Let's restore the Colorado River Delta

Pronatura Noroeste's Community Engagement team participated in the 2nd Environmental Education Fair at the State University of Sonora in 2026 to commemorate Environmental Education Day. The event aimed to engage the student community and raise awareness about the importance of caring for the environment, visiting restored native forests along the Colorado River, and creating green areas to help counteract climate change in the Colorado River Delta region.

During the event, students adopted native trees such as Mexican palo verde and mesquite. They enthusiastically welcomed each tree, becoming part of the actions promoted in San Luis Río Colorado (SLRC), where citizens are increasingly aware of the importance of contributing to nature’s recovery. With proper care, the adopted trees will grow well in their homes. Because these species are native to the Sonoran Desert region, they require minimal maintenance, although consistent care is essential during the first three months after planting.

The Pronatura Noroeste Community Engagement team explained the benefits of reforesting with native trees. Green areas help mitigate high summer temperatures, and once trees reach a considerable height, they provide shade. Their leaves help capture dust and improve air quality, while their branches provide shelter for wildlife. Their flowers attract pollinators that support plant reproduction and biodiversity conservation. In addition, their roots help recharge the aquifer, and green spaces contribute positively to the mental health and well-being of communities.

In February, during the celebration of World Wetlands Day, the Community Engagement team and interns at Pronatura Noroeste held a workshop on the Colorado River Delta Ecological Restoration Initiative, primarily aimed at elementary schools in San Luis Río Colorado.

The environmental education workshops provide a general overview of the Colorado River binational basin, which includes nine states in Mexico and the United States: seven in the United States—Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and California—and two in Mexico—Sonora and Baja California. This basin supplies water to more than 40 million people, including residents of cities such as San Luis Río Colorado, Mexicali, Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada, and Tecate.

These workshops are important because they help raise awareness among younger generations about the opportunities families have to take better care of water in their homes. They also provide information about the work being done in the region to address water scarcity in the basin and about the development of more than half a million native trees that form restored native forests in the Colorado River Delta, created with the support of volunteers from San Luis Río Colorado and Mexicali.

Your continued support helps scale native reforestation, strengthen water stewardship, and empower the next generation of environmental leaders.