SIERRA VERDE
CONSERVATION
INITIATIVE
We design strategies to help local communities conserve the biodiversity of their territories, regenerate ecosystems that have suffered damages and promote positive changes in people's behavior towards nature.
Within this logic, we seek to build bridges between different spheres of the global community, which despite geographical distances, share the same environmental challenges and the vision of a sustainable future.
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We currently work in the south of the state of Nayarit, in western Mexico, with different communities in the Sierra de Vallejo.
HISTORY.
The Sierra Verde Conservation Initiative was born as a project in July 2022, resulting from the personal, professional and philosophical ideals of Steve Millard and José Arturo García. Steve is a founding member of Ancient Forest International, a California-based organization that has spent decades designing and managing wildland conservation projects in Chile and California. José Arturo had been involved in research and conservation projects since the beginning of his university studies. For both of them, undertaking this conservation project in the south of Nayarit represents a great opportunity that gives meaning to their ideas, desires and efforts as biologists and conservationists.
Favored by diverse factors such as geographic location, the current moment and the needs for global and local change in terms of the use of space and natural capital, the Sierra Verde Conservation Initiative is a project that resonates and finds echo among people of different areas and geographical regions.
From the moment it was decided to undertake this project until now, Sierra Verde has carried out reviews of scientific literature and analysis of conservation needs and opportunities, participated in the preparation of the Preliminary Justifying Study for the declaration of the Sierra de Vallejo Biosphere Reserve -Río Ameca, in collaboration with environmental authorities and other nonprofit organizations, has organized and participated in environmental fairs, impacting dozens of children and young people with activities and information on environmental issues, and is promoting the formation of an ADVC (area voluntarily dedicated to conservation) adjacent to the biosphere reserve. We are in a permanent search for strategies for sustainable/regenerative development.
THE TEAM.
Stephen Millard
Co-founder and permanent advisor on the strategic directions of the organization.
José Arturo García
Co-founder and CEO. Design and development of scientific research lines.
Graduated from Utah State University in 1966, with a master's degree in Wildlife Conservation. I worked with the Peace Corps in El Salvador as a biologist. I dedicated myself to sustainable agriculture in Chile for 20 years. I then spent another 25 years in California also working as a farmer and participating in projects for the protection of native forests as a member of the organization Ancient Forest International. I arrived in 1994 to the south coast of Nayarit, where I have lived since then. Through these years in the Riviera Nayarit my interest in conserving the area's ecosystems grew, which eventually led to the formation of the Sierra Verde Conservation Initiative.
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Biologist, specialist in birds and wildlife, conservation biology and sustainable development with a doctorate in science in ecology. Experience of more than 15 years in scientific research, wildlife monitoring, environmental diagnosis, proposals for management and conservation of natural spaces, tourism and sustainable development, environmental education, teaching and dissemination of science. Interested in contributing to generating changes in our way of interacting with nature to protect ecosystems and improve people's quality of life. In May 2022 I was invited to start a project for nature conservation in the south of Nayarit. This project would become the Sierra Verde Conservation Initiative, where I have collaborated as director since July 2022.
Paloma Teijo Madriz
Project management director. Socio-environmental diagnosis and strategy.
Graduated from the law school of the Autonomous University of Querétaro. He is currently studying in the Master's Degree in Climate Change and Biodiversity at the Rosario Castellanos University. She has a holistic vision on environmental matters, has worked with environmental institutions of the three levels of government and served as president of KAUYUMARI AC. She has also worked as an environmental consultant for the private sector. Among his most notable participations are his work on legislative projects on environmental issues at the municipal and state level. She has collaborated as a trainer for municipalities and in Environmental Citizenship Training for young people since 2020 supported by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung foundation. He participated in the Transformation Process for the Application of the Escazú Agreement in Mexico, and has been a speaker at environmental events organized by various universities. His interests lie in research and development of projects that generate socio-environmental impacts, on the topics of climate change, environmental justice and biodiversity.
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María Gardom
Maria Garcia. Director of strategic communication. Branding and Design.
She is an expert in communication with a focus on social issues. She specializes in creating branding for independent projects (entrepreneurs) and social causes. Her approach is through art, graphic design, and storytelling. In her early professional career, she was in charge of the Communication Department at the National Commission for Biodiversity (Conabio) in Mexico for five years. During this time, she participated in various international conservation programs, such as the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI), where she was part of the Trinational Communications Working Group, designing and implementing communication strategies and materials for implementation in Mexico and trinational levels. She also took on the responsibility of communication actions in Mexico for the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. Additionally, she was an animal rights activist for fifteen years and founded a couple of organizations from which she initiated strategic actions related to legislation, education, reporting, rescue, and relocation of domestic and wild animals. Currently, she works independently through Amapola Design and collaborates continuously with Sierra Verde.
StaySea
Art director and global networks.
She graduated from the University of Miami in creative advertising, graphic design and arts. As a muralist, his style is inspired by the patterns of the ocean, by the movement and textures of water, by the organic lines of trees and stones. His work offers a hopeful vision that can inspire people to work alongside nature rather than against it. If we can show the beauty of our surroundings, perhaps this can illuminate the path to community development. Through art we can show that our impact on the world produces results. We need these influences to be positive! Through his creations, he captures the interconnection between us all and shows us the triumphs of nature over human error. With this he hopes to bring to light the fact that if people can provide solutions to current problems and create balance, nature will return and thrive even stronger. In the digital sphere, its objective is to implement the growing Web3 bases and decentralized financial systems among its followers in different regions of the world, to raise funds and increase awareness about ecosystems, promoting conservation efforts in the Sierra de Vallejo.
ALLIES.
We collaborate with various organizations and official entities. If you need more information, get in touch.
