Karina Meza
HAF Shares “The Nature Gap” with National Governors Association
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Hispanic Access Foundation’s Director of Conservation Shanna Edberg spoke at the National Governors Association (NGA) 2021 Annual Meeting to discuss The Nature Gap.
INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS: As Biden Eyes a Conservation Plan, Activists Fear Low-Income Communities and People of Color Could Be Left Out
President-elect Joe Biden has said that one of his first steps upon taking office will be to pass an executive order to conserve 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
Sustainability Tips During the Holidays
After a challenging year, we may find ourselves taking extra comfort in the holiday season as an opportunity to rest, recharge, and appreciate the warmth of our families and loved ones. We look forward to the holidays and the heartwarming traditions of sharing food, space, and giving gifts. However, it tends to be one of the most wasteful times of the year when it comes to sustainability. As we prepare for the season, we’ve crafted a short guide for the holidays on how to stay engaged in terms of conservation and creating minimal waste.
HAF Applauds Biden’s Historic Pick of Rep. Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On December 17, President-elect Joe Biden chose Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM) to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Interior, becoming the first Native American to hold the position of a Cabinet Secretary. Rep. Haaland has a history of championing conservation issues important to Latinos, such as promoting environmental justice, protecting public lands and waters and addressing the climate crisis. In response to the nomination, Hispanic Access Foundation’s President and CEO Maite Arce released the following statement:
HAF Short Film Wins ‘Exception Merit’ Award in International Film Festival
Washington, D.C. – Hispanic Access Foundation is excited to announce its short film “I Am Cheo” has won the “Exception Merit” award at the Nature Without Borders International Film Festival (NWBIFF). In addition to NWBIFF, the film was also selected to be screened at the Colorado Environmental Film Festival.
VAIL DAILY: Local pastor starts Vida Foundation
Pastor Josue Rubio and his congregation at Centro Christiano Vida Nueva church in Edwards are working to have a greater positive impact for youths in the Eagle River Valley.
MEDIUM: A Vote for the Ocean
The global pandemic has touched all our lives, in powerful and often painful ways. With striking clarity, it has brought home how closely we’re connected to one another, and to the natural world. Our path back to health and economic recovery requires us to recognize and strengthen those connections.
It’s perhaps less obvious — for now — how ourfates and futures are also connected to the ocean. But the ocean provides the air we breathe, the food we eat and the medicine we rely on. It is deeply intertwined with our weather and climate, all the more important as we are battered with hurricanes and heat waves in different parts of the country. Tens of millions of us live along the coast, or visit the beach with family and friends to restore our spirits, or wonder at the incredible marine species we find in aquariums.
PUBLIC NEWS SERVICE: Nonprofit Launched to Serve Eagle County Immigrant Communities
EDWARDS, Colo. -- Immigrant communities in Eagle County are celebrating this week's launch of the Vida Foundation, the brainchild of Pastor Josué Rubio of the Vida Nueva Christian Center in Edwards.
BUNEKE MAGAZINE: Passionate Latinos Believe they have a Moral Obligation to Nature
Seventh Annual Latino Conservation Week breaks down barriers to the outdoors and inspires tomorrow's stewards.
Communities throughout the country enjoyed and connected with the great outdoors during the 7th Annual Latino Conservation Week, in July 2020. While this year leaned more toward virtual activities like online expeditions, roundtable discussions, Q&A sessions, scavenger hunts, film screenings and the like, nearly 100 events were celebrated nationwide.
“Latino communities are passionate about the outdoors and hold a strong belief that we have a moral obligation to be good stewards,” said Maite Arce, President and CEO of Hispanic Access Foundation, which launched LCW in 2014. “Latino Conservation Week helps break down barriers for Latino communities to access public lands and waters, encourages new opportunities for engagement and inspires the next generation of environmental stewards.”
Latinos are the largest minority group in America, with more than 52 million people making up 16.7% of the nation’s population and are projected to become nearly one-third of the population by 2050. By 2020, half of all youth in America will be of color and by 2043, a majority of our country’s residents will be people of color. Yet a 2018 Outdoor Industry Association report found that only 10% of Latinos were engaged in outdoor recreation activities. In simple terms, the future of public lands depends on engaging and welcoming our diverse youth and Latino communities that already deeply care about our environment and feel a moral obligation to take care of it.
"At a time when Latinos are disproportionately suffering from COVID-19, we need nature and the benefits it provides, now more than ever,” said Shanna Edberg, Hispanic Access Foundation’s director of conservation programs. “While the pandemic revealed and exacerbated deep inequities in access to green space, Latino Conservation Week events — from the virtual conversations and activities to on-the-ground hikes, birdwatching, picnics and neighborhood cleanups — are bringing this issue to the forefront and helping to bridge that gap.”
This year the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and National Wildlife Refuge System joined forces with Hispanic Access Foundation’s MANO Project to provide programming virtually and at sites throughout the nation.
