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State of Conservation Islands and Protected ... 2023

Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California

Mexico
Factors affecting the property in 2023*
  • Fishing/collecting aquatic resources
  • Illegal activities
  • Other Threats:

    Serious concerns over the conservation status of two species, vaquita (porpoise species) and totoaba (marine fish)

Factors* affecting the property identified in previous reports
  • Fishing/collecting aquatic resources
  • Illegal activities (illegal fishing)
  • Serious concerns about the imminent extinction of an endemic porpoise species (vaquita) and conservation status of a marine fish (totoaba)
Threats for which the property was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger
  • Imminent extinction of an endemic porpoise species (vaquita) and conservation status of a marine fish (totoaba)
  • Insufficient capacity to control illegal fishing and trafficking activities
  • Presence of unsustainable fishing practices that endanger non-target marine species
Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger

In progress

Timeframe for the implementation of the corrective measures

In Progress

UNESCO Extra-Budgetary Funds until 2023

N/A

International Assistance: requests for the property until 2023
Requests approved: 0
Total amount approved : 0 USD
Missions to the property until 2023**

April 2017: joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission; February 2018: joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission

2018 Report on the joint UNESCO World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to Islands and Protected Areas of ...
2017 Report of the joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to Islands and Protected Areas of the ...
Conservation issues presented to the World Heritage Committee in 2023

On 3 March 2022, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1182/documents/, reporting the following:

  • Acoustic monitoring of the vaquita population in 2021 recorded 23 and 24 acoustic encounters in the Vaquita Refuge Area and the Zero Tolerance Area (ZTA), respectively. Visual surveys recorded eight vaquita observations including at least one calf;
  • Around 100 pangas (fishing vessels) were observed within the ZTA during a 2021 survey;
  • The State Party has complied with commitments under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in relation to the illegal trade of totoaba products. The State Party continues international cooperation, including customs information exchange between destination and transit countries for totoaba products, as well as issuance of notices through the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL);
  • Surveillance and law enforcement through air, sea and land patrols and checkpoints has continued. During 2021, 21,556 inspections were carried out, resulting in the seizure of 15 vessels and 172 items of fishing gear;
  • Penalties associated with illegal totoaba trade have been increased under national law and fisheries regulations have been strengthened, including the Plan of Zero Tolerance in the Vaquita Refuge Area and the establishment of the Intragovernmental Group on Sustainability in the Upper Gulf of California (GIS), amongst others;
  • Recovery of abandoned fishing gear has continued. Between 1 September 2019 and 30 September 2021, 73,101 meters of fishing gear were removed from the Upper Gulf of California (Upper Gulf), with a progressively lower incidence of occurrence over time;
  • Alternative fishing and shellfish aquaculture systems are in place. Further pilot programmes for other fisheries are planned in 2022;
  • In 2018 and 2021, the Permanent Management Effectiveness Assessment System was implemented, incorporating elements of the IUCN Green List Global Standard and Enhancing our Heritage Toolkit, for the 12 serial components of the property. The results are variable, with some components effectively managed or partially effectively managed and two of the components (Cabo San Lucas and Islas Marías) deemed to be partly or largely under ‘ineffective management’;
  • During the 2020 – 2021 fiscal year, $41,369,551 MXN (approximately USD 2.2 Million) was made available for conservation activities in the property).

Throughout 2021-2023, UNESCO and the State Party, in consultation with IUCN, continued the dialogue on the development of the corrective measures and Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR).

On 24 and 25 February 2022, a Technical Workshop to develop the corrective measures and DSOCR was held with participation from the State Party, the World Heritage Centre, IUCN, and civil society.

On 23 April 2022, the State Party submitted an updated proposal for corrective measures and a DSOCR following the results of the Technical Workshop, which was reviewed by IUCN and the World Heritage Centre, discussed with the CITES Secretariat following CITES notification No. 2023/046, and then submitted to the State Party on 17 May 2023.

Analysis and Conclusion by World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in 2023

Noting that less than 10 vaquita individuals were observed in the 2021 surveys, the drastic decline of the vaquita population in recent years remains of critical concern with the species remaining on the brink of extinction. The confirmation that the small and sole remaining population is still breeding, with at least one calf observed, leaves hope that the extinction of the species could still be avoided if the remaining animals can be fully protected and the illegal use of gillnets in the ZTA and the Upper Gulf area effectively addressed.

