Latin America

Currently, there are 21 Waterkeeper organizations in eight Latin American nations—Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru—and Puerto Rico.

Major victories:

Vigilantes de Bahía Magdalena (Magdalena Baykeeper) and researchers halted a planned mega-resort development, the Magdalena Secret, in a fragile Baja California coastal mangrove ecosystem after identifying grave potential impacts not mentioned in the tourism project’s Environmental Impact Statement.

Waterkeeper Alliance and key partners, including the Governor of Puerto Rico, secured permanent protection for San Miguel Beach, a vital sea turtle habitat and part of a 3,200-acre tract of forests, wetlands, beaches and coral communities known as the Northeast Ecological Corridor.

Punta Abreojos Coastkeeper played a key role in the capture of Baja California’s most notorious sea turtle poacher, putting an end to the killing of thousands of endangered sea turtles in Baja California.

Cartagena Baykeeper successfully filed the first class-action suit against the city of Cartagena and the trash collection agency for improper and inadequate management of the city’s solid waste.

Parana Waterkeeper organized an extensive network of fishing communities (REDEPESCA) that are actively protecting and monitoring the fish catches in their watershed in central Argentina.

After seven years of negotiations, Bahia de los Angeles Coastkeeper and its parent organization, Pronatura, secured an agreement from Mexico’s President to approve the designation of Bahia de los Angeles as a United Nations Biosphere Reserve, protecting  938,600 acres of critical habitat for marine species, including whale sharks.