Saving Cabo Pulmo, Mexico’s 20,000 year old reef: Judith’s story

By Climate Champions | August 1, 2024

An interview with: Judith Castro, the voice of Parque Nacional Cabo Pulmo

Country & Region: Cabo Pulmo, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Breakthrough: Coral Reefs, Aqua Food, Coastal Tourism, Marine Conservation

Beneficiaries / Impact: Twenty nine years ago, the small community of Cabo Pulmo on the southeastern edge of the Baja California Peninsula recognized their reefs were no longer healthy and their fish populations had dwindled. They decided to protect the 70 sq km area, now known as Parque Nacional Cabo Pulmo. This protection led to a remarkable ecological recovery: corals grew, fish populations rebounded, and even sharks like white-tipped reef sharks, bull sharks, and tiger sharks returned. The park not only restored the local ecosystem but also benefited the community economically through tourism. It’s now cited as one of the best places in the world to see revitalized reefs. Cabo Pulmo has become a model for marine protected areas worldwide, demonstrating the powerful impact of conservation efforts on both nature and local livelihoods.

Parque Nacional Cabo Pulmo, located on the east coast of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula, stretches from Pulmo Point to Los Frailes Cape, approximately 100 kilometers north of Cabo San Lucas, and it’s estimated to be approximately 20,000 years old. Designated as a national park in 1995, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, and a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in 2008, Cabo Pulmo has played a crucial role in the recovery of the local ecosystem from overfishing.

As part of an ongoing series to support the Climate Champions’ Ocean Breakthroughs, the Edges of Earth expedition team met with a woman whose family has been at the centre of Cabo Pulmo for generations —Judith Castro. During their conversation, Judith talked about how she has grown up alongside Cabo Pulmo, sharing the losses and the wins — and how she and her family transformed the oldest coral reef on the west coast of North America.

The protection and restoration of coral reefs is a key part of the Ocean Breakthroughs, which has set a target to secure the future of at least 125,000 km2 of shallow-water tropical coral reefs. If we secure an investment of over US$12 billion, our objective is to strengthen the resilience of over half a billion people globally by 2030, ensuring they continue to benefit from these vital marine strongholds.

The Edges team was onsite for Cabo Pulmo’s 29th anniversary. Below Judith explains what’s next for this coastal community and its 20,000 year old reef.

LET’S START FROM THE BEGINNING

What do I do here? Well, I do many things. But before you understand what I do, you need to know the history of where I’m from: Cabo Pulmo. Back in 1910, Cabo Pulmo was just a big ranch with cows and many animals. My grandfather, Jesus Castro, lost his parents and moved from the mountains to be closer to the ocean. As soon as he arrived, he fell in love with the sea and began swimming to help his godmother, with whom he ended up living.

While swimming, he found what we call “mother of pearls.” He showed them to his godmother, and they realized they could sell these beautiful pearls. So, they started selling, selling, selling, and that’s how it all began. Many people came to know about the pearls, and divers started coming to freedive for them alongside my grandfather, who was the best freediver in Cabo Pulmo. He could stay underwater for so long. But because of him, all the pearls disappeared. They overharvested them.

So, he decided to start fishing. He got his sons, daughters, everyone involved. My father, Enrique Castro, was born a fisherman. He fished all his life, catching big fish like groupers—some as big as you! He only moved away from Cabo Pulmo briefly when he met my mother, but they came back to raise a family—four brothers and four sisters. Fishing was all my family knew, and so I was born into it too. While my four brothers became fishermen, the four of us women moved to La Paz to study and get educated. While we were away, the fishing changed—less fish, more fishermen. They had to go farther from shore, use boats, and those boats needed gasoline. But they still had no money.

When I was younger, my mother sent me to stay with the fishermen. My father was sick and needed someone to cook for my brothers after their long days at sea. We camped near the ocean in fishing huts made from the same materials as the sunken ships in Cabo Pulmo. My brothers and father left at sunrise and returned at sunset. It was hard seeing them come back empty-handed, hungry, thirsty, and sad. I had older sisters, but my mother always chose me. I was so angry, always asking, “Why me?” I didn’t realize it then, but this was the beginning of my life’s work.

