Founded | 2000 |
---|---|
Founder | Serge Dedina |
Type | 501(c)(3) |
Focus | environmentalism, conservation |
Location | |
Area served | California, Mexico |
Method | media campaigns, research, activism |
Website | Wildcoast.org |
Wildcoast (stylized WiLDCOAST) is an international non-profit environmental organization that conserves coastal and marine ecosystems and wildlife.
Headquartered in Del Mar, California, Wildcoast established a Mexican division in 2007, Costasalvaje A.C. in Ensenada to manage its conservation programs in Latin America.
Charity Navigator awarded Wildcoast its four-star charity ranking. [1] The organization received the Excellence in Organizational Development Award from Nonprofit Management Solutions in 2006.[ citation needed ] It also received the San Diego Earthworks E.A.R.T.H. Award in 2007.[ citation needed ] In 2008, Wildcoast received the Green Wave Award from the Surfer's Path Magazine.[ citation needed ]
One of Wildcoast's primary missions is to preserve spectacular, undeveloped coastal areas throughout the peninsula of Baja California such as Bahía de los Ángeles, Bahía Concepción, Bahía Magdalena, Laguna San Ignacio and the North Central Pacific Coast. These are some of the most ecologically important coastal areas remaining on the planet and are teeming with wildlife including endangered species of sea turtles, whales and migratory birds. Inhabited by people who make their living from fishing, ranching, and ecotourism, these locations are threatened by megaresort construction, land speculation, energy development, and mining projects.
Working in partnership with local community-based organizations and landowners, Wildcoast provides support for land conservation projects such as easements, private reserves, concessions, and sustainable development projects. Many of Wildcoast conservation projects are carried out with members of ejidos, or communal agrarian cooperatives and private landowners to help them hold on to their ancestral land and receive financial incentives to protect the land from development. Wildcoast made history[ citation needed ] by working with the Laguna San Ignacio Conservation Alliance in the brokering of a deal to protect the entire 140,000-acre (570 km2) territory of the Ejido Luis Echeverria in San Ignacio Lagoon. The legally binding deal is being praised[ citation needed ] as a model for conserving both the environment and the local way of life. San Ignacio is the world’s last undeveloped gray whale lagoon and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Along the North Central Coast of Baja California Wildcoast has protected more than 14 miles (23 km)[ citation needed ] of coastline through conservation easements. In addition, Wildcoast worked to halt a series of megaresort and marina projects slated for this region in Baja California that would have obliterated world-class coastal biodiversity sites.[ citation needed ]. Maddy Goldman, notable intern, once described her experience as "magical and heartbreaking all at the same time. I cried and laughed every day."
The focus of the Wildlife Conservation Program is to protect endangered marine species and their habitats. In 2006, Wildcoast carried out a wildly successful[ citation needed ] campaign "Defiende el Mar" (Defend the Sea) to support the creation of marine protected areas along the central coast of California and Mexico’s Gulf of California. The campaign took place at the 2006 Soccer World Cup in Germany involving partnerships with Mexican soccer stars, Jorge Campos and "Kikin" Fonseca, to promote marine protected areas. The campaign resulted in the establishment of a 1,200,000-acre (4,900 km2) marine reserve in Bahía de los Ángeles in the Sea of Cortez and a network of marine reserves near the coast of Monterey and Santa Cruz in California. Jorge Campos, one of the world’s greatest goalies, received the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Environmental Hero award for his work with Wildcoast to defend the ocean. From 2007-2008 the Wildcoast pro-MPA campaign featured Mexican wrestler El Hijo del Santo who has ardently campaigned for new marine reserves in California and marine conservation in Mexico.
The Wildcoast "Don’t Eat Sea Turtle" campaign, an ongoing effort to reduce the demand for sea turtle eggs and meat throughout Mexico and Latin America received worldwide attention with its celebrity spokespeople, model Dorismar, and musicians Maná and Los Tigres del Norte. The campaign featured public service announcements, posters, post cards, advertisements on bus stops, and a conference and press event in Acapulco – a center for the black market trade in sea turtle eggs. Randy Olson of Shifting Baselines called the campaign the "best ocean campaign in human history".[ citation needed ]
Wildcoast has launched a new initiative to protect sharks. This campaign resulted in the cessation of a shark massacre in the Mexican state of Guerrero after an American surfer was killed in a shark attack in May 2008.
Recently, Wildcoast has also focused on the establishment of Marine Protected Areas in California. A science-based network of Marine Protected Areas is critical to ensure the survival of marine wildlife into the future as well as maintaining Southern California’s greatest resource.
