Mapastepec is a small coastal town located between two Biosphere Reserves of global importance: El Triunfo, the last great remnant of cloud forest in Mexico, and La Encrucijada, a wetland of global importance and a RAMSAR site.
Despite their proximity to the reserves, the population is not familiar with the nature areas that surround them, is unfamiliar with the environmental services that the reserves provide, does not value the biodiversity that exists in their midst, and therefore does not do anything to conserve this diversity.
“Héroes del Triunfo” [Heroes of el Triunfo] is an environmental education group that creates camps where children from the town can get closer to nature, make a connection with it, fall in love with the natural environment and radically change their way of relating to it. For example, replacing the slingshot with a birding guide and sharing what they have learned with their families and friends.
Read full report here