The measures taken to monitor the population are welcomed and should be encouraged to continue in order to closely monitor the population trend. The cooperation between the State Party and the relevant international institutions and States Parties that are transit and destination countries for illegal totoaba products, in particular the United States of America (USA) and China, including within the framework of the CITES, should also be welcomed, strongly encouraged and strengthened to effectively address the illegal totoaba bladder trade. The Compliance action plan of Mexico for Totoaba, assessed as adequate by the CITES Secretariat in April 2023 (CITES notification No. 2023/046), is particularly welcomed.

The ongoing inter-institutional surveillance and law enforcement efforts aimed at eliminating illegal fishing activities in the Upper Gulf and illegal trafficking of totoaba products are noted. However, the reported figures show that illegal fishing activities clearly continue, indicating that the considerable efforts in enforcement are not fully effective. Given the species is critically endangered, it is therefore recommended that the State Party assess how to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of law enforcement in order to halt all illegal fishing in the ZTA. This remains a crucial factor in avoiding the extinction of the vaquita.

The efforts to retrieve abandoned fishing gear, including through collaboration with civil society organizations, remains essential, and the diminishing number of abandoned nets retrieved from the property could be a positive sign, but might also be linked to the limited success of law enforcement. The State Party should ensure that these efforts are continued alongside increased surveillance and law enforcement to ensure that both abandoned and active gill nets are eliminated from the ZTA, and the area remains completely free of gill nets.

The development of alternative vaquita-safe fishing gear for a number of different fisheries within the Upper Gulf is positive and welcomed. However, given that gill net fishing in the ZTA continues, as evidenced from the information provided on vessel counts and seizures of vessels and gill nets, the State Party should be encouraged to rapidly expedite the deployment of viable alternatives in fisheries that currently rely on the use of illegal gill nets. Moreover, further information is required regarding the level of uptake of the alternative fishing gear across all fishing communities in the Upper Gulf in order to assess the effort to ensure these technologies are successfully implemented at the required scale.

The submission of a proposal for corrective measures and the DSOCR for the property following the technical workshop with UNESCO, IUCN and relevant experts, is noted with appreciation. It is recommended that the Committee approves the corrective measures. However, noting the need for further consultations with relevant stakeholders regarding international cooperation to combat illegal totoaba fishing and trafficking, the State Party should be encouraged to finalise and resubmit the DSOCR. once the necessary consultations with the World Heritage Centre, IUCN and key stakeholders have taken place.

The efforts of the State Party to evaluate the management effectiveness of the property, incorporating elements of the IUCN Green List Global Standard and the Enhancing our Heritage Toolkit, are appreciated. Noting the varied results across the different components of the property, targeted efforts are needed to strengthen the management, especially of the components evaluated as ineffective.

Decisions adopted by the Committee in 2023
45 COM 7A.2
Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California (Mexico) (N 1182ter)

