2022 Symposium on Conservation Impact

The Symposium recordings are available in both English and Spanish!

In 2022, the symposium focused on transboundary conservation, specifically across the US-Mexico border, which spans nearly 2,000 miles across six distinct ecoregions and shapes a landscape that is home to more than 15 million people. The region represents a unique opportunity to explore how to improve conservation outcomes for both people and ecosystems – and how to do so in the context of multinational, transboundary collaboration. The symposium explored such topics as:

• Opportunities for, and barriers to, effective conservation in Mexico and the border region
• Climate change impacts on ecological and human communities
• How to balance cultural needs, sustainable economic development, security, and the health of natural systems
• The role of Indigenous leadership in conservation
• How the region’s distinct history and biogeography offer insights and learnings for other parts of North America

You can watch the English and Spanish recordings from Day 1 and 2 of the Symposium including these highlights:

Thursday, October 6, 2022

• “Setting the stage: How do we define transboundary conservation in the borderlands?” presented by Valerie Gordon, Secretary/Treasurer of the Board, Cuenca Los Ojos
• “America the Beautiful and how cooperative conservation can serve the U.S. and Mexico” presented by Tommy Beaudreau, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior
• “Chasing water in drying times: Challenges and successes in the Colorado River Basin — snow to sea” presented by Pete McBride, Contributing Photographer, Writer, Filmmaker at National Geographic and Smithsonian Magazine
• “The border wall over time: Policy, ecological, and cultural outcomes” presented by Dinah Bear, Attorney and Consultant, Former General Counsel, White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)

Friday, October 7, 2022

• “Federal perspectives on transboundary rivers” presented by Tanya Trujillo, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, U.S. Department of the Interior
• “NADBank: Promoting sustainable development while protecting the environment across the U.S.-Mexico border” presented by Calixto Mateos-Hanel, Managing Director, North American Development Bank
• “Financing ambitious conservation across the border: Innovations in financing critical conservation in Mexico” presented by Lorenzo Jose De Rosenzweig Pasquel, Founder and CEO, Terra Habitus
• “A vision for the future: Ambitious ideas for advancing conservation for healthy landscapes and people in the borderlands” presented by Ron Rael, Chair, Department of Art Practice, and Professor of Architecture, Eva Li Memorial Chair, University of California Berkeley

Once again, Heartwood Visuals created stunning Graphic Recordings summarizing the conversations on Day 1 and Day 2 of the symposium.

The symposium was made possible by our generous sponsors: