How
do you even begin to conserve thousands of acres of pristine coastline,
save endangered wildlife and solve the problem of water
pollution along the U.S.-Mexican border? Serge Dedina, ’87,
founder of WiLDCOAST, an organization dedicated to
environmental preservation, thinks he has the answer.
Dedina believes that environmental conservation along the U.S.-Mexican
border has to begin with understanding the social, economic and
political conditions between the two countries.
“Having the full context is a powerful tool in understanding
problems along the border and finding ways to solve them,” Dedina
says.
He uses what he calls political ecology or the combining of social
and ecological efforts. Applying this concept, WiLDCOAST has been
able to save more than one million acres of coastal wildlands,
continue its work to protect endangered sea turtles, and advocate
for stronger efforts in controlling the sewage water coming from
the Tijuana River and spoiling the San Diego beaches.
WiLDCOAST also recently helped to broker a deal between ejidos,
a form of communal landholding, and conservation groups, so as
to preserve 140,000-acres at Laguna San Ignacio, on the Gulf of
California, in Baja. The area, located 535 miles south of the border,
is inhabited by birds, green sea turtles and bottlenose dolphins,
and is where thousands of gray whales journey each year to give
birth to their young.
Dedina first came across the concept of political ecology at UCSD
while working with political science professor Wayne Cornelius
and urban studies professor Paul Drake. He also kept the idea in
mind as he shaped the organization in 2000 and says that WiLDCOAST
now has its own UCSD community. Currently, the organization has
five UCSD students and 10 alumni volunteers. Staff members with
ties to UCSD also include coastal conservation program manager
Ben McCue, ’04, and communications director Fay Crevoshay,
a former fellow at the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies.
—
Marnette Federis, ’06
View more Class
Notes online & submit your own!
If you have not yet registered, you'll need to create a user name and password.  MORE
|