The World Heritage Committee,

  1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/7A,
  2. Recalling Decision 44 COM 7A.56 adopted at its extended 44th session (Fuzhou/online, 2021),
  3. Reiterates its utmost concern about the critical status of the vaquita, specifically recognized as part of the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) and endemic to the Gulf of California, and that illegal fishing of totoaba has continued in the Upper Gulf of California resulting in a threat of imminent extinction of the vaquita species;
  4. Takes note of the confirmation that the small and sole remaining population is still breeding, and that an extinction could still be avoided if the remaining animals can be fully protected and the illegal use of gill nets in the Zero Tolerance Area (ZTA) and the Lower Gulf area effectively enforced;
  5. Welcomes the measures taken to monitor the vaquita population in the property, and encourages the State Party to continue these efforts;
  6. Urges the State Party to implement the following corrective measures, developed by the State Party in close consultation with the World Heritage Centre and IUCN:
    1. Strengthen law enforcement efficiency through increased surveillance and inspection, continuing and further strengthening inter-institutional cooperation in this field,
    2. Introduce the necessary legislative changes to increase the penalties foreseen for illegal traffic, capture, possession, import and export of wildlife species, parts and products considered, threatened, endangered or specially protected and/or regulated under the national law, or by international treaties adopted by the State Party; and strengthen criminal prosecution procedures,
    3. Further strengthen detection and elimination of illegal and derelict fishing gear found in the Vaquita Refuge and the ZTA, in coordination with relevant stakeholders, fishing communities and cooperatives;
    4. Effectively implement the permanent ban on the use of gill nets (including the sale, manufacturing, or possession of all gill nets on land and at sea) in the Vaquita Refuge and the entire distribution range of the species;
    5. Pursue at the highest level of government, the necessary and urgent cooperation with the identified destination and transit countries involved in the illegal trade of totoaba swim bladders, through the implementation of the decisions made by Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and through other existing international mechanisms, such as INTERPOL;
    6. Ensure the large scale roll out of alternative fishing gear systems which do not cause entanglement of vaquita and other protected species already developed by the National Aquaculture and Fishing Commission (CONAPESCA) / National Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture (INAPESCA) in the Upper Gulf of California by providing appropriate incentives and accompanying measures; and develop and promote sustainable fisheries based on environmentally friendly fishing gear throughout the entire property;
  7. Also welcomes the cooperation between the State Party with the relevant international institutions and States Parties to combat illegal trafficking of totoaba products, including within the framework of CITES, and strongly recommends that the State Party of Mexico, together with the States Parties of transit and destination countries, take urgent action in line with all CITES decisions to effectively address the illegal totoaba bladder trade;
  8. Notes the continued surveillance and law enforcement efforts aimed at eliminating illegal fishing activities and illegal trafficking of totoaba products but notes with concern that illegal fishing activities continue and reiterates its request to the State Party to further strengthen these efforts based on a critical assessment of the efficiency of the current efforts on how to improve them;
  9. Further welcomes the ongoing retrieval of abandoned fishing gear, including through collaboration with civil society organizations, and urges the State Party to continue these efforts alongside surveillance and law enforcement to ensure that the ZTA is completely free of gill nets;
  10. Noting that alternative vaquita-safe fishing gear is already available for a number of fisheries, requests the State Party to expedite the production and deployment of alternative gear and provide information on the uptake of alternative gear across all fishing communities of the Upper Gulf of California;
  11. Notes with appreciation the State Party’s efforts to develop the Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR) through ongoing dialogue with the World Heritage Centre and IUCN, and encourages the State Party to finalise and submit the DSOCR following the necessary consultations with key stakeholders, for adoption by the World Heritage Committee at its 46th session;
  12. Also notes with appreciation the efforts of the State Party to evaluate the management effectiveness of the property, and also requests the State Party to undertake targeted efforts address the management weaknesses, especially of the components currently evaluated as ineffective;
  13. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2024, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 46th session;
  14. Decides to retain Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California (Mexico) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Read more
45 COM 8C.2
Update of the List of World Heritage in Danger (Retained Properties)