AN EDUCATION ABOUT THE REEF

It wasn’t until the 80’s that scientists from the University of La Paz heard about Cabo Pulmo. They started diving here to study the reef, only to find it was dead. And the fishermen were to blame—my family. These scientists began talking with the fishermen and camping with us. I remember those days well. Every afternoon, they would gather to share knowledge, to argue, to fight. Everyone wanted to be right. It was hard, but for me, it was nice to see. We’d drink coffee, play volleyball and football, and try to find common ground.

This marked the beginning of the relationship between fishermen and scientists, both wanting to revive the reef. My family and I didn’t understand the reef’s importance—we saw it as just a beautiful garden for food, not as an ecosystem. The university taught us about environmental sciences and how a healthy reef could provide so much more. We learned that it was possible to bring the reef back to life.

The university was here with us for ten years. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t fast. They were coming and going, doing research and checking in with the fishermen. There were so many meetings. My brother, Mario Castro, was the first fisherman to be convinced we needed a change, followed by my uncle Juan. Together, they decided to take action. The first person to say no? My father. He was never going to quit fishing. But over the next decade, Mario and Juan persuaded the rest of the fishermen in Cabo Pulmo, which luckily wasn’t too many.

By 6 June 1995, with the help of the Mexican government and the university, Cabo Pulmo was declared a protected area and a national park. The university handled all the paperwork because we didn’t know how and couldn’t afford it. On 7 June, we faced a new reality. We couldn’t fish anymore, had to travel further, and use more gasoline. We were left wondering, “What do we do now?”

THE NEXT ITERATION OF CABO PULMO

 The first five to six years of this was so difficult. Families in the community blamed us, saying, “This was a mistake. We told you this would be bad. We are now suffering because of you.” There were times we thought they were right. We were poorer than ever, but we had a national park. Our first lesson was clear: before declaring a national park and protected area, have an economic alternative ready.

My brother Mario was already a diver. He had lived in Cabo San Lucas, where he became a certified instructor, and he brought divers back to Cabo Pulmo. He took people out in old, run-down fishing boats to see a dead reef. But over time, with no fishing, things began to change. My uncle opened a restaurant, and Mario started Cabo Pulmo Divers, the first dive shop. He trained my cousins, my brothers, everyone. Slowly, the fishermen became divers.

The women in our community, like my mother, cousins, and aunts, once waited for the men to return from the sea, preparing their meals. Now, they’ve taken on new roles. One of my favorite stories is how the women used mirrors to signal the men on the water when a diver arrived, as there were no radios or cell phones. Women became essential to our economy through tourism. While the men opened dive shops, the women opened restaurants and bungalows, transforming into businesswomen. As diving services grew, we started understanding the reef’s biomass better. The divers became our underwater eyes, revealing the reef’s revival that we hadn’t seen before.

In 2008 and 2009, we heard about a massive tourism project planned to the north of Cabo Pulmo: a 30,000-room hotel called Cabo Cortez. This development threatened to kill our community and undo all our hard work. We had spent years adapting from fishing to tourism, and this project could ruin us in just a few months. To fight this, we needed help from the scientists.

The scientists went diving with us and conducted research on the reef to prove how much had changed. They found that the reef’s biomass had increased by 460% since their initial visits. It was a big surprise for us, and them too. They said that the reef was almost back to its original, natural state, which was incredible for all of us. Armed with this data, we fought against the hotel project. We raised our voices in the community, confronted the developer, engaged with the government, and reached out to the media. We argued that approving this project would destroy a natural protected area that Mexico should be proud of.

Because of my deep love for the ocean and the community, I have naturally become the voice of Cabo Pulmo. This became true during the fight against Cabo Cortez. I collaborate with the community, scientists, NGOs, and the government to spread the word about Cabo Pulmo. I am sharing the lessons I’ve learned, since I was there from the beginning. I speak on behalf of the fishermen, because well, I am part of them! Everywhere I go, if I have a chance to talk about Cabo Pulmo, I will.

WHERE IS CABO PULMO TODAY?

