Site: Sea of Cortés, Baja California, Mexico
Type of Partnership: Philanthropy
Website(s): Loreto Bay Foundation
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Description: The Loreto Bay Foundation (LBF) was established to support and fund local projects in the community of Loreto, Baja California Sur and in the Loreto Bay National Marine Park. It represents a partnership between the town of Loreto, the Loreto Bay Company, a developer, the Ocean Foundation, and the park authority.

The town of Loreto is located on the eastern side of the peninsula of Baja California, facing the Sea of Cortés. A picturesque colonial town founded in the 18th century, Loreto has been designated a prime tourism development location by FONATUR, Mexico's tourism development agency.

The Loreto Bay Marine Park was created in 1996. It is part of the Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California World Heritage Site. This World Heritage site is home to a large number of fish species (891) including 90 endemic fishes. Thirty-nine percent of the world’s total number of marine mammal species and a third of the world’s total number of marine cetacean’s species occur here. The Sonora desert ecosystem, one of the richest deserts in the world in biodiversity terms, complements the rich biodiversity of the marine park.

The Loreto Bay Company was established to develop a sustainable resort destination using the principles of sustainable development and the new urbanism movement. The Villages of Loreto Bay, located on 8,000 acres on the shores of the Sea of Cortés, is designed to be a seaside community of approximately 6,000 homes with mixed-use buildings, narrow, walkable streets and authentic Baja architecture that exists in harmony with its surroundings. The Loreto Bay Company and the residents of Loreto Bay are the principal benefactors in the Loreto Bay Foundation.

Projects supported by the foundation must be "organized and operated for charitable purposes" (i.e. not a for-profit venture). Project staff are allowed to earn a fair salary for their work on the project, but investors are not allowed to make a profit from the project.

The Loreto Bay Foundation and its parent, the Ocean Foundation, mobilized quickly to respond to the floods and storm damage from Hurricane John (August-September, 2006), enlisting the support of major corporations to support relief efforts. They enlisted airlift support from Alaska Airlines and AeroMexico, food supplies from Wal-Mart, and the donation of money and in-kind resources from a host of civil society organizations. Communities and the park benefited from the rapid mobilization, demonstrating the power of partnerships.

Sources: Loreto Bay Company, Loreto Bay Foundation, Unesco World Heritage Centre

Other resources: Grupo Ecologista Antares AC

http://www.mexicodesconocido.com