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<\/a>Habitat loss and poaching have shrunk jaguars\u2019 distribution across Mexico by 54%, with about 4,000 to 5,000 of the big cats left in the wild today. In Nayarit, a 2022 study of a nearly 6,300-hectare (15,500-acre) wildlife corridor considered important for jaguar conservation found mangrove coverage there decreased from 35% to 26%, while land used for agriculture and aquaculture rose from 38% to 50% over a 20-year period.<\/p>\n
Amid the habitat loss, a small reserve in Nayarit offers a haven for jaguars. La Papalota was a 368-hectare (909-acre) farm that in 2008 became the first private area in Nayarit that was voluntarily dedicated for conservation under a federal government program. The reserve is covered in thick mangrove forests to the south, with a mosaic of tropical deciduous and secondary forests elsewhere.<\/p>\n
The area is too small to provide an entire home region for jaguars, which need thousands of hectares to maintain a viable population, according to Victor Hugo Luja, a conservation biologist and researcher studying the jaguars in La Papalota. But it provides a refuge for at least six jaguars that frequently use the territory to feed, mate and raise their young. The reserve has also provided a haven for about 12 jaguar births, according to Ignacio Vallarta, the landowner.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an example of how small areas of protected land can act as a \u201cstepping stone,\u201d an important link between larger high-priority conservation spots for jaguars, allowing the species to move safely between big reserves. La Papalota sits between Marismas Nacionales Biosphere Reserve, a 133,854-hectare (330,761-acre) protected area that\u2019s home to about 20% of Mexico\u2019s mangroves, and the mangroves of San Blas farther south. It lies squarely in the corridor that was the focus of the 2022 study.<\/p>\n There are eight such biological corridors in Mexico\u2019s northern Pacific region, and nationwide there are 581 reserves just like La Papalota, private land that\u2019s been voluntarily given over to conservation. According to Luja, this patchwork of ADVC areas, as they\u2019re known locally, spans a combined 1.14 million hectares (2.81 million acres) in 28 states, and are essential for providing mobility for wildlife like jaguars and ensuring the viability of their populations.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody disturbs [La Papalota],\u201d says Mauricio Cortes Hernandez, regional coordinator of Pronatura Noroeste, a conservation NGO working with mangroves and jaguars. \u201cThe owners of La Papalota protect the jaguar, they monitor it, and we support them with cameras. That makes the jaguar survive.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet outside the reserve, the remaining mangroves are under threat by encroaching urban development and shrimp farming, even in protected areas such as Marismas Nacionales Biosphere Reserve. Mangroves are legally protected in Mexico, but that hasn\u2019t stopped people from clearing them to set up shrimp ponds. Authorities frequently fail to take action, conservationists told Mongabay.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time we visit the study site, we see new farms, new houses, new roads, and those rates of change are difficult for the jaguar populations to resist,\u201d Luja tells Mongabay. \u201cIf the trend continues without taking action, I believe that in the space of 10 years, we could no longer have jaguar populations in the mangroves in Nayarit.\u201d<\/p>\n Mexico is Latin America\u2019s second-largest shrimp producer, trailing only Ecuador. In 2021, it produced more than 200,000 metric tons of shrimp, 80% of which was farmed; by 2023, this rose to more than 243,000 metric tons. Over the last 28 years, the total surface area of shrimp ponds along Mexico\u2019s Gulf of California increased by more than 1,100% between 1993 and 2021, to more than 114,000 hectares (282,000 acres), according to a 2023 study.<\/p>\n \u201cShrimp farming is a rampant industry that\u2019s growing really rapidly,\u201d Quarto says. \u201cThe value of shrimp is so high that there\u2019s a competition between countries to get the most shrimp exported as possible. We [have been] fighting this industry for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n The west coast of Mexico is key for shrimp farming, yet according to Luja, more than 40% of the shrimp farms don\u2019t comply with federal regulations. With 980 shrimp farms in Nayarit alone, that would make nearly 400 of them noncomplying.<\/p>\n \u201cThese farms are not sustainable,\u201d Quarto says. \u201cThey destroy the very environment that supports them.