Every year thousands of Californians are exposed to hazardous waste, viruses, and bacteria contained in the millions of gallons of untreated water that flows daily into our ocean. Recreational ocean users and people fishing along the US-Mexico border are those most affected. The Coastal Conservation Program was developed to raise awareness of the public and environmental health risks associated with the pollution, to create a dialogue among stakeholders – residents, businesses, government agencies and to promote national media attention on a problem that threatens our communities and is often dismissed as an insurmountable problem.[ citation needed ]
Wildcoast proposes solutions to the pollution associated with increasing levels of urban and industrial development in the Californias. In 2006, Wildcoast launched the "Clean Water Now!" campaign along the U.S.-Mexico border to reduce the exposure of children to toxic sewage and to reduce beach closures in the region. As part of the campaign, they helped to pressure a contractor into cleaning up collector systems along the U.S.-Mexico border for renegade sewage flows.[ citation needed ]
In the ongoing effort to promote community involvement in clean water solutions along the US-Mexico Border, Wildcoast held three community forums for residents to discuss the issues and solicit involvement. More than 100 people attended the forums and pledge support for the campaign. In addition, Wildcoast sponsored the 2nd Annual Kids for Clean Water Surf Contest and the 4th Annual Dempsey Holder Memorial Expression Session and Ocean Festival. More than 600 people from all walks of life gathered to learn more about ocean pollution and ways to clean it up. In 2008, Senator Dianne Feinstein with the support of the White House appropriated more than $66 million to upgrade the sewage treatment facility along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Wildcoast is a member of the Save San Onofre. A coalition to halt the development of a toll road that would seriously impact the fabled Trestles surf break and San Onofre State Park in Orange County, California. The campaign included a trip to Sacramento to ask that legislators stop the toll road project as well as participation in the massive "Big Wednesday" protest at the Del Mar Fairgrounds against the Toll Road in February 2008.
Wildcoast is noted for its ability to work with the media in English and Spanish to bring attention to pressing coastal and marine conservation issues of global concern. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, BBC News, National Public Radio, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, CBS News, Good Magazine, and Newsweek have reported on the work of Wildcoast. [2] In addition, the organization is a frequent guest on television networks Televisa, TV Azteca, Azteca America, Univision, and Telemundo to promote ocean and marine conservation. [3]
Wildcoast worked with the cast and crew of the HBO series John from Cincinnati while filming took place in Imperial Beach. [4] Wildcoast's "Clean Water Now" signs are displayed prominently in the Yost surf shop and Wildcoast T-shirts, staff members and events also make appearances. The opening credits feature Wildcoast "eco-lucha libre" stars in the ring. [5]
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles starting with Cuba, to the east by the Lesser Antilles, and to the south by the northern coast of South America. The Gulf of Mexico lies to the northwest.
Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by about 75 miles, accessible via CA 1 and US 101.
The Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortés or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea, is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland. It is bordered by the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, and Sinaloa with a coastline of approximately 4,000 km (2,500 mi). Rivers that flow into the Gulf of California include the Colorado, Fuerte, Mayo, Sinaloa, Sonora, and the Yaqui. The surface of the gulf is about 160,000 km2 (62,000 sq mi). Maximum depths exceed 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) because of the complex geology, linked to plate tectonics.
Bahía de los Ángeles is a coastal bay on the Gulf of California, located along the eastern shore of the Baja California Peninsula in the state of Baja California, Mexico. The town of the same name is located at the east end of Federal Highway 12 about 42 miles (68 km) from the Parador Punta Prieta junction on Federal Highway 1. The area is part of the San Quintín Municipality.
The Tijuana River is an intermittent river, 120 mi (195 km) long, near the Pacific coast of northern Baja California state in northwestern Mexico and Southern California in the western United States. The river is heavily polluted with raw sewage from the city of Tijuana, Mexico.
The olive ridley sea turtle, also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Cheloniidae. The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world. L. olivacea is found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, but also in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
The loggerhead sea turtle is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around 90 cm (35 in) in carapace length when fully grown. The adult loggerhead sea turtle weighs approximately 135 kg (298 lb), with the largest specimens weighing in at more than 450 kg (1,000 lb). The skin ranges from yellow to brown in color, and the shell is typically reddish brown. No external differences in sex are seen until the turtle becomes an adult, the most obvious difference being the adult males have thicker tails and shorter plastrons than the females.
Serge Dedina is the former mayor of Imperial Beach, California and Executive Director of Wildcoast, a non-profit environmentalist group. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected 18th Mayor of Imperial Beach in 2014.
The green sea turtle, also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus Chelonia. Its range extends throughout tropical and subtropical seas around the world, with two distinct populations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, but it is also found in the Indian Ocean. The common name refers to the usually green fat found beneath its carapace, not to the color of its carapace, which is olive to black.
Marine conservation, also known as ocean conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas through planned management in order to prevent the over-exploitation of these marine resources. Marine conservation is informed by the study of marine plants and animal resources and ecosystem functions and is driven by response to the manifested negative effects seen in the environment such as species loss, habitat degradation and changes in ecosystem functions and focuses on limiting human-caused damage to marine ecosystems, restoring damaged marine ecosystems, and preserving vulnerable species and ecosystems of the marine life. Marine conservation is a relatively new discipline which has developed as a response to biological issues such as extinction and marine habitats change.
The Marine Conservation Society is a UK-based not-for-profit organization working with businesses, governments and communities to clean and protect oceans. Founded in 1983, the group claims to be working towards "cleaner, better-protected, healthier UK seas where nature flourishes and people thrive." The charity also works in UK Overseas Territories.
The Wild Coast can refer to:
Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) is a marine conservation charity working with communities to protect oceans, waves, beaches and marine life. It was created in 1990 by a group of Cornish surfers from the villages of St Agnes and Porthtowan on the north coast of Cornwall.
Ocean Conservancy is a nonprofit environmental advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., United States. The organization seeks to promote healthy and diverse ocean ecosystems, prevent marine pollution, climate change and advocates against practices that threaten oceanic and human life.
The Shark Alliance was a global not-for-profit coalition founded in 2006 by Pew Charitable Trusts of non-governmental organizations dedicated to restoring and conserving shark populations by improving shark conservation policies.
Earthwatch Institute is an international environmental charity. It was founded in 1971 as Educational Expeditions International by Bob Citron and Clarence Truesdale. Earthwatch Institute supports Ph.D. researchers internationally and conducts over 100,000 hours of research annually using the Citizen Science methodology. Earthwatch's mission statement states that the organization "connects people with scientists worldwide to conduct environmental research and empowers them with the knowledge they need to conserve the planet." As such, it is one of the global underwriters of scientific field research in climate change, archaeology, paleontology, marine life, biodiversity, ecosystems and wildlife. For over fifty years, Earthwatch has raised funds to recruit individuals, students, teachers, and corporate fellows to participate in field research to understand nature's response to accelerating global change.
Lovers Point State Marine Reserve (SMR) is one of four small marine protected areas located near the cities of Monterey and Pacific Grove, at the southern end of Monterey Bay on California’s central coast. The four MPAs together encompass 2.96 square miles (7.7 km2). The SMR protects all marine life within its boundaries. Fishing and take of all living marine resources is prohibited.
Threats to sea turtles are numerous and have caused many sea turtle species to be endangered. Of the seven extant species of sea turtles, six in the family Cheloniidae and one in the family Dermochelyidae, all are listed on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. The list classifies six species of sea turtle as "threatened", two of them as "critically endangered", one as "endangered" and three as "vulnerable". The flatback sea turtle is classified as "data deficient" which means that there is insufficient information available for a proper assessment of conservation status. Although sea turtles usually lay around one hundred eggs at a time, on average only one of the eggs from the nest will survive to adulthood. While many of the things that endanger these hatchlings are natural, such as predators including sharks, raccoons, foxes, and seagulls, many new threats to the sea turtle species are anthropogenic.
Our Seas Our Future (OSOF) is an ENGO group based in Dunedin, New Zealand. OSOF operates as a volunteer driven, non-profit initiative that focuses on coastal and marine conservation advocacy and community engagement projects in New Zealand.
Cape Byron Marine Park is one of four marine parks in New South Wales, Australia, and is the most recently sanctioned. The Cape Byron Marine Park is located in Northern NSW and extends 37 kilometres (23 mi) from the Brunswick River to Lennox Head. The marine park extends out to 3 nautical miles which dictates the border between state and federal jurisdiction. The marine park covers an area of 220 square kilometres (85 sq mi) and includes a variety of marine terrain including beaches, rocky shores, open ocean and the tidal waters of the Brunswick River and its tributaries, the Belongil Creek and Tallow Creek. The Cape Byron Marine Park was declared in 2002 and the zoning plan was implemented in April 2006. Of the 15 distinct marine ecosystems identified within the Tweed-Moreton bioregion, the Cape Byron Marine Park supports 10 of these.