This North American Conservation Action Plan (NACAP), developed for the vaquita (Phocoena sinus), resulted from the advice provided by the Biodiversity Conservation Working Group to the CEC Council, which instructed its Secretariat on 27 June 2007, to initiate collaborative actions to recover the vaquita and promote sustainable local livelihoods. Although the vaquita is found only in Mexican waters, it had been identified by Canada, Mexico and the United States as a species of common conservation concern in North America. As a result, the CEC hosted a trinational workshop in Ensenada, Baja California, in October 2007, and obtained input from an extensive list of experts from diverse backgrounds from Canada, Mexico and the United States. Furthermore, the content of this NACAP has been cleared for publication by an inter-governmental review process established by the CEC Council to ensure the quality of the Plan.
This NACAP is intended to provide a trinational outlook on the species. It gives an updated account of the species and its current situation, identifies the main risk factors causing the species to suffer an unsustainable level of mortality, and summarizes the current management and actions taken in each country, as well as public and commercial perception of the species and the threats it faces. Against this background, it then offers a list of key trinational collaborative conservation actions, priorities and targets to be considered for adoption by the three countries. The actions identified address the following main objectives: 1. threats prevention, control and mitigation; 2. use of innovative approaches to developing sustainable livelihoods in the communities; 3. research, monitoring and evaluation on the state of the vaquita population; and 4. Increasing awareness of the vaquita, its plight, and importance within its ecosystem.
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