Ivan Parra’s scientific contributions

This report provides a comprehensive description of the results from the “Mapping Conservation Priorities in the Colorado River Delta: A State-of-Knowledge Workshop,” held in October 2002. The workshop was designed to produce results that will help guide conservation programs and projects for the next two decades in the Colorado River Delta and Upper Gulf of California. We accomplished this by identifying a network of priority conservation sites. Some 55 participants, collectively representing over 400 years of experience in the Delta, identified and analyzed the region’s biological and physical resources, factors that threaten them, and opportunities for conservation, all in an effort to “map the possible” for the ecosystems of the Delta and Upper Gulf. We call these areas Conservation Priorities. The data contained herein provides numerous opportunities for increased collaboration and improved management by local resource users, water managers, government officials, non-governmental organizations, and other decision makers to ensure the long-term persistence of biodiversity in the region. The report concludes with a series of recommendations for a comprehensive conservation plan for the Delta and Upper Gulf. The organizations that assembled this document are committed to restoration of the Colorado River Delta and Upper Gulf of California over the long term. We invite other non-governmental and governmental organizations, local users, scientific institutions, and the general public to join our future efforts toward a comprehensive conservation plan for the region.