Along the northern coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, communities, tourists, developers, and conservation groups like WWF are working together to protect and restore mangroves and to improve people’s lives.
“My mother fished, she taught my brother to fish, she taught my two sisters to fish—and me,” says Sandy Marruto, who fishes among the mangroves near San Felipe, Mexico. For Marruto and others here, family and tradition run deep. So does a reverence for the ocean, mangroves, and wildlife—marine wildlife in particular.
The coast of the Yucatán Peninsula holds great biological diversity. Its mangroves, sand dunes, and other ecosystems are home to species including flamingos, sea turtles, and even jaguars. WWF is working to support local communities that rely on these ecosystems and, ultimately, to help conserve the remaining habitats and restore the fragments that have been degraded. This work matters now and for the future; mangroves are critical tools to fight and minimize the impacts of climate change.
Meet some of the people WWF is working with to build reliable and resilient livelihoods as they protect and restore the mangroves that contribute so much to their lives.