More than 200 parks, organizations and community groups have joined Latino Conservation Week as partners and sponsors. Event partners include Continental Divide Trail Coalition, Corazon Latino, Denver Aquarium, Defenders of Wildlife, Frontera Land Alliance, HECHO, Inland Empire Resource Conservation District, LA Nature for All, Latino Heritage Internship Program, Latino Outdoors, National Parks Conservation Association, The Nature Conservancy, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Wilderness Workshop, and numerous Audubon Society chapters.
Additionally, those joining in person events were encouraged to follow the principles presented in the #RecreateResponsiblycampaign. These include
1) Know before you go;
2) Plan ahead;
3) Explore locally;
4) Practice physical distancing;
5) Play it safe; 6) Leave no trace; and
7) Build an inclusive outdoors.
Learn more about this initiative!
Hispanic Access Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, connects Latinos with partners and opportunities to improve lives and create an equitable society. Our vision is that one day every Hispanic individual in America enjoyed good physical health and a healthy natural environment, a quality education, economic success, and civic engagement in their communities with the sum of improving the future of America. For more information visit www.hispanicaccess.org.
Las comunidades de todo el país disfrutarán y se conectarán con la vida al aire libre durante la séptima edición de Latino Conservation Week, que comienza el 18 de julio y termina el 26 del mismo mes. Si bien este año estará más enfocada hacia actividades virtuales como expediciones online, mesas redondas, sesiones de preguntas y respuestas, búsquedas del tesoro, proyecciones de películas y similares, se celebran casi 100 eventos en todo el país.
"Las comunidades latinas son apasionadas de las actividades al aire libre y creen firmemente que tenemos la obligación moral de ser buenos administradores", dijo Maite Arce, Presidenta y CEO de Hispanic Access Foundation, que lanzó LCW en 2014. "Latino Conservation Week ayuda a derribar las barreras para que las comunidades latinas puedan acceder a las tierras y aguas públicas, fomenta nuevas oportunidades de participación e inspira a la próxima generación de protectores ambientales”.
Los latinos son el grupo minoritario más grande de Estados Unidos, con más de 52 millones de personas que representan el 16,7 por ciento de la población del país, y se proyecta que se conviertan en casi un tercio de la población para 2050. En 2020, la mitad de todos los jóvenes en Estados Unidos serán de color y para 2043, la mayoría de los residentes de nuestro país serán personas de color. Sin embargo, un informe de la Asociación de la Industria de Actividades Aire Libre de 2018 halló que solo el 10 por ciento de los latinos se dedicaba a actividades recreativas al aire libre. En términos simples, el futuro de las tierras públicas depende de involucrar y dar la bienvenida a nuestras diversas comunidades juveniles y latinas que ya se preocupan profundamente por nuestro medio ambiente y sienten la obligación moral de cuidarlo.
"En un momento en que los latinos sufren desproporcionadamente de COVID-19, necesitamos la naturaleza y los beneficios que proporciona, ahora más que nunca", dijo Shanna Edberg, directora de Programas de Conservación de Hispanic Access Foundation. "Si bien la pandemia reveló y exacerbó profundas inequidades en el acceso a espacios verdes, los eventos de Latino Conservation Week, desde las conversaciones y actividades virtuales hasta las caminatas por el terreno, la observación de aves, los picnics y la limpieza de vecindarios, están poniendo este tema en primer plano y ayudando a cerrar esa brecha".
Este año, el Servicio de Parques Nacionales, el Servicio de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de los EE. UU., el Servicio Forestal de los EE. UU., la Administración Nacional Oceánica y Atmosférica y el Sistema Nacional de Refugios de Vida Silvestre unen fuerzas con el Proyecto MANO de Hispanic Access Foundation para proporcionar programación virtualmente y en localizaciones en todo el país. 200 parques, organizaciones y grupos comunitarios se han unido a Latino Conservation Week como socios y patrocinadores. Los socios del evento incluyen Continental Divide Trail Coalition, Corazon Latino, Denver Aquarium, Defenders of Wildlife, Frontera Land Alliance, HECHO, Inland Empire Resource Conservation District, LA Nature for All, Latino Heritage Internship Program, Latino Outdoors, National Parks Conservation Association, The Nature Conservancy, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Wilderness Workshop, y numerosos capítulos de la Sociedad Audubon.
De forma adicional, se aconseja a los que se unen en personas a seguir los principios presentados en la campaña #RecreateResponsibly. Estos incluyen
1) informarse antes de acudir;
2) Planificar con anticipación;
3) Explorar localmente;
4) Practicar el distanciamiento físico;
5) Particpar de forma segura ;
6) No dejar rastros; y
7) Construir un exterior inclusivo.
Para obtener más detalles sobre esta iniciativa.
Las actividades abarcan varios estados y una lista completa de eventos está disponible en www.LatinoConservationWeek.com.