\u201d<\/p>\n Shrimp farming\u2019s surged over the past decade is linked to cartels, which use the farms for criminal activities such as money laundering, according to experts. This complicates regional conservation efforts and endangers environmentalists who face threats from criminal groups for opposing aquaculture expansion.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s violence associated with shrimp farming industry, threats to people that protest,\u201d Quarto says. \u201cLocal people have little they can do about this threat. They often don\u2019t want to speak out for fear of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Conservation efforts have largely focused on establishing parks, reserves and protected areas across Mexico. However, experts emphasize the importance of connecting these areas through biological corridors and safe havens, like La Papalota, to ensure the long-term survival of jaguars.<\/p>\n These corridors are increasingly threatened by urban expansion, deforestation and agricultural growth. Environmentalists propose strengthening the protection of these sites by offering landowners financial incentives to preserve biodiversity through payment for ecosystem services. Educating local communities, whose livelihoods are tied to these areas, also promotes coexistence between people and jaguars.<\/p>\n \u201cWe work with communities to influence their practices,\u201d Luja says. This includes teaching farmers about livestock protection to prevent retaliatory killings, and creating conservation zones for jaguars while allowing sustainable resource extraction by local communities.<\/p>\n Nonprofits and conservation groups, such as Mangrove Action Project and Pronatura Noroeste, continue to advocate for the protection of Mexico\u2019s mangroves and jaguars, and to call for stricter regulations on the activities that threaten both. However, challenges persist, as disagreements between federal and state authorities on enforcement responsibilities complicate efforts to curb the expansion of shrimp farms.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no coordination between different authority levels,\u201d Octavio Aburto Oropeza, a marine ecologist and professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the U.S., tells Mongabay. \u201cMunicipality, state and federal authorities blame one another. This lack of coordination is one of the main things we need to solve.\u201d<\/p>\n Some environmentalists accuse political authorities of taking bribes from cartels to turn a blind eye to shrimp farming and its associated criminal activities, highlighting the challenges of tackling illegal aquaculture. Additionally, mangrove deforestation is often reported only after it occurs, giving authorities an easy out to claim ignorance of its occurrence, Aburto Oropeza says. To address this, researchers are developing a \u201cmangrove threat index,\u201d which will predict mangrove loss risks in advance.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will be a game changer,\u201d Aburto Oropeza says. \u201cIf these mangroves disappear, we can hold the government accountable, because they knew it would happen and they didn\u2019t do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n They also put hope in Mexico\u2019s incoming environment minister, Alicia B\u00e1rcena, a biologist who takes office on Oct. 1 and has pledged to prioritize mangrove protection. Experts view her appointment as a promising step for mangrove conservation and, consequently, for the protection of jaguars and other species that depend on these ecosystems.<\/p>\n \u201c[Jaguars] are very adaptable and resilient,\u201d Luja says. \u201cThe only thing we need is to give them the space to continue carrying out their activities.\u201d<\/p>\n Luja, V. H., Navarro, C. J., Torres Covarrubias, L. A., Cort\u00e9s Hern\u00e1ndez, M., & Vallarta Chan, I. L. (2017). Small protected areas as stepping-stones for jaguars in western Mexico. Tropical Conservation Science, 10, 194008291771705. doi:10.1177\/19400829177170<\/p>\n Luja, V. H., Guzm\u00e1n-B\u00e1ez, D. J., N\u00e1jera, O., & Vega-Frutis, R. (2022). Jaguars in the matrix: Population, prey abundance and land-cover change in a fragmented landscape in western Mexico. Oryx, 56(4), 546-554. doi:10.1017\/S0030605321001617<\/p>\n Gonz\u00e1lez-Rivas, D. A. & Tapia-Silva, F. O. (2023). Estimating the shrimp farm\u2019s production and their future growth prediction by remote sensing: Case study Gulf of California. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10. doi:10.3389\/fmars.2023.1130125<\/p>\nThe growth of shrimp farming<\/h2>\n
Saving the jaguars<\/h2>\n
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