Gulf of Mexico Watersheds

The Gulf of Mexico's estuaries, wetlands and watersheds serve as a major source of food, minerals and energy for the region and support an amazing array of wildlife. Mangrove swamps, bays and lagoons, salt and freshwater marshes, dense brushlands, tallgrass coastal prairies and upland forests characterize this expansive land and seascape.

Location

The shores of the Gulf of Mexico extend more than 4,000 miles, linking the ports of five U.S. states (Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas) and six Mexican states (Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo) with the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

Animals

Kemp's Ridley sea turtle
Jaguarundi
Ocelot
Peregrine Falcon
Piping Plover
Reddish Egret
Commercially Important Fish Species
Migratory songbirds, raptors and waterfowl

Why the Conservancy is Working Here

The Gulf of Mexico's vast wetlands form an important hatchery for the local and national commercial fishing industry. Gulf estuaries are among the most productive natural systems in the world, producing snapper, oyster, shrimp, lobster, crab and trout. Gulf waters also harbor a variety of key species, including endangered loggerhead and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, manatees, dolphins, whale sharks and alligators.

Additionally, the Mexican Gulf coast is tremendously important as stopover habitat for songbirds, raptors and waterfowl on their way further south for the winter. During peak migration periods, a myriad of bird species fill the sky, stopping along coastal habitats to rest and feed. The region’s upland tropical forests also provide refuge to migratory birds, as well as other rare and endangered species. Wildlife is also abundant in the Gulf’s coastal grasslands, brushlands and savannas.

Many of the Gulf of Mexico region's large forested areas have been severely altered by deforestation and fragmentation from agricultural conversion and urban expansion. Large quantities of chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides used for commercial agriculture are increasingly jeopardizing the water quality and the health of the mangrove swamps and wetlands. In addition, overfishing poses an increasing threat to key species in the Gulf of Mexico. As one of Mexico’s most important agricultural and fisheries regions, the long-term health of this area - and that of local residents whose livelihoods depend on it - will require the sustainable and compatible use of local resources.

Our Conservation Strategy

Relying on time-tested strategies, The Nature Conservancy is coordinating efforts among conservation organizations, protected area staff, academic and scientific communities and U.S. and Mexico local, state and federal governments to address coastal threats throughout the Gulf of Mexico.

Within the Mexican Gulf Coast region, the Conservancy is working to strengthen partner organizations, establish and manage protected areas, promote sustainable fishing and complete conservation planning. Additionally, the Conservancy is working with local ranchers and landowners in Mexico to promote private land conservation and pursue land acquisition opportunities and conservation easements.

What the Conservancy Is Doing

Through landscape-scale regional planning and site-based conservation in the Gulf of Mexico region, the Conservancy and its partners are working to protect lands, waters and diversity of life in the following priority areas:

Laguna Madre: With local conservation organization Pronatura Noreste, the Conservancy recently helped establish a federal protected area in the Mexican portion of the Laguna Madre, or the "Mother Lagoon." Other long-term bi-national objectives in the region include developing private-land conservation techniques in cooperation with local landowners and identifying long-term sources of local revenue to help protect the surrounding native grasslands and brushlands.

Rio de Rapaces: Together with local partner Pronatura Veracruz, the Conservancy is supporting the protection of key coastal habitat surrounding the convergence of the eastern slope of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range and the Gulf of Mexico. This geographic bottleneck is home to an annual spectacle of bird migration, where daily as many as one million birds representing more than 465 different species have been counted in one of the world’s most concentrated flyways, termed "The River of Raptors."