Jacob Scherr
Jacob Scherr is the director of NRDC's international program and he co-directed our Campaign to Save the Gray Whale Nursery.
Reflections on Laguna San Ignacio
When I think about Laguna San Ignacio, the word that often first pops to mind is "connection". It was over a telephonic connection to Mexico City in 1995 that I first heard of the lagoon. I got a call from Homero and Betty Aridjis of the Grupo de los Cien whom I had gotten to know well during the debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement. They told me about plans by the Mitsubishi Corporation and its Mexican partners to build the world's largest salt works on the shores of Laguna San Ignacio -- the last pristine nursery for the gray whale -- in Baja California Sur. They wanted to know if NRDC would be willing to join with other Mexican and American groups in opposing the salt works. That connection was the start of one of the largest environmental campaigns in history.
Two years later, I finally got to visit the laguna on our first advocacy mission there. I can still remember the awe I felt as I stood at Punta Piedra one morning and scanned the lagoon seeing whales blowing, spy hopping, and in the distance one breaching. The wind was blowing and pushing to my lungs some of the purest air I have ever experienced. One feels humbled in this vast landscape where the desert meets the sea and there is a renewed connection with nature.
Then we went out in the pangas to experience very close encounters with the friendly whales of Laguna San Ignacio. I was excited when a gray whale mother and calf surfaced near the boat and when I had a chance to touch -- or even on occasion to kiss -- a whale. They clearly wanted the contact with us. For the first time, I understood the extraordinary connection between whales and human beings. As our campaign against the salt works picked up steam, I was amazed by the numbers of organizations and individuals who wanted to help to save Laguna San Ignacio. The campaign eventually grew to encompass activities in Mexico, United States, Japan, Europe, and at the United Nations. In the end, using the connecting power of the emerging internet, we were able to generate about a million messages to Mitsubishi opposing the project.
Exactly 10 years ago, I got an unexpected call on mobile phone while sitting on the runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York. It was a bad connection from Mexico City, but I could hear the New York Times reporter asking for NRDC's reaction to the news that President Zedillo had announced that the salt works project was to be cancelled. However, this was not the end of NRDC's engagement with the laguna.
We had worked hard to build relationships with the communities around the laguna. We recognized that we needed to continue to work with the communities to provide sustainable economic alternatives. It is gratifying for me to go back to the laguna each year and to see that the efforts we have made to invest there have had an impact. Almost all of boats now are equipped with cleaner, more efficient four-stroke engines. The local school has been expanded and equipped with solar power and computers. The children of the laguna are now much more connected to the rest of the world. We have made real progress in securing conservation easements on lands around the area, which has provided funds for the creation of new small businesses.
Over the years, I have had the chance to travel to the laguna with hundreds of people -- with fellow advocates at NRDC and other organizations, scientists, journalists, NRDC members and supporters. Many have told me that the experience there has been "life-changing". Invariably they too make a deep and lasting connection to this very special place.
