Commission for Environmental Cooperation Please cite as: CEC. 2014. Conservation Assessment for the Big Bend-Río Bravo Region: A Binational Collaborative Approach to Conservation. Montreal, QC: Commission for Environmental Cooperation. 106 pp. This document was drafted by the CEC Secretariat, members of the Big Bend- Río Bravo Steering Committee, and other experts. The information contained herein does not represent the views of the CEC, or the governments of Canada, Mexico or the United States of America. Reproduction of this document whole or in part and in any form for educational or nonprofit purposes may be made without special permission from the CEC Secretariat, provided acknowledgment of the source is made. Except where otherwise noted, this work is protected under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial-No Derivative Works License. © Commission for Environmental Cooperation, 2014 ISBN: 978-2-89700-030-1 Disponible en español – ISBN: 978-2-89700-031-8 Disponible en français (Sommaire de rapport) Legal Deposit – Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, 2014 Legal Deposit – Library and Archives Canada, 2014 Publication Details Type: Project Publication Date: April 2014 Original language: English Review and quality assurance procedures: Final Party review: April–May 2013 QA12.24 Operational Plan 2011-2012 Project – Big Bend-Río Bravo Collaboration for Transboundary Landscape Conservation/ North American Invasive Species Network. For more information: Commission for Environmental Cooperation 393, rue St-Jacques Ouest, Bureau 200 Montréal (Québec) Canada H2Y 1N9 t (514) 350-4300 f (514) 350-4314 [email protected] / www.cec.org Editors María Dolores Wesson and Catherine Hallmich, CEC Secretariat Jeffery Bennett, National Park Service Carlos Alberto Sifuentes Lugo and Ángel Frías García, Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas Aimee Michelle Roberson, US Fish and Wildlife Service John Karges, The Nature Conservancy Gary P. Garrett, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Collaborating Authors Gerardo Arturo Bezanilla Enriquez, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua Mark Briggs, World Wildlife Fund Hernando Cabral Perdomo, World Wildlife Fund Mexico Rogelio Carrera, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León Claudia N. Castillo Jiménez, Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas José Antonio Dávila Paulin, Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas Juan Antonio Encina Domínguez, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro Alejandro Espinosa Treviño, Cemex César Alberto González-Zuarth, Universidad Autónoma de Campeche Louis Harveson, Sul Ross State University David Larson, National Park Service Pablo A. Lavín Murcio, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro Mark Lockwood, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Felix Lumbreras, Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas Andrés Nájera Díaz, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro Helen M. Poulos, Wesleyan University José Roberto Rodríguez Salazar, Grassland bird specialist Samuel Sandoval Solis, University of California, Davis Joseph Sirotnak, National Park Service Raymond Skiles, National Park Service Francisco Torralba González, Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas Kevin Urbanczyk, Sul Ross State University Elizabeth Verdecchia, International Boundary and Water Commission Conservation Assessment for the Big Bend-Río Bravo Region iii Technical Support Jane Barr and Jürgen Hoth (editors) Jacqueline Fortson and Douglas Kirk (CEC editors) Gray Fraser (graphic design) Mihaela Vulpescu (reviewer) Acknowledgements Eduardo Peters, Margarita Caso and Pablo Zamorano de Haro, Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Cambio Climático Mario López Pérez, Carla Hernandez Rivas & Sergio Naranjo, Comisión Nacional del Agua Antonio Rascón, Fabián Márquez Ávila & Ramiro Luján, Comisión Internacional de Límites y Aguas Gilbert Anaya, International Boundary and Water Commission Patricia Koleff Osario and Ana Isabel Gonzalez, Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad Eglantina Canales Gutiérrez, Secretaría de Medioambiente del Gobierno de Coahuila David Crum, Land & Minerals Management Osvel Hinojosa, Pronatura Noroeste Gabriel Holschneider, Rainmaker Group Bonnie McKinney and Billy Pat McKinney, Cemex Guillermo Osuna, Conservadores de Ecosistemas del Puerto del Pino Robert Potts, The Dixon Water Foundation Lorenzo J. de Rosenzweig, Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza A.C. Francisco Zamora, Sonora Institute See the full list of the Experts’ Meeting participants in the Appendix. iv Commission for Environmental Cooperation Foreword On behalf of the US Department of the Interior (DOI), I would like to personally congratulate everyone who contributed to