We kept winning fight after fight. We could finally tell the community, “No, this wasn’t a mistake. Look how much this has helped you and the reef.” Cabo Pulmo became one of the most successful protected areas in the world! We did something great and made this one of the places divers dream of visiting! We did something that should be replicated elsewhere too. Tourism was the key for us.

But we never had a roadmap; we were never fully organized. That was true at the start, when we didn’t know what to do after establishing the National Park. And we find ourselves there again today. Tourism has increased so much that now we are afraid of it, just as we were once afraid of fishing. We need to make big decisions again because we can’t handle more tourism here—we simply aren’t ready for it.

I can’t see Cabo Pulmo destroyed again. Not my home. We need to get more organized, establish more rules, and find better ways to manage the outsiders coming in. We need a new approach. If we don’t figure it out, Cabo Pulmo is in big trouble. We did this 30 years ago, and we can do it again. It’s ironic to be talking about this on our 29th anniversary because we’re right back where we started!

I sit down with the community members—all 120 of them, many being my family—and ask them what they want, what we need to do. Everyone says they don’t want to lose Cabo Pulmo. But over-tourism brings many workers from other countries here setting up dive shops, bungalows, and restaurants that compete with our local businesses. The locals are suffering because international operators offer better deals and have an online presence. We need to find a way to work together, to co-exist, like the fishermen did with the scientists.

I call what I’m doing “La Ruta del Café,” where I meet with everyone, drink coffee, and talk, talk, talk. I visit every house and business, and we get personal. This is how I gather the best information and use it to help make decisions and get organized. It’s an opportunity to help people better understand the park’s management plan. I also discuss climate change and related topics such as bleaching corals and heat waves, because this affects all of us.

Today, Cabo Pulmo needs to be an example. Showing what we should do, like creating protected areas. And showing what not to do, like letting tourism get out of control. Is tourism a good activity? Absolutely. It’s beautiful. We are all tourists somewhere. Right now, we should focus on educating tourists on how to be the best they can be—conservation-focused tourists. We need to shift our mindsets when visiting places that aren’t our homes. We’re all fighting climate change together, combating big businesses taking over local communities, challenging governments that don’t prioritize nature, and battling over-tourism.

We learned that as a community, we must take care of Cabo Pulmo because we ARE Cabo Pulmo. Now, we need tourists to understand that too. We should never be silenced when sharing this message. We need to tell everybody—which is what I do, and why I’m here.

As told to Andi Cross in June 2024.

ABOUT THE OCEAN BREAKTHROUGHS

Resulting from the joint efforts of the Ocean & Coastal Zones community and building on the Ocean for Climate Declaration, the Ocean Breakthroughs have identified five turning points to reach by 2030 in order to achieve a healthy and productive ocean in 2050. These five turning points are focused around the most crucial ocean sectors: marine conservation, ocean renewable energy, shipping, aquatic food, and coastal tourism. Accelerated action and investments in each will help unlock the potential of the ocean as a source of solutions to the pressing challenges posed by climate change and biodiversity loss.

The scientific evidence is clear: as a major climate regulator and the largest living space on Earth, the ocean is integral to deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement and the Global Biodiversity Framework. The Ocean Breakthroughs are science-based targets designed to boost mitigation and adaptation efforts, for the benefit of People and Nature. They will contribute to delivering on the global campaigns led by the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, namely the Race to Resilience and Race to Zero, and their respective action agendas: the Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda and the 2030 Breakthroughs.

Discover the Coral Reef Breakthrough

ABOUT THE HLC X EDGES OF EARTH EXPEDITION

The women-led global expedition, Edges of Earth, has partnered with the Climate Champions to bring to life the Ocean Breakthroughs initiative by sharing personal accounts and climate action stories from remote coastal communities. This media partnership will feature interview-style stories that highlight the experiences and efforts of locals, Indigenous communities, nonprofits, and ocean scientists in addressing climate change. Celebrating its one-year anniversary, Edges of Earth has traveled to 25 countries (with nearly 30+ more to go throughout 2025) working closely with diverse groups to understand and amplify their climate resilience strategies. Through this collaboration, Edges of Earth will spotlight the five Ocean Breakthroughs by showcasing diverse voices and solutions to accelerate global climate action.