Rising water temperatures cause more episodes of coral bleaching, which is devastating to reefs and the wildlife that depend on them. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law. For example, through our global partnership, we have successfully engaged all of the Coca-Cola Company’s bottlers in the region in our water saving efforts.WWF develops strategies that enable communities to adapt to climate change and prepare for climate-induced weather events, such as drought and stronger storms. We work with such groups to support their efforts to secure their land and confront key threats within it. By keeping critical landscapes in tact, they are ensuring clean, abundant freshwater can continue to flow through important economic areas of the country and safely into the reef’s water.Rising water temperatures cause more episodes of coral bleaching, which is devastating to reefs and the wildlife that depend on them.For over 60 years, spiny lobster has been the economic backbone of the region’s coastal fishing communities. Communities were encouraged to suggest their own solutions to the threats they face, which can be incorporated into planning to adapt to climate change. Mesoamerica and the U.S Is the ... What Are The Current Threats That The USA Faces Today? Some of these areas are too small to provide adequate protection to the full range of their biodiversity and are vulnerable to outside threats, especially illegal squatters and poaching.In Southern Mesoamerica, contradictory laws have made it difficult to carry out conservation management plans. This protects critical habitats, helps assure the flow of freshwater and strengthens livelihoods in a drought -prone area.
Bank of America will contribute $100 to WWF for each account opened and activated.Make a symbolic turtle adoption to help save some of the world's most endangered animals from extinction and support WWF's conservation efforts.World Wildlife Fund Inc. is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization (tax ID number 52-1693387) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. This includes all of Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, as well as a third of Mexico and nearly two-thirds of Panama. We created an initiative where farmers help protect the water-producing forests in exchange for access to places to grow vegetables for export and for themselves. WWF has built solid relationships with the fishing industry and the Honduran and Nicaraguan governments, resulting in the testing and adoption of a “juvenile-friendly” lobster trap, legislation banning unsustainable fishing practices, and a region-wide ban on lobster fishing during the reproductive season. Thousands of corals have been successfully planted and are being monitored to test their resilience and how they impact their new reef home. The Mesoamerican Reef region lies within the Caribbean Sea and touches the coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. While the national governments of the Mesoamerica Hotspot have declared dozens of new national parks and reserves, many of these areas remain poorly protected. This is a culturally diverse part of the world, which includes Miskito, Garifuna, Caribbean Creole, Q’eqchi’, Mopan, Yucatec Maya and Mestizo people.WWF works with agricultural partners to create a weather monitoring system. The expansion of the road network, logging, agricultural encroachment and livestock production, and the use of wood for cooking have contributed to deforestation. Further inland, rich soils attract large-scale agriculture, whose run-off can severely impact reefs. Eroding shorelines have already been documented, which can affect nesting and reproductive success of marine turtles. And we continue to strive to reduce human activities that impact reefs, so that corals can maintain their resilience in the face of climate change.WWF works with local partners and scientists to see whether damaged reef areas can be restored with species of corals that seem more able to withstand the impacts of disease and warmer water temperatures. At the same time, however, large infrastructure projects could well fuel wide scale habitat destruction if not designed and implemented with adequate protection.Despite appropriate laws and regulations, illegal timber and wildlife harvesting inside Northern Mesoamerica's protected areas is widespread. Such information will enable scientists to measure impacts of climate change over time. Good legislative intentions are frustrated by circumstances and existing legal frameworks that limit the applicability of new legal protection.The advance of the agricultural frontier in the hotspot has rarely occurred in a sustainable manner. Expansion projects along the Panama Canal and construction of a new canal in Nicaragua present major threats in terms of introduction and invasive species to the marine ecosystem. Across Mesoamerica, many indigenous groups struggle with maintaining their rights to their ancestral lands and protecting it from encroaching development, largely driven by cattle ranching. In Mexico, we work at both the state and national level to ensure adoption of sustainable tourism principles. In Mexico, we have helped one small-scale lobster fishery achieve Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, and we’d like to see the industrial lobster fisheries in the region achieve MSC certification as well.Coastal management decisions are extremely complex and involve many tradeoffs, such as the loss of marine habitat due to revenue-generating development projects. Many soils rapidly lost productivity, forcing farmers to move to more fertile lands, those that are forested and even protected.Insecure land tenure and title creates a major disincentive for sustainable agriculture and resource use secure title would anchor farmers in one area rather than requiring them to continuously extend their range into new, forested areas.In Northern Mesoamerica, significant investments hold great promise in terms of introducing new opportunities for economic development and to address the poverty that is a root cause of environmental degradation.