From:    Kunin/Guzmich 
Subject: Mexico Project added to Ecologyfund

Ecologyfund (www.ecologyfund.com) has just added a new project - "Mexican
Endangered Wildlife".  Clicks benefit Pronatura, Mexico's largest
conservation organization and The Wildlands Project of Arizona, which is
also involved in the protection of the Mexican Thick-billed parrot.
Ecologyfund is supporting two Pronatura projects in Northern Mexico, 1)
creating an 8,000 acre reserve in the Cuatro Cienegas Valley and 2)
protecting a 6,000 acre forest in the Sierra Madre.

The effort to save the endangered parrot (less than 2000 breeding pairs
exist), and hopefully reintroduce it to the United States is centered on
protecting a 6,000 acre forest in the Sierra Madre from being logged
(scheduled for 2002).  This area has the largest population of breeding
pairs of parrots.  Ecologyfund is helping Pronatura and The Wildlands
Project pay for a 15 year lease of the land from the forest cooperative that
owns it.  Promoting Eco-tourism, and helping the cooperative get sustainable
wood certification for other areas that are sustainably managed, should
ensure the parrots survival even after the lease expires, because the
community will be receiving more income from keeping the forest intact.
Efforts to extend the range in Mexico and eventually into the "Sky Islands"
of the Southwestern United States also depend on this forest in the Sierra
Madre.

The Cuatro Cienegas Basin is a geologic marvel that has had a constant water
source in the desert for thousands of years.  The result is over 100 endemic
plant or animal species that only live in the valley including 32 that are
listed as needing some level of protection.  The Pozas Azules are an
extensive series of cenote springs some of which contain stromatolites.  The
valley also contains tufa deposits, thermal springs and rare gypsum dunes.

More information about both of these projects is available on the site.  All
money from clicking on Ecologyfund is paid for by sponsors, and is sent
directly to the projects to protect threatened wilderness areas.  There are
no deductions for administrative expenses.  There are now 5 Ecologyfund
projects: 1)Amazon Rainforest, 2)Mexican Wildlife Habitat, 3)Canadian
Wildlands, 4)USA Wilderness Areas, and 5) Patagonian Coastal Reserve.

Tim Kunin (kunin@prodigy.net)

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