Editorial:
Moving Forward…Yes We Can!

Welcome to our first edition of Melóncoyote. Through our grassroots journalism project, which is open to community input and participation, we hope to connect individuals who are interested in actively protecting the environment here in the Gulf of California region. In this issue, we highlight a number of local efforts where work is being done to assure sustainable development in northwest Mexico. 

The first of these projects involves the protection of the Vaquita porpoise which, according to award-winning environmental journalist César Angulo, can be a force for change in the area, but only as long as the conservation efforts are well managed and money well spent in trying to save this unique porpoise from extinction.

Among the most promising means of economic development and environmental sustainability for the region is low-impact tourism.  Emma Ambriz, a land cooperative activist from Villa Jesús María, B.C., makes her journalistic debut when she writes about how tourism could solve the economic crisis in Guerrero Negro, B.C.S., a community impoverished by the salt industry’s extractive production model (an industry that is ironically the basis of the community’s existence).

Meanwhile, journalist Soyna Daniels, with more than 20 years of experience in radio in the capital of Sonora, shows us in “The Sierra de Álamos: an ecotourism project” how local residents have worked to restore the historical legacy of a town, in the process creating environmentally friendly employment opportunities for the area.

How a fishing business grows to become lucrative enough to support many families, while also improving the measures taken to avoid marine contamination, is the focus of “PROPEGUAY proves sardine cannery ‘can do’ good for the environment” by Javier Osvaldo Díaz Mendoza, Ana Karen Germán Castro and Carolina Contreras Sánchez, students from CETMAR No. 3 in Guaymas, Sonora.

The members of the Meloncoyote team are grateful for the commitment of everyone involved in this project, with special thanks to Lydia Gurrola for her editing and production organization; Aaron Lima for his design; and Debra Valov for giving us a home on the Internet and translating the bulletin into English.

Knowing full well that we are only a small part of what could be a huge transition towards sustainability, we hope for the support, participation and suggestions of community members in future issues and thus hope to put into action the belief that grassroots organizing is our greatest hope for positive change.  If we organize, we can move forward together.   We invite others to join with us, to participate in the building of this medium and to fight for a stable future for the region.

All of the work done on behalf of Melóncoyote is voluntary.