Pronatura Noreste in an NGO based in Monterrey, Mexico with a mission to conserve the flora, fauna and priority ecosystems of Northeast Mexico while promoting society's development in harmony with nature.
Recently they have been sharing stories of actions threatening a unique and highly valuable ecosystem, the high grasslands of Llano del la Soledad.
About the site from the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) whsrn.org/...
Llano de la Soledad is part of a grasslands complex of 50 colonies of Mexican Prairie Dogs, distributed at the point where the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas meet. This region’s grasslands house the largest concentrations of various grassland birds, including some very vulnerable species such as Mountain Plover Charadrius montanus, Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus and Upland Sandpiper Bartramia longicauda. It stands out as one of the most fragile open grassland ecosystems with the highest conservation priority for highland wintering shorebirds and birds associated with the North American Central Grasslands biome.
Pronature Noreste produced an impressive documentary telling the story of the land and wildlife and the threats from the potato industry.
The description of the video is in Spanish
Reaparece el fantasma de la industria de la papa que amenaza con destruir uno de los sitios y ecosistemas más fascinantes del Planeta. El llano de la soledad representa el último enclave donde una comunidad de especies endémicas, raras y amenazadas se aferran a la vida. En este documental, un ejidatario, un experto en aves de pastizal y una bióloga nos explican la importancia de este sitio, al tiempo que observamos sensacionales tomas de perritos de la pradera, águila y aguililla real, halcón de las praderas, al chorlo, la bisbita y el tecolote llaneros, así como la interacción entre coyotes y tejones que en el Llano de la soledad se asocian para cazar. ¡No permitamos que esta maravilla de la naturaleza, este último territorio, se transforme en un campo de cultivo de papas!
And loosely translates to
The ghost of the potato industry that threatens to destroy one of the most fascinating ecosystems on the planet reappears. Llano de la Soledad represents the last enclave where a community of endemic, rare and threatened species clings to life. In this documentary, experts in grassland birds and ecology explain this site’s importance, while we observe sensational shots of prairie dogs, Golden Eagles, Ferruginous Hawks, Prairie Falcons, grassland shorebirds, pipits, and Burrowing Owls, as well as the interaction between coyotes and badgers in Llano de la Soledad. Let us not allow this wonder of nature, this last territory, to become a potato field!
They have been starting to get some momentum in local news stories:
www.info7.mx/…
www.elnorte.com/…
And American Bird Conservancy created a blog post as well.
Since 2008, ABC, Mexican partner Pronatura Noreste, and other groups have worked hard to protect key grasslands south of the border. One major effort has been conservation of one of North America's largest remaining grassland ecosystems, designated as the El Tokio BirdScape and as a Grassland Priority Conservation Area (GPCA) by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). But this area is now facing an existential threat — expanding, large-scale potato production that could convert nearly 35,000 acres, and could wipe out an endemic mammal species upon which many declining bird species depend.
Do you know where YOUR potato chips come from?