the development of the “Conservation Assessment for the Big Bend-Río Bravo Region: A Binational Collaborative Approach to Conservation.” I am confident that the Assessment will be used to guide and inform important conservation decisions for years to come and I am hopeful that this unique and cooperative approach to conservation will be replicated elsewhere. By implementing the Recommendations outlined in the Assessment, we can collectively work to protect the extraordinary biological diversity of this shared desert ecosystem for current and future generations. I would also like to recognize the tireless efforts of Jeff Bennett at the National Park Service and Carlos Sifuentes at Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas, who graciously volunteered to serve as the co-chairs for the Big Bend-Río Bravo Steering Committee. Finally, I would like to thank the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) for its generous technical and financial support, without which this project would not have been possible. When Big Bend National Park was established on 12 June 1944, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the United States of America wrote to President Manuel Ávila Camacho of Mexico, “I do not believe that this undertaking in the Big Bend will be complete until the entire park area in this region on both sides of the Rio Grande forms one great international park.” Almost 70 years later, we celebrate the latest step in the long and productive history of bilateral cooperation in the conservation of natural and cultural resources between the United States and Mexico with the publication of this robust and scientifically-grounded Conservation Assessment. Lori Faeth Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs US Department of the Interior The Big Bend-Río Bravo natural area of binational interest builds on nearly 70 years of purposeful efforts between the governments of Mexico and the United States, aimed at conserving more than 1.3 million hectares of unique and highly diverse landscapes and ecosystems. This initiative strengthens our common objective of transboundary conservation in one of the most diverse areas among the world’s arid and semi-arid ecosystems. The CEC project, “Big Bend-Río Bravo Collaboration for Transboundary Landscape Conservation,” has brought about a renewed agenda for binational conservation; it has fostered effective partnerships among various stakeholders and supported crucial restoration actions. For Mexico, this project sets an important precedent for future binational conservation efforts along the country’s northern and southern borders. The present publication is the fruit of the work of the project and represents a cornerstone for conservation policies between the two countries, based on assessments from multiple actors, and will define conservation and restoration priorities for years to come. It is Conanp’s wish that the strategic binational efforts embodied in this Assessment be promoted and strengthened in future conservation policies for this exceptional landscape—a vital part of the natural heritage of our two countries. Luis Fueyo Mac Donald National Commissioner of Natural Protected Areas (Mexico) Conservation Assessment for the Big Bend-Río Bravo Region v Desert bighorn sheep Photo:vi Marieke Ijsendoorn-KuijpersCommission for Environmental Cooperation Table of Contents Foreword v Executive Summary ix Background xi Purpose xi Process xii Priority Conservation Areas in the Big Bend-Río Bravo Region (map) 1 Conservation Targets (table) 2 Protected Areas in the United States and Mexico 15 International Treaties and Commitments in the Big Bend-Río Bravo region 17 Aquatic and Riparian Habitats 19 Grasslands 43 Mountains 55 General Recommendations (table) 76 References 79 Acronyms 83 Glossary 84 Appendix: Participants in the Experts’ Meeting 87 List of Figures Figure 1: Overview of the process followed to develop the Conservation Assessment xii Figure 2: Detailed description of the process for the development of the Conservation Assessment, including the Experts’ Meeting (steps 1-5), and the public review and peer review (step 6) leading up to the final Conservation Assessment xiii Figure 3: Priority Conservation Areas in the Big Bend-Río Bravo Region grouped by habitat type: Aquatic and Riparian Habitats, Grasslands, and Mountains 1 Wax production from candelilla in Jaboncillos, Coahuila Photo:viii María DoloresCommission Wesson for Environmental Cooperation Executive Summary The borderlands of the Chihuahuan Desert, in the Big that facilitated their focus on priority in the region. This Bend-Río Bravo (BBRB; the Rio Grande is known as analysis was used to compile a list of recommendations the Río Bravo in Mexico) region, have one of the high- applicable to the entire region of interest, and to identify est levels of diversity and endemic