Designing and Establishing Conservation Areas in the Baja California-Southern California Border Region
DRAFT • NOT FOR QUOTATION Designing and Establishing Conservation Areas in the Baja California-Southern California Border Region Michael D. White, Jerre Ann Stallcup, Katherine Comer, Miguel Angel Vargas, Jose Maria Beltran- Abaunza, Fernando Ochoa, and Scott Morrison ABSTRACT The border region of Baja California in Mexico and California in the United States is a biologically diverse and unique landscape that forms a portion of one of the world’s global biodiversity hotspots. While the natural resources of this border region are continuous and interconnected, land conservation practices on either side of the international boundary that bisects this area are quite different. These binational differences place certain natural resources, ecological processes, and wildlife movement patterns at risk of falling through the cracks of conservation efforts implemented in each country. Thus, effective conservation in this region requires binational cooperation with respect to conservation planning and implementation. This paper describes the differences in land conservation patterns and land conservation mechanisms between Baja California and Alta California (Southern California). The Las Californias Binational Conservation Initiative is discussed as a case study for binational cooperation in conservation planning. Diseñando y Estableciendo Áreas de Conservación en la Región Fronteriza Baja California-Sur de California Michael D. White, Jerre Ann Stallcup, Katherine Comer, Miguel Angel Vargas, Jose Maria Beltran- Abaunza, Fernando Ochoa, y Scott Morrison RESUMEN La región fronteriza de Baja California en México y California en los Estados Unidos es un paisaje único y biológicamente diverso que forma una porción de una de las zonas clave (hotspots) de biodiversidad global en el mundo. Mientras que los recursos naturales de esta región fronteriza son continuos e interconectados, las prácticas de conservación del suelo en ambos lados de la frontera internacional que divide en dos esta área son realmente diferentes.
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