Mexican Charities Team Up for Flamingo Conservation

Flamingos in Mexico - Photo by HGUFoto/Shutterstock.com

Three Mexican charities announced a joint effort to protect Caribbean flamingo habitats in the Yucatán Peninsula.

Fundación AXA México, Fundación Pedro y Elena Hernández A.C. (FPEH), and Fundación Elisa Carrillo Cabrera A.C. have come together to push this project forward.

The goal of the collaboration is twofold, according to the Yucatán Times: to gain a better understanding of the flamingo, and to promote environmental awareness for the fabulous fowl among the people of the peninsula’s Protected Natural Areas.

FPEH has already been running studies surrounding flamingos for nearly a decade. Since 2015, the organization has worked in conjunction with other groups to conduct the Flamingo Monitoring Program. 

Now, their newest partners will help them with the cause. Starting this year, Fundación AXA México will aid in the direct acts of watching, recording, and learning from flamingo behavior in the region. They will also take an active role in introducing students in the area to the life and plights of the pink birds. Ideally, this will reach almost 1,500 students and more than 60 teachers.

“(The Caribbean flamingo’s) importance lies not only in its beauty and tourist attraction, which contribute significantly to generating local economics, but also in its crucial ecological role,” Fundación AXA México wrote on its website.

Elisa Carrillo, the first Mexican to win the three premier international dancing awards, is serving as an ambassador for the campaign.

Caribbean Flamingos in the Yucatán Peninsula

Also known as American flamingos, Caribbean flamingos are native throughout the sea from which they earned their name. It is the only flamingo that is natural to North America.

The Yucatán is a hotbed for these birds. It’s one of the best places on the planet to see flamingos in the wild. But there are some concerns about their future on the peninsula.

As the earth’s climate changes, so too do habitats across the globe. Caribbean flamingos are big lovers of wetlands. It’s where they find their food, make their nests, and stay safe from most would-be predators. But the Yucatán wetlands are not what they used to be.

A wide range of reasons are responsible, according to Tamara Blazquez Haik of Photographers Without Borders. In February, the site published a photo series exhibiting the vanishing wetlands of the famous peninsula and the devastation it has had on local wildlife, including flamingos.

“Sadly, these wetlands, mangrove forests and the flamingos - one of the Yucatán’s top tourist attractions - are being threatened by illegal deforestation, agricultural and industrial activities, water drainage and pollution, growing urbanization, feral dogs and cats, and climate change; the latter affecting hydrological cycles as well as water temperature in these habitats.” the writer explained.

Flamingo arch, Celestún, Yucatan, Mexico. From my archive. pic.twitter.com/ymgg5Yl6kp

— Richard Summerbell (@Akiliense) March 7, 2024

But it’s not all doom and gloom. The tides appear to be turning, at least from the perspective of Fernanda Linage, a conservation photographer who has worked for flamingo and ecosystem protection for years.

“There was a time when the communities had forgotten to treat the wetlands with respect,” she told Haik, “But thanks to environmental education and by rekindling their bonds to nature, sustainability has once again become a big part of the local communities’ lifestyle.”