The World Heritage Committee,

  1. Having examined the state of conservation reports of properties inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger (WHC/23/45.COM/7A, WHC/23/45.COM/7A.Add, WHC/23/45.COM/7A.Add.2, WHC/23/45.COM/7A.Add.3, WHC/23/45.COM/7A.Add.4),
  2. Having examined the recommendations of the Advisory Bodies, decides to retain the following properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger:
  • Afghanistan, Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley (Decision 45 COM 7A.51)
  • Afghanistan, Minaret and Archaeological Remains of Jam (Decision 45 COM 7A.52)
  • Austria, Historic Centre of Vienna (Decision 45 COM 7A.55)
  • Bolivia (Plurinational State of), City of Potosí (Decision 45 COM 7A.18)
  • Central African Republic, Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park (Decision 45 COM 7A.3)
  • Côte d'Ivoire / Guinea, Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve (Decision 45 COM 7A.4)
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo, Garamba National Park (Decision 45 COM 7A.5)
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kahuzi-Biega National Park (Decision 45 COM 7A.6)
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo, Okapi Wildlife Reserve (Decision 45 COM 7A.7)
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo, Virunga National Park (Decision 45 COM 7A.8)
  • Egypt, Abu Mena (Decision 45 COM 7A.26)
  • Honduras, Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve (Decision 45 COM 7A.1)
  • Indonesia, Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (Decision 45 COM 7A.15)
  • Iraq, Ashur (Qal'at Sherqat) (Decision 45 COM 7A.27)
  • Iraq, Hatra (Decision 45 COM 7A.28)
  • Iraq, Samarra Archaeological City (Decision 45 COM 7A.29)
  • Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls (site proposed by Jordan) (Decision 45 COM 7A.31)
  • Kenya, Lake Turkana National Parks (Decision 45 COM 7A.10)
  • Libya, Archaeological Site of Cyrene (Decision 45 COM 7A.33)
  • Libya, Archaeological Site of Leptis Magna (Decision 45 COM 7A.34)
  • Libya, Archaeological Site of Sabratha (Decision 45 COM 7A.35)
  • Libya, Old Town of Ghadamès (Decision 45 COM 7A.36)
  • Libya, Rock-Art Sites of Tadrart Acacus (Decision 45 COM 7A.37)
  • Madagascar, Rainforests of the Atsinanana (Decision 45 COM 7A.11)
  • Mali, Old Towns of Djenné (Decision 45 COM 7A.22)
  • Mali, Timbuktu (Decision 45 COM 7A.23)
  • Mali, Tomb of Askia (Decision 45 COM 7A.24)
  • Mexico, Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California (Decision 45 COM 7A.2)
  • Micronesia (Federated States of), Nan Madol: Ceremonial Centre of Eastern Micronesia (Decision 45 COM 7A.53)
  • Niger, Aïr and Ténéré Natural Reserves (Decision 45 COM 7A.12)
  • Palestine, Palestine: Land of Olives and Vines – Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir (Decision 45 COM 7A.39)
  • Palestine, Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town (Decision 45 COM 7A.38)
  • Panama, Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo (Decision 45 COM 7A.19)
  • Peru, Chan Chan Archaelogical Zone (Decision 45 COM 7A.20)
  • Romania, Roșia Montană Mining Landscape (Decision 45 COM 7A.56)
  • Senegal, Niokolo-Koba National Park (Decision 45 COM 7A.13)
  • Serbia, Medieval Monuments in Kosovo (Decision 45 COM 7A.57)
  • Solomon Islands, East Rennell (Decision 45 COM 7A.16)
  • Syrian Arab Republic, Ancient City of Aleppo (Decision 45 COM 7A.40)
  • Syrian Arab Republic, Ancient City of Bosra (Decision 45 COM 7A.41)
  • Syrian Arab Republic, Ancient City of Damascus (Decision 45 COM 7A.42)
  • Syrian Arab Republic, Ancient Villages of Northern Syria (Decision 45 COM 7A.43)
  • Syrian Arab Republic, Crac des Chevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din (Decision 45COM 7A.44)
  • Syrian Arab Republic, Site of Palmyra (Decision 45 COM 7A.45)
  • United Republic of Tanzania, Selous Game Reserve (Decision 45 COM 7A.14)
  • United States of America, Everglades National Park (Decision 45 COM 7A.17)
  • Uzbekistan, Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz (Decision 45 COM 7A.54)
  • Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Coro and its Port (Decision 45 COM 7A.21)
  • Yemen, Historic Town of Zabid (Decision 45 COM 7A.47)
  • Yemen, Old City of Sana’a (Decision 45 COM 7A.49)
  • Yemen, Old Walled City of Shibam (Decision 45 COM 7A.50)
3.    Recalls that the following properties were inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger at its 18th extraordinary session (UNESCO, 2023):
  • Lebanon, Rachid Karami International Fair-Tripoli (Decision 18 EXT.COM 5.1)
  • Ukraine, The Historic Centre of Odesa (Decision 18 EXT.COM 5.2)
  • Yemen, Landmarks of the Ancient Kingdom of Saba, Marib (Decision 18 EXT.COM 5.3)
Read more
Draft Decision: 45 COM 7A.2

