There is a section along the border between Mexico and the United States where deep canyons dominate a desert landscape, sometimes as unreal as spectacular.
Located in the heart of the Chihuahuan Desert, the Santa Elena canyon, between Chihuahua and Texas, and those of Mariscal and Boquillas, between Coahuila and Texas, are the three most spectacular canyons in the region: their imposing walls exceed 400 meters in height in some points. These geographical features are the product of the erosion generated by thousands of years of advance of the Rio Grande and, without a doubt, represent one of the most impressive natural heritages shared between two countries.
The three canyons can be accessed from inside Big Bend National Park, Texas, decreed in 1944 after a prolonged period of peace between the two nations. Excited by this fact, and marveling at the beauty of the landscape on the Mexican side of the river, the then president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, proposed the creation of an international peace park between Mexico and the United States. Mexico took almost half a century to react, declaring two protected natural areas in the Rio Grande canyons area, but the gesture of the US government marked the beginning of a conservation story that continues to this day. Today, the land is protected on both sides of the border under various schemes that include federal, state, and private reserves. There is even one focused exclusively on the care of the basin: Río Escénico y Salvaje, in the United States, and its Mexican equivalent, the recently declared Río Bravo del Norte Natural Monument, guarantee the protection of the river and its canyons along more than 300 kilometres.
Cross-border effort
The first time I entered one of these amazing canyons, I did it as a privileged witness to a historical event. On that occasion, executives from Big Bend, Cemex staff –corporation that has bought several lands adjacent to the Rio Grande in Mexico and the United States to use for long-term conservation– and representatives of Agrupación Sierra Madre –a Mexican conservation organization that works in the area for more than a decade - they met to raft down the Boquillas Canyon and discuss the future of the region and the steps to be followed for its conservation. For three days and two nights I was able to share with this group of visionaries the problems and opportunities of managing such an emblematic landscape.
Today, thanks to the drive and conviction of a few dreamers, history is turning around. Framed under the El Carmen-Big Bend Conservation Corridor Initiative, which has the participation of governments, Mexican and international organizations, ranchers and even the private sector, represented by Cemex, these actions seek to achieve a common vision for the future among all actors in the region to achieve long-term protection of this four-million-hectare transboundary biological mega-corridor.
I will always remember a sunset inside one of the canyons. The murmur of the current and the sound of the reeds swaying in the wind made a soft echo on the walls which, as we advanced, narrowed until they became a narrow gorge. The sun was setting and at the bottom of the canyon an almost magical twilight enveloped us. Reflecting on the conversations of the past hours, I lay down and looked up, gently spinning my raft adrift. After several laps, I found no difference between the two walls - Mexican and American - and I thought of the hawk that nests in the canyon walls and the black bear that crosses the river in search of new territories, regardless of which side they are on.
Perhaps man has forever lost the possibility of understanding the landscape without political limits, but I am sure that, if we continue to count on the participation of organizations and individuals as committed as the participants in this history of conservation, the understanding will be strengthened to try achieve a common vision.
