The Sierra de Cayey, in the southeast corner of Puerto Rico’s Central Mountain Range, houses some of the island’s most important ecosystems. The site is crucial to Puerto Rico’s endemic amphibians and plants, as well as local birds. But expanding agricultural development threatens to destroy the region’s forests. The growing specter of climate change could also upend these fragile, climate-dependent ecosystems.

In light of these threats, Rainforest Trust and local partner Para la Naturaleza (PLN) have worked to protect these forests. And this summer, the two organizations purchased 112 acres of critical habitat in the area. The acquired property sits next to the Carite State Forest and expands the Ulpiano Casal Natural Protected Area, helping to grow this vital network of protected areas.

The Sierra de Cayey. Photo courtesy of Para la Naturaleza.

The Sierra de Cayey is home to 15 of Puerto Rico’s 18 endemic amphibian species. Amphibians like these often require precise microhabitats with specific climates to survive. But as development continues and the climate crisis upends ecosystems around the world, these microhabitats disappear. Protecting large tracts of forest is necessary to buffer the worst effects of climate change on amphibians.

These threats haven’t spared the secluded island amphibian populations of Puerto Rico. In fact, three of the area’s endemic species, the Villalba Robber Frog, Karl’s Robber Frog and Eleutherodactylus jasperi, are already likely extinct. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists all three as Critically Endangered, but scientists have not observed any of these species in at least 30 years. By expanding the reserve network, this new purchase reduces habitat fragmentation and prevents development. This protection will help reduce the cumulative impact of climate change and fragmented habitat for amphibians and other wildlife in Sierra de Cayey.

Eleutherodactylus wightmanae, an Endangered frog native to Puerto Rico. Photo courtesy of Para la Naturaleza.

But amphibians aren’t the only species to benefit from this new protection. The area is a Key Biodiversity Area and has some of the highest tree species diversity and endemism in Puerto Rico. Resident species include communities of ferns and lycophytes, as well as the Critically Endangered Palo de Jazmin, one of Puerto Rico’s rarest endemic trees. Human communities will also benefit from this protection, since these forests contain the headwaters of the Río Grande de Loíza, which provides water to over half of the people living in Puerto Rico’s capital.

Para la Naturaleza, who already protects 33,000 acres across the island, will integrate this property into the Ulpiano Casal Natural Protected Area and develop a management plan. Immediate management steps include marking boundaries, inventorying biodiversity and restoring degraded habitat.

“Expanding protections in Sierra de Cayey is vital to the future of Puerto Rico’s biodiversity,” said Angela Yang, Rainforest Trust’s Chief Conservation Officer. “Only through safeguarding these forests for wildlife and people can we secure a sustainable future for the island.”

Header photo courtesy of Para la Naturaleza.

This project was made possible through the generous support of our partner, Para la Naturaleza, donors to this project and the Conservation Action Fund, and the SAVES Challenge.

Rare tortoises, nesting and migratory birds, unique lizards and a variety of mammals are set to benefit from the recent purchase of a 18,850-acre former cattle ranch, Rancho Guimbalete, in Mexico’s Chihuahuan Desert. Rainforest Trust, Turtle Conservancy and its local affiliate HABIO, A.C. and Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC) partnered on a deal to purchase the ranch, which will be converted into a desert wildlife refuge. 

Rancho Guimbalete, which is in the state of Coahuila on the northern edge of the Bolsón de Mapimí Biosphere Reserve, covers a large tract of mostly undamaged Chihuahuan desert vegetation and is home to a range of resident and migratory wildlife. This includes the Critically Endangered Bolson Tortoise, which “was recently uplisted from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature,” said Stephanie Wester, Latin America Conservation Officer at Rainforest Trust. “It is incredible that over 18,000 acres are now protected for this species and other wildlife.”

Critically Endangered Bolson Tortoise. Photo by Maurice Rodrigues/Turtle Conservancy.

Rancho Guimbalete is also home to lizards that live only in the local sand dunes, nesting birds and migratory birds that stop to feed and rest at the seasonal wetlands and a variety of resident mammals, such as kangaroo rats, Mule Deer and Pumas. The ranch is also home to an incredible diversity of cacti, herbs and shrub species. 

“Wild desert landscapes all over northern Mexico are being lost to overgrazing and, even worse, conversion to irrigated crop agriculture,” said Eric Goode, president of Turtle Conservancy. “These drylands cannot sustain agriculture for very long. But when exploiting them, native plants and animals are lost, and the landscape is forever changed for the worse. We lose wilderness, and we can never replace that.” 

