Sister Parks: Challenges and Best Practices for Cross-Border Conservation in Parks and Protected Areas
Swann D, Christianson D, Galan MC, Manteca M, Avilla S, Bentley C. Sister Parks: Challenges and Best Practices for Cross-Border Conservation in Parks and Protected Areas. National Park Service
The purpose of this paper, based on a workshop at the Madrean Conference with about 20 participants from both Mexico and the US, is to explore the main challenges in developing shared conservation partnerships and how best to overcome them. The natural world rarely conforms to political boundaries. This is especially true in the Borderlands region of the United States and Mexico, where both countries share rich biodiversity, migratory wildlife, watersheds, and a host of environmental problems including air and water pollution. Some of the largest areas of shared interest are national parks that share a contiguous border, such as Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Pinacate Biosphere Reserve (El Pinacate y Gran Desierto Altar) in Mexico and are officially referred to as “Sister Parks” in the US and “Brother Parks”. Other U.S. and Mexican Parks, though not with contiguous borders, have shared resources, ecosystems and challenges. Conservation relationships between the US and Mexico have a long history. The first U.S. and Mexico International Park Agreement was signed on November 24, 1935. This paper discusses outcomes of workshops and dialogue regarding current issues and opportunities in conservation partnerships along the US-Mexico border
- Type
- Unpublished Report
- Authors
- Swann, Don; Christianson, David; Galan, Mario; Manteca, Mirna; Avilla, Sergio; Bentley, Christopher
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- ORPI , SAGU
- Keywords
- Ajos-Bavispe National Forest Reserve, Antilocapra americana sonoriensis, Big Bend National Park, Canis lupus baileyi, Chiricahua National Monument, conservation, Coronado National Memorial, desert bighorn sheep, ecosystems, felids, Franklin D. Roosevelt, jaguars, Madrean Conference, Manual Avila Camacho, Mexican grey wolves, Migratory Birds Treaty Act, Ovis canadensis nelsoni, Panthera onca, Pinacate-Organ Pipe-Cabeza Prieta region, protected areas, Saguaro National Park, Sierra de Alamos - Rio Cuchujaqui, Sister parks, Sonora, Sonoran pronghorn, Southeastern Arizona borderlands, threatened and protected species, US-Mexico border, watershed, wildlife refuge