First Project Selected for the Mares de México Award 2026
- Jan 21
- 2 min read
Community Environmental Education Program in Agua Amarga and its area of influence, developed by ORGCASÂ in Baja California Sur.
The project was selected for its direct work with coastal communities and for its understanding of environmental education as a long-term process rooted in place, built through continuous dialogue with the people who live in the territory.
Where does the project come from?
The program takes place in the community of Agua Amarga and nearby localities such as Los Planes and El Sargento, a region where the relationship between people and the ocean has changed significantly in recent decades. In the face of biodiversity loss, the impacts of climate change, and shifts in local economies linked to small-scale fishing, the project emerges as a community-based response focused on strengthening local capacities and developing new pathways connected to the care of the marine and coastal environment.
Why environmental education?
The project understands environmental education as a key tool to build local ecological knowledge, strengthen community participation, and promote long-term conservation processes. Through hands-on experiences and the exchange between scientific knowledge and local knowledge, the program encourages the active involvement of children, youth, and adults as agents of change in response to the environmental, social, and economic challenges of their territory.
Model and activities
A. Experiential and intergenerational environmental education at sea
Includes trips to the ocean and desert—beaches, streams, hills, and wetlands—hands-on workshops on biodiversity, ecosystems, agroecology, performing arts, sustainability, participatory science, communication, and the arts, as well as community events such as film screenings, theater, and a traveling museum. Within this model, captains act as mentors and boats become classrooms.
B. Community strengthening and territorial articulation
Partnerships with schools, as well as community meetings and gatherings aimed at building trust and agreements with local stakeholders.
Actions to achieve the objective
Strengthening the technical capacities of fishers involved in the Project Shark initiative.
Diversification of tourism and educational activities.
Training of the Orgquites volunteer program in tourism, science, and education-related activities.
Implementation of a place-based education model, where captains act as mentors and boats function as classrooms.
Projected impact
20 university students from Marine Biology, Alternative Tourism, and Environmental Sciences programs.
200 students from schools in Agua Amarga, Los Planes, and El Sargento.
8 small-scale fishing families directly integrated and benefited.
A first step for the Mares de México Award 2026
With the selection of this project, the Mares de México Award 2026 begins the process of accompanying initiatives that work from the ground up and alongside coastal communities to care for the ocean. More selected projects will be announced throughout the year, each contributing from different perspectives to marine conservation and the strengthening of coastal territories in Mexico.