Under the leadership of HABIO, A.C., a Mexican NGO dedicated to biodiversity conservation in the country’s northern deserts, the ranch will now be managed primarily to protect the biodiversity found there. The ranch will also serve as a buffer zone for the neighboring Bolsón de Mapimí Biosphere Reserve, which the Mexican government established in 1977 and is a candidate Key Biodiversity Area. The site of global importance for the persistence of biodiversity. 

“We are particularly grateful to the previous owners of the ranch, who used it to raise cattle but did it in an environmentally sensitive way,” said Peter Paul van Dijk, a senior associate scientist with GWC. “They prevented overgrazing and resisted the temptation to introduce damaging non-native grass species as fodder for their cows. Their care for the land safeguarded its biodiversity.”

In addition to putting an end to cattle grazing — which will help spur the recovery of grasslands habitat — HABIO, A.C. will implement management strategies that minimize erosion, encourage vegetation recovery, increase water availability for native wildlife and prevent agricultural land use.

“The purchase of Rancho Guimbalete by HABIO, so that it can be managed in the future for biodiversity conservation, represents a significant step forward for the conservation of the Bolsón de Mapimi’s unique biology and landscape,” said Judith Rios, treasurer of HABIO, A.C.

As many as 200 bird species, 70 mammal species, and 50 reptile and amphibian species potentially live in or use the ranch habitat, though future surveys will confirm the exact number of species that will benefit from the protection of the ranch. Habitat destruction and poaching are the biggest threats to the wildlife that live here, in addition to more severe droughts that result from climate change. 

This purchase was made possible through the generous support of the Rainforest Trust Conservation Action Fund and SAVES Challenge, the Turtle Conservancy and Global Wildlife Conservation. 

Header image: The Guimbalete Ranch covers extensive areas of Chihuahuan desert vegetation backing up to the foothills of the Sierra Mojada. Photo by Peter Paul van Dijk, Global Wildlife Conservation and Turtle Conservancy. 

Rainforest Trust and local partner Wildlife Conservation Society (WSC) recently worked together to establish the Nijhum Dwip Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the northern Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh. The new protected area encompasses 1,222 miles of brackish water habitat at the mouth of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers, which come together to create the world’s third largest river system. The MPA will play an important role in connecting marine conservation in the region to productive fisheries and other offshore protected areas. 

According to a recent at-sea survey conducted by WCS, the waters of Nijhum Dwip are a biodiversity hotspot home to an array of iconic marine wildlife. Some of the world’s largest populations of endangered dolphins, porpoises, sharks, rays and marine turtles can be found in the MPA. 

Citizen scientists releasing the Critically Endangered Hawksbill Turtle. Photo by WCS.

The new protected area will safeguard at least 15 threatened marine species, including the Endangered Irrawaddy Dolphin, Olive Ridley turtle and Scalloped Hammerhead shark. The habitat will also serve as key spawning grounds and provide migration routes for the Hilsa shad, Bangladesh’s most treasured species of fish. Known locally as the “King of Fish,” the Hilsa shad is considered a delicacy due to its soft and oily texture. The sustainable catching and consumption of this fish is critical to Bangladesh and its communities. The Hilsa fishery employs about 2.5 million people and generates over 1.3 billion dollars for the national economy. 

“Declaration of the Nijhum Dwip MPA is a huge opportunity for marine conservation in Bangladesh,” said Dr. Wahab Md Abdul, Team Leader for the USAID supported EcoFish Project. “This is due to its location that covers habitat vital to the spawning and migration of the economically valuable Hilsa shad and for protecting of threatened marine biodiversity, including charismatic wildlife such as dolphins and hammerhead sharks.”

Bottlenose Dolphin and survey vessel. Photo by WCS.

Marine species are not the only wildlife that are set to benefit from Nijhum Dwip. The intertidal mudflats shared by the MPA and the Nijhum Dwip National Park serve as critical migratory feeding habitat for a variety of threatened shorebirds, including the Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper.

The new MPA is a critical step in creating an effectively managed network of marine protected areas in Bangladesh. The protection of this habitat will provide safety for marine biodiversity at global risk of extinction, and sustain fisheries vital to food security, local livelihoods and the national economy. 

Header image: Endangered Irrawaddy Dolphins leaping. Photo by WCS.