Boletin Audubon
June 2007
Newsletter Archives

The Newsletter of Sociedad Audubon de México, A.C.

Audubon to Present PEASMA 

An educational labor of love--known officially as PEASMA-- aimed at teaching schoolchildren respect and love for the natural environment, will be the subject of an Audubon Mexico presentation at 4 pm on Tuesday, June 19, at the Villa Jacaranda on Calle Aldama. PEASMA stands for Proyecto de Educacion Ambiental San Miguel de Allende, known in English as the Environmental Education Project. 

Natalia Ortega, a PEASMA teacher in local primary schools, will show a video about the program, and talk about how it works, through hands-on learning, to teach children about wildlife, recycling, ecosystems, native flora and fauna, water treatment and the rehabilitation of rivers and streams, in the classroom and on field trips. With the help of PEASMA, the children actually help to rehabilitate local waters, for example.

PEASMA is supported by two Mexican government organizations concerned with the environment as well as five local nongovernmental organizations, of which Audubon Mexico is one. San Miguel's PEASMA program, which began just one year ago, has been so successful that the state of Guanajuato has asked for help in replicating it in other towns in the state.

Since it began as a pilot program in 2003, 4,871 children between six and 12 have attended PEASMA’s workshops. In the 2006 school year, workshops were given in four schools to 750 children, ninety-six percent of whom, along with their teachers and their parents, would like to attend workshops again this year. 

PEASMA works on the theory that teaching children about the environment results in everyone becoming more conscious of environmental concerns. Children take the message home to their parents and other family members , effectively reaching the whole community; ensuring a widespread impact from the project. 

This year, plans are in the offing for a ecological summer camp in the campo in July, for children who live in the community of Montecillo de Nieto. Audubon is planning to sponsor the camp, which will include workshops on various nature topics, directed by PEASMA staff.

Audubon's annual general meeting will be held next month, on Tuesday, July 17, at 4 p.m. at the Villa Jacaranda. The general meeting is an opportunity for all members to offer suggestions, voice concerns, and express their ideas about the organization. All members of are invited.

________________________________________________________________________

AT LAST! A BIRD BOOK WILL SOON TAKE FLIGHT

As a bird watcher, an environmentalist or just an appreciator of nature, you wouldn’t be the first person to wish there were a field guide to the birds of San Miguel—and to be disappointed when you found it didn’t exist. Your time is coming! Audubon is at work right now on a field guide to our abundant, beautiful local birds. The guide will follow the style of Flores Silvestres de San Miguel de Allende, the wonderfully successful and useful field guide to our local wildflowers that appeared in 2006—sized to fit in a pocket, with full-color pictures and brief descriptions of each bird (and a ruler on the back). We’re hoping to have it available some time this year.