Jorge was born and raised in Mexico City. He completed a BSc in Biology at the National University of Mexico (UNAM) with a research dissertation on introduced mammals in Mexico and a Masters degree in Management, Conservation and International Trade of Species at the International University of Andalusia, Spain. In addition to his work in relation to exotic and invasive species, Jorge’s also has experience in developing wildlife and endangered species conservation and sustainable use strategies. For five years he worked at the National Biodiversity Commission and was in charge of coordinating Mexico’s Scientific Authority under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). His current research project includes developing an operational framework for integrated land-sea conservation planning and applying this approach in the Gulf of California, Mexico. It focuses on two decision-making problems: trade-offs resulting from spatial incongruence in upstream and downstream land values and changes in the configuration of potential terrestrial and marine conservation areas derived from incorporating land-based threats.

Abstract:

Terrestrial ecosystems have values for marine conservation based on their potential to promote or maintain good water quality for downstream coastal waters. These downstream land values (and priorities to protect them) can vary spatially in response to land-use change and therefore depend on suitability to land clearing or conversion to agriculture. We demonstrate the use of a catchment model to identify important terrestrial areas for regional marine conservation in terms of water quality (sources of sediments and nutrients). We incorporate land conversion based on a land-use change model and integrate this with the catchment model to analyse conservation alternatives in changing landscapes and to prioritize actions in the context of progressive loss of native vegetation. We further explore the complexity of integrating terrestrial and marine conservation priorities by assessing incongruence in the spatial distribution of land values that reflect objectives for terrestrial and marine conservation, which can lead to competing values.