to maintain a stable population. It looks like the Vaquitas are once again on the decline...

There are a few organizations which are working to protect the Vaquitas, one of which is Sonora's Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans (CEDO), a non-profit research institute. We know these people personally and they're doing good work not just for the Vaquita, but also for the fisheries and ecosystems of the northern Gulf, from conducting coastal estuary conservation to working with cooperatives of fishermen to rotate their fishing grounds and manage the fisheries in a more holistic way. (You can visit CEDO in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, for a tour of their visitor center and to get more info about the local Gulf ecosystems!)

The Mexican government has also created a protected area where the highest concentration of Vaquitas is supposed to be, so that fishing is prohibited within this area.  You can also visit Viva Vaquita, a non-profit website dedicated to raising awareness about the Vaquita's situation!

Here's a sighting of the Vaquita from 2008:


An Encounter with Vaquita. from Chris Johnson on Vimeo.

Article Roundup!

As much as we love turning off our computers and heading out into Baja's wildernesses, you have to admit that the Internet has some pretty interesting things to say, sometimes.  Here's a small roundup of a few items that have caught my interest lately!

• 7 Crazy Ways People Made Millions From Trash
• Awesome. Always remember: Waste is food!

• Towards Sustainable Travel: Breaking the Flying Addiction
• I totally sympathize with the author (Elisabeth Rosenthal) of this article! I do everything I can on a daily basis to make sure my Carbon footprint corresponds to the shoe-size of a newborn baby. And here at Gus Headquarters, we're always trying to think up new and old ways to keep our travel style Carbon neutral. But flying is one of the hardest habits to kick. How do you beat that kind of convenience? 

• Tracking the Ancestry of Corn Back 9000 Years
• Did you know that corn came from a Mexican grass called Teosinte? Apparently the early indigenous Mexicans were doing some pretty sophisticated breeding and domestication of the grass to get corn to the state it is today. 

• Bryant Austen's Studio Cosmos
• Okay, so this isn't technically an article, but check out these "high-resolution, life-size photographs of endangered whale species." Holy crap awesome. Make sure you read his "Bio" page. What a cool dude!

• Dirt Makes Us Smarter
• The article's a little dry, but the point comes through loud and clear: playing in dirt makes you happier, healthier, and even smarter! All right!   

• Amazing Jellies
• "As elegant as they are squishy." A cool educational video (in hd!) about jellies.

• The Winding Road to Spiral Jetty
• A story about visiting Robert Smithson's earthwork named Spiral Jetty in the salt flats of Utah.

Happy reading!