The Islas Marías (or Mary's Island) Biosphere Reserve (established 2010) is a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

located in the

Islas Marías The Islas Marías ("Mary Islands") are an archipelago of four islands that belong to Mexico. They are located in the Pacific Ocean, some off the coast of the mexican state, state of Nayarit and about southeast of the tip of Baja California. The ...

in the municipality (''municipio'') of

San Blas, Nayarit San Blas is both a municipality and municipal seat located on the Pacific coast of Mexico in Nayarit. City San Blas is a port and popular tourist destination, located about north of Puerto Vallarta, and west of the state capital Tepic, and th ...

, Mexico. The reserve includes

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

s with a great wealth of species of biological, economic, scientific and cultural relevance. Its biological wealth is to be found in the dry forests of its landscape, in the

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

s, the succulent rosette

scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, Herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or ...

, the reefs, coasts and pelagic environments it harbors.

Human activities

Since 1905 the

Islas Marías Federal Prison The Islas Marías Federal Penal Colony was a penitentiary establishment of the Federal Government of Mexico, administered through the Federal Secretariat of Public Security. It is located on Isla María Madre, the northernmost and largest island ...

has operated on María Madre Island, using the island’s natural resources. The prison colony is mainly engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry, forest harvesting and fishing. In this respect, in order to protect and conserve the reserve’s natural resources and the ecological processes that take place there, it is important to promote sustainable resource use and guarantee ecosystem conservation and integrity to enable the population of the Penitentiary Colony to remain on the island in the long term. One of the strategic lines established in the reserve’s Conservation and Management Plan is to include environmental conservation in the social re-adaptation process promoted by the penitentiary authorities, by involving the inhabitants of the penitentiary in natural resource protection and sustainable management activities.

Ecological characteristics

Because of its isolation for over eight million years, Islas Marías' importance as an ecosystem is manifest in its function as a reservoir to Mexico of

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

species. Fifty-four species of land and marine

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

are protected under some risk category and of these, 19 are endemic. Regarding the flora, 11 endemic or restricted distribution taxa have been recorded, together with six species (one endemic) that are included in a risk category according to NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2001. Furthermore, the reserve is an important refuge, nesting and feeding site for large colonies of sea birds. The marine environment is highly productive, reflected in the great diversity of organisms to be found, such as coral reefs, reef-fish, sharks, rays, turtles and marine mammals.

Flora and fauna

According to the National Biodiversity Information System of

Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad The Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO; en, National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity) is a permanent inter-ministerial commission of the Federal Mexican government, created in 1992. It ...

(CONABIO) in Islas Marías Biosphere Reserve there are over 945 plant and animal species from which 29 are in at risk category and 12 are exotics.

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Islas Marias Biosphere Reserve Biosphere reserves of Mexico Protected areas of Nayarit Islas Marías Jalisco dry forests