Nature Conservancy completes its first prescribed burn in Mexico
December 13, 2005
Prescribed burn at Los Fresnos Ranch
© The Nature Conservancy
Last month, The Nature Conservancy performed its first ecological prescribed burn in Mexico on 561 acres of Rancho Los Fresnos in Sonora.
The burn served as a training exercise to demonstrate the prescribed burn process to several Mexican partner groups and agencies who are interested in applying the principles of ecological fire management.
The prescribed burn was a truly cooperative effort, with crew members from The Nature Conservancy, Biodiversidad y Desarrollo Armonico (BIDA), Naturalia and other partner organizations. CONAFOR, the Mexican equivalent of the U.S. Forest Service, sent a local suppression crew.
The event attracted officials from all levels of the Mexican government. National and regional officials from CONAFOR were on hand to observe the burn, as were the president and the director of civil protection for the municipio of Santa Cruz (equivalent to a U.S. county); the director of the state forestry division; and staff from two federal nature reserves. A camera crew from a major Sonoran television station and a curious neighbor also showed up to observe.
The grasslands at Los Fresnos have been well maintained by the ranching family that has owned it for generations. Fire plays an important role in keeping this system intact and protecting the wetlands on the property. Lack of fire allows woody shrubs to invade grasslands and decreases the land’s value as rangeland and wildlife habitat.
Mexico also contains many examples of “fire-sensitive” ecosystems where fire prevention and control are critical conservation strategies. Nature Conservancy staff in Mexico are working at local, regional and national levels to address the entire spectrum of fire-related threats to the country’s remarkable biodiversity. The successful Rancho Los Fresnos burn is a critical milestone in these efforts.
The Nature Conservancy acquired Rancho Los Fresnos earlier this year and transferred the property to Naturalia. With partners, the Conservancy plans to establish the 10,000-acre site as a private nature reserve.
For More Information:
- Where We Work: The Nature Conservancy in Mexico
Working with partners, local communities, and people like you, The Nature Conservancy works across Mexico to preserve large, landscape-scale conservation areas that protect the country's extraordinary biological diversity.
- How We Work: Global Fire Initiative
Fire is an essential force that has shaped life around the globe. But in many ecosystems today, the role of fire is severely out of balance, threatening to devastate both human and natural communities.
- Success Stories: Rancho Los Fresnos and the San Pedro River
The Conservancy has been working to protect the entire San Pedro River watershed for 30 years. Moving toward that goal, the Conservancy and its Mexican partners plan to establish a 10,000-acre preserve at a lush and biologically rich site, known as Rancho Los Fresnos.
- Press Release: The Nature Conservancy Announces Cross-Border Project to Protect San Pedro River
A cross-border partnership between The Nature Conservancy in both Mexico and Arizona will help to protect the largest and most ecologically important of the freshwater sources of the fragile San Pedro River, flowing from Mexico into Arizona.
- How You Can Help: Support The Nature Conservancy's Grassland Fund
The Nature Conservancy is working to conserve and protect these rapidly disappearing wide open spaces all over the world.
- Archive of our Saves of the Week and Success Stories
Read more about The Nature Conservancy's work to save the last great places on Earth.
