Wildlife protection is among the chief aims of naming Lake Chapala as a wetlands site covered under the Ramsar Convention. The formal designation-projected for early next year-should help consolidate Mexico’s overall efforts to check environmental degradation of the country’s largest lake and its vast watershed.

Ramsar Treaty

The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty formed in 1971 on the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands as waterfowl habitat. The Convention encourages the designation of sites containing representative, rare or unique wetlands, or wetlands that are important for conserving biological diversity, recognizing their fundamental ecological functions and economic, cultural, scientific and recreational value. Its broad aims are to stem encroachment on and loss of wetlands and to conserve those that remain through wise use and management. Achieving those goals requires international cooperation, policy-making, capacity building and technology transfer.

To date, 158 parties have signed the Convention, putting 1,758 wetland sites worldwide on the Ramsar list. With 86 sites already enrolled, Mexico holds second place among signatory nations for the number of designated locations.

Chapala initiative

The State Committee for the Environmental Protection of Jalisco Wetlands (CEPAHJ) brings together state and federal officials, academic experts and non-government organizations to oversee issues related to conserving Jalisco’s wetlands. These people  have been dedicated to drawing together the requisite documentation to file for Ramsar status in the last year.

Significant characteristics that qualify Lake Chapala include its position as Mexico’s largest lake and the third largest lake in Latin America, and more importantly, its value both as the native habitat for unique fish species such as the charal and pescado blanco (Chirostoma genus) and as a sanctuary for more than 20,000 endemic and migratory birds. Various types of native lake region fauna are included on the nation’s list of endangered and protected species. 

Ordorica referred to the February 2 designation date as a starting point for the development of a coherent management plan for Lake Chapala that will incorporate short, medium and long term restoration and conservation strategies. Mexico will be obligated to implement management strategies to assure that the Lake Chapala’s ecological character is maintained over time.

He underlined that protection under Ramsar does not necessarily imply the application of severe restrictions on the development of tourism projects and other productive activities. Rather he said, restoration and conservation efforts are meant to go hand in hand with sustainable development that is supported by scientific research and linked to the participation of the region’s inhabitants and local governments. He indicated that the Ramsar designation should also facilitate negotiating more comprehensive conservation programs that involve state governments throughout the entire Lerma-Chapala basin.

Detailed information on the Ramsar Convention is available on line at www.ramsar.org.

Lake recovery

According to statistics reported August 13 by the National Water Commission (CNA), Lake Chapala has gained 88 centimeters in elevation since the start of the rainy season — one half meter above the level registered on the same date last year. The lake has reached nearly 66 per cent of its maximum holding capacity. The CNA predicts that the lake could rise to 75 per cent capacity by the October 31 close of the 2007-2008 hydrological cycle.