Meet the Guides - Julio Solis

Julio César Solís Hernández was brought to Puerto San Carlos as a child by his grandfather. It was there in Magdalena Bay that he learned to fish and navigate the mangroves in panga (small outboard craft), and also where he learned the dark arts of poaching. Catching endangered sea turtles for food and the black market was a common practice and Julio was one of many involved.

As a young adult, Julio began to work as a panguero (boat driver) at the School for Field Studies in Puerto San Carlos. It was his interaction here on the Bay with researchers, students and conservationists that opened his eyes and changed his perspective forever. Julio took an interest in the sea turtle monitoring effort at the school, and rose to become the community representative for the Grupo Tortuguero, a regional sea turtle conservation network. He realized that sea turtles were a natural treasure to be preserved, rather than hunted and sold on the black market.

Julio asked himself why it was almost always foreigners and outsiders that took an interest in preserving Magdalena Bay, while most of the people of Puerto San Carlos and surrounding communities thought little about destruction of habitat and decline of natural resources upon which their very livelihoods depended. It was with this thought that in 2005, Julio launched Vigilantes de Bahía Magdalena (Magdalena Baykeepers), part of the International Waterkeeper Alliance. Julio wanted to leave a better place behind for his community and for his son and future grandchildren.

Unfortunately, Magdalena Bay faces a host of threats including urban and industrial pollution, poaching and overfishing, and destruction of habitat from massive scale tourism development. On December 14, 2005, developer Magdalena Secret submitted a document to the General Directorate of Risk and Environmental Impact to assess the environmental impacts of nine hotels, two golf courses and a series of tourism-related developments slated for construction. This development was planned for an area of critical mangrove and dune habitat.

Despite threats to his life and a process that allowed no public commentary, Vigilantes and researchers reviewed the environmental impact statement and discovered grave impacts to the environment, along with erroneous and deficient information. Julio pursued the matter with the government and held meetings directly with the developers. As a result, plans for the project were rescinded late last year. This campaign was a tremendous victory in the protection of the Bay and has provided momentum and hope to other communities fighting against a rising tide of inappropriate development in Baja California.

To create a alternative to mass tourism development, Julio has been a leader in promoting small-scale community-based ecotourism in Magdalena Bay. He is working with local fishermen to create a turtle watching cooperative, where visitors will participate in the turtle monitoring efforts. This new market will have a light impact, using portable tent camps and staffed by local residents, while providing an alternative to fishing, which recent scientific research has shown to entangle and kill thousands of turtles per year in the region. Julio will continue to fight for the empowerment and improvement of his community, reaching out to children, fishermen, housewives, academics and government officials. For his dedication to protecting his community and Magdalena Bay, Julio was recently awarded a Conde Nast Environmental Award.

Watch Julio at work in Magdalena Bay