The World Heritage Committee,

  1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/7A,
  2. Recalling Decision 44 COM 7A.56, adopted at its extended 44th session (Fuzhou/online, 2021),
  3. Reiterates its utmost concern about the critical status of the vaquita, specifically recognized as part of the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) and endemic to the Gulf of California, and that illegal fishing of totoaba has continued in the Upper Gulf of California resulting in a threat of imminent extinction of the vaquita species;
  4. Takes note of the confirmation that the small and sole remaining population is still breeding, and that an extinction could still be avoided if the remaining animals can be fully protected and the illegal use of gill nets in the Zero Tolerance Area (ZTA) and the Lower Gulf area effectively enforced;
  5. Welcomes the measures taken to monitor the vaquita population in the property, and encourages the State Party to continue these efforts;
  6. Urges the State Party to implement the following corrective measures, developed by the State Party in close consultation with the World Heritage Centre and IUCN:
    1. Strengthen law enforcement efficiency through increased surveillance and inspection, continuing and further strengthening inter-institutional cooperation in this field,
    2. Introduce the necessary legislative changes to increase the penalties foreseen for illegal traffic, capture, possession, import and export of wildlife species, parts and products considered, threatened, endangered or specially protected and/or regulated under the national law, or by international treaties adopted by the State Party; and strengthen criminal prosecution procedures,
    3. Further strengthen detection and elimination of illegal and derelict fishing gear found in the Vaquita Refuge and the ZTA, in coordination with relevant stakeholders, fishing communities and cooperatives;
    4. Effectively implement the permanent ban on the use of gill nets (including the sale, manufacturing, or possession of all gill nets on land and at sea) in the Vaquita Refuge and the entire distribution range of the species;
    5. Pursue at the highest level of government, the necessary and urgent cooperation with the identified destination and transit countries involved in the illegal trade of totoaba swim bladders, through the implementation of the decisions made by Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and through other existing international mechanisms, such as INTERPOL;
    6. Ensure the large scale roll out of alternative fishing gear systems which do not cause entanglement of vaquita and other protected species already developed by the National Aquaculture and Fishing Commission (CONAPESCA) / National Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture (INAPESCA) in the Upper Gulf of California by providing appropriate incentives and accompanying measures; and develop and promote sustainable fisheries based on environmentally friendly fishing gear throughout the entire property;
  7. Also welcomes the cooperation between the State Party with the relevant international institutions and States Parties to combat illegal trafficking of totoaba products, including within the framework of CITES, and strongly recommends that the State Party of Mexico, together with the States Parties of transit and destination countries, take urgent action in line with all CITES decisions to effectively address the illegal totoaba bladder trade;
  8. Notes the continued surveillance and law enforcement efforts aimed at eliminating illegal fishing activities and illegal trafficking of totoaba products but notes with concern that illegal fishing activities continue and reiterates its request to the State Party to further strengthen these efforts based on a critical assessment of the efficiency of the current efforts on how to improve them;
  9. Further welcomes the ongoing retrieval of abandoned fishing gear, including through collaboration with civil society organizations, and urges the State Party to continue these efforts alongside surveillance and law enforcement to ensure that the ZTA is completely free of gill nets;
  10. Noting that alternative vaquita-safe fishing gear is already available for a number of fisheries, requests the State Party to expedite the production and deployment of alternative gear and provide information on the uptake of alternative gear across all fishing communities of the Upper Gulf of California;
  11. Notes with appreciation the State Party’s efforts to develop the Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR) through ongoing dialogue with the World Heritage Centre and IUCN, and encourages the State Party to finalise and submit the DSOCR following the necessary consultations with key stakeholders, for adoption by the World Heritage Committee at its 46th session;
  12. Also notes with appreciation the efforts of the State Party to evaluate the management effectiveness of the property, and also requests the State Party to undertake targeted efforts address the management weaknesses, especially of the components currently evaluated as ineffective;
  13. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2024, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 46th session;
  14. Decides to retain Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California (Mexico) on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

Previous 2021
Report year: 2023
Mexico
Date of Inscription: 2005
Category: Natural
Criteria: (vii)(ix)(x)
Danger List (dates): 2019-present
Documents examined by the Committee
WHC/23/45.COM/7A
SOC Report by the State Party
Report (2022) .pdf
Initialy proposed for examination in 2022
arrow_circle_right 45COM (2023)
Exports
Previous 2021

* : The threats indicated are listed in alphabetical order; their order does not constitute a classification according to the importance of their impact on the property.
Furthermore, they are presented irrespective of the type of threat faced by the property, i.e. with specific and proven imminent danger (“ascertained danger”) or with threats which could have deleterious effects on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (“potential danger”).

** : All mission reports are not always available electronically.


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