Taking Flight: Building a Culture of Conservation at the Punta Banda Estuary

Punta Banda, located in Baja California, Mexico, is made up of a five-mile long sandbar that extends into Todos Santos Bay (Bahía de Todos Santos) and creates a protected estuary with salt marsh, mud flat, sand dune, and lagoon zones that provide habitat to a variety of species, including migratory and resident birds. Wetlands and birds can be useful topics for engaging the public in conservation efforts because they are culturally relevant, inspire wonder, encourage connections to the outdoors, and are important components of a healthy coastal and marine ecosystem. Through two interactive ArcGIS StoryMaps, this capstone project aims to share data on the wetlands, shorebirds, and seabirds of the Punta Banda estuary with the public in order to continue to generate support for conservation efforts among locals and visitors. Despite conservation efforts, there are still many anthropogenic threats to the estuary and the birds that use it to feed and nest. This document provides a report of activities conducted as part of a capstone project for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Master's program in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation.A StoryMap associated with this publication is linked above.