Located at the border between Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico, the Madrean Archipelago is what is referred to as a "hotspot". In other words, one of the 34 zones identified today throughout the planet as a priority recipient of projects to conserve their ecosystems*.
This territory (a terrestrial archipelago), is spread over nearly 7.8 million hectares.
Its mountain islands surrounded by vast desert prairies lie at the crossroads of several geographic systems: two climatic zones - temperate and subtropical - two mountain ranges - the Rocky Mountains and the western Sierra Madre - and two deserts - Sonora and Chihuahua. This very special location has caused the emergence of an absolutely remarkable geological and biological diversity. Yet the natural wealth nesting in its rivers, its valleys and its low mountains, has largely been destroyed by human activities. Scientists have estimated that about 86% of the vegetation has already disappeared.
International mobilization to save an exceptional ecosystem
Global warming, human activities: some world ecosystems have seen their vegetation and fauna destroyed in extremely disturbing proportions in recent decades. The Madrean Archipelago, on the borders of Arizona and Mexico, is one of them. In the United States, Mexico, and France, the international scientific community is mobilizing.
Many partnerships at the archipelago's bedside
Governmental agencies (North American and Mexican), NGOs, universities, foundations (including the Veolia Environnement Foundation), corporations and, very soon, territorial authorities, have therefore joined hands to put a stop to the destruction of an ecosystem that is both exceptional and drastically weakened. They will rely on the expertise of a grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of the Madrean Archipelago, Sky Island Alliance (SIA). SIA will lead the MABA project (Madrean Archipelago Biodiversity Assessment).
This project has the general objective of investigating and participating in the conservation of this biodiversity. It is developing several types of projects for this purpose: a detailed survey (with the compilation of an inventory) of the biodiversity, an assessment of the impact of climate change and human activities on this biodiversity, the drawing up of a conservation strategy, the implementation of an emergency plan to rehabilitate ecological habitats (prioritizing aquatic resources) and the involvement of the public authorities and the population. The study phase will rely on scientific expeditions. A network of cameras will be used to obtain a very detailed comprehensive "image" of the state of the archipelago, of its fauna and of its flora.
This ambitious program is slated to extend over three years. The MABA program is ultimately designed to considerably enhance the awareness of the public authorities and the 600,000 inhabitants who live in the area.
*A hotspot is a zone containing at least 0.5% of the plant species of the planet, but which has lost at least 70% of its original plant cover. The 34 Hotspots originally covered 15.7% of the area of the planet, and 86% of their vegetation has been destroyed.