Hispanic Access Foundation, una organización sin fines de lucro 501 (c) (3), conecta a los latinos con socios y oportunidades para mejorar vidas y crear una sociedad equitativa. Nuestra visión es que algún día cada persona hispana en los Estados Unidos disfrute de una buena salud física y un ambiente natural saludable, una educación de calidad, éxito económico y compromiso cívico en sus comunidades con el fin de mejorar el futuro de los Estados Unidos. Para más información visite www.hispanicaccess.org.
INVERSE: 7 YEARS STRONG, LATINO CONSERVATION WEEK SPOTLIGHTS OVERLOOKED NATURE STEWARDS
Refugio Mariscal has always felt a deep interest in the natural world.
Mariscal grew up in Lake County, Illinois, and spent his childhood playing in a creek near his parents’ home. He spent pretty much all day outside, Mariscal tells Inverse.
“From a young age, I felt that curiosity about nature,” he recalls.
That is why Mariscal is a champion of Latino Conservation Week (LCW), an annual event currently celebrating its seventh year, from July 18 to 26.
This week is attached to a handful of goals. First and foremost: Getting people outdoors, and inspiring them to protect nature.
WHAT PART OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC DO YOU THINK CAUSES THE MOST CONFUSION? WE WANT TO KNOW. TAKE THE INVERSE READER SURVEY
Another ambition is to make policymakers, as well as the public, aware of the role Latino communities play in conservation, says Jessica Godinez. Godinez is the conservation program associate at the Hispanic Access Foundation (HAF). The HAF also partners with local and national organizations to plan activities for Latino families throughout the week.
“More than anything, we want our community to be seen in the outdoors as recreationalists and an integral part of environmental and ocean conservation,” Godinez tells Inverse.
BREAKING BARRIERS — For Mariscal, breaking into conservation work wasn’t a matter of interest, but accessibility.
He graduated from college with a degree in geography and a focus in environmental science. It was the middle of the economic recession in the United States, and the job market was unstable. Many jobs in the environmental field required volunteer experience — creating a barrier to entry for those who can’t afford to work for free.
Mariscal began teaching middle school science and social studies, and worked part-time with Audubon’s Wild Indigo Nature Explorations, a community engagement program that focuses on connecting urban communities of color with their local natural areas. That position led to his current job as a conservation data coordinator for Audubon Great Lakes.
Having a cohesive event like LCW can help to inspire other budding conservationists, Mariscal says. It’s important for people to have mentors with shared experiences — something that may have benefitted Mariscal when he was first trying to break into the field.
Before working with Wild Indigo, “I had never met a person of color, or a Latino person, that was involved in the environmental field,” Mariscal says. “I studied this stuff but I was pretty close to not even having a career in it.”
LCW aims to increase the representation of Latino people doing conservation work.
“It lets people know that we’re out here,” Mariscal says. “Our viewpoints and our experiences are different than other people’s — our voices matter, they’re important when considering policies.”
EVENT PLANNING MID-PANDEMIC — Like most things scheduled for 2020, this year’s LCW looks different than usual.
“So much of Latino Conservation Week is really defined by sharing space outside with our community,” Godinez says. She's been involved in LCW for three years. Her team was nervous when it became clear that many events would have to relocate.
However, event partners were able to quickly adapt: A list of events on the LCW website includes online webinars, film screenings, and a virtual 5K run and walk where participants run on their own at various locations.
“The creativity that they’ve shown in this regard has been really amazing to watch,” Godinez says.
In a year when people are opening their eyes to long-standing systemic injustices, events like #BlackBirdersWeek, #BlackBotanistsWeek, and #BlackInAstro are helping to amplify people of color working in various spheres of nature and conservation. LCW is similar in its aim.
“Every year people pay a little bit more attention to the issues around conservation, particularly regarding BIPOC communities and Latinx communities,” Godinez says.
This year, perhaps people are also spending more time than usual on social media — and the online presence of LCW is growing, too. HAF has gained at least 1,000 new followers on social media in the past week. In the future it’s likely that LCW will continue to increase online efforts, Godinez says.
“It’s become a way for us to break down even more barriers of access,” Godinez says, including time and geography.
NEXT-GENERATION CONSERVATION — These days, Mariscal is raising his three-year-old daughter to enjoy nature just like her dad.
Mariscal takes his daughter birding and teaches her the names of birds in Spanish. He only recently learned Spanish bird names himself — that inspired him to plan a bilingual bird walk, which will be held online this year because of the pandemic.
So far, she’s super into it. That’s important for Mariscal, who wants to pass down a strong appreciation for nature.
Beyond appreciation, LCW can help shift future narratives surrounding conservation work — a field that, as Godniez puts it, is typically viewed as “white, expensive, and inaccessible."
For young people who want to work in nature, and face economic and structural hurdles, Mariscal wants to help build a path forward.
“It might seem sort of out-of-reach for them,” he says. “And it sort of is. But we’re trying to close that gap.”
About Us
Hispanic Access Foundation connects Latinos and others with partners and opportunities to improve lives and create an equitable society.
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