In Baja California, the Guardianas del Conchalito cooperative is saving the coastal wetland of La Paz, contributing to climate mitigation and women's independence.
They call themselves the Guardianas del Conchalito — women who, in Mexico's Baja California, have stood up to drug cartels, launched a thriving shellfish farming operation, breathed new life into their territory and community, and transformed their own lives in the process.
A Guardian report tells their story. It all began in 2015: a group of women from El Manglito, one of the oldest fishing neighbourhoods in the city of La Paz, grew concerned about the deterioration of the coastal wetland at the El Conchalito estuary. The damage was being caused by the presence of drug dealers, uncontrolled urban development, trucks illegally dumping waste, and illegal fishing and deforestation. The environment — home to shellfish and mangroves — was under severe stress, threatening the local community's livelihoods and the balance of the ecosystem.
Determined to change things, the women asked the men leading the community for permission to clean up the area and to be paid for doing so. They were granted a modest sum, but this did not discourage them — they got to work regardless. They placed perimeter boulders to prevent trucks from approaching the area, dug channels to restore water flow to the mangroves, collected waste, resisted pressure from unscrupulous property developers, and ordered illegal fishermen and drug dealers to leave, patrolling the territory even at night.
Thanks to these activities, the Guardianas del Conchalito began receiving funding and support from environmental organisations such as Costasalvaje and from civil society, in recognition of their work protecting shellfish and mangroves — which are interdependent — as well as their community engagement. Today the Guardianas del Conchalito are a legally recognised cooperative and all the women receive a fair wage. The Guardianas have launched an oyster farming project and are involved in mangrove planting, territorial monitoring, biological surveys, and education and awareness-raising activities for both locals and tourists.
The importance of protecting this territory goes beyond biodiversity: El Conchalito also plays a fundamental role in the mitigation and adaptation to climate change, as this wetland is a natural carbon sink. It also serves as a natural refuge for various animal species and as a protective barrier against hurricanes and flooding. On a social level, the Guardianas are an inspiration to their daughters (many of whom are studying at university), to young people, and to other women in the community who — historically excluded from decision-making processes and from income-generating spaces — now have a concrete example of how, with courage and by joining forces, women's empowerment and independence can become reality.