Meanwhile, in Nuevo León, the Mexican environmental organization Pronatura Noreste has worked on conservation at La Cueva de la Boca for many years, though the site’s role in the larger ecosystem is not yet fully understood.
Last year, Luévano and Diana González, who coordinates Pronatura’s education and fundraising, visited Bracken Cave. “It was a wonderful exchange of experiences that helped us identify potential avenues for action,” González says. “We even created a map revealing that the connections between these sites form a distinct triangle.” She says their mapping revealed 460 miles (740 kilometers) between Bracken Cave and Santa Eulalia, with 312 miles (502 kilometers) of distance between the Nuevo León site and Bracken Cave.
Fran Hutchins, Director of the Bracken Cave Reserve, appreciates the opportunities for collaboration with partners in Chihuahua and Nuevo León and looks forward to enhancing scientific research and community-based conservation efforts.
“Initially, we’re looking at the ability to do more science and study the bats, their migration habits, and how they’re using these roosts,” Hutchins says. “There are also opportunities for ecotourism and education for the communities that are around these roosts, so the bats become ‘their’ bats as they come to appreciate the bats’ value. Because at the end of the day, we can’t protect something on somebody else’s land. The people who live there are the ones who have to protect it.”
