Mexico: Cemex has worked with AES Mexico, the Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature (FMCN), the Mexican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) through the General Wildlife Direction, and the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) to successfully reintroduce 19 American bison specimens (Bison bison) in El Carmen Nature Reserve, in Coahuila, to establish the second conservation herd of this species in Mexico.

“For almost two decades, we have carried out different alliances with companies and conservation organisations to protect and increase biodiversity in El Carmen. Examples of this include the reintroduction of the American bison, the bighorn sheep, and the pronghorn, as well as the increase in the populations of desert mule deer, white-tailed deer, and black bear,” said Vicente Saisó, director of sustainability at Cemex.

El Carmen Nature Reserve is a private cross-border conservation area in Mexico and the US that contains five different ecosystems and habitats to diverse species of plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians over more than 140,000 hectares.

The American bison is the largest land mammal in North America and was present in the plains of Canada, the US and Mexico. In Mexico, American bison lived in the states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Durango; however, it the species was depleted in the second half of the 19th century. Currently, it is a species that is in danger of extinction in Mexico.

Prior to this collaboration, the only herd of bison considered genetically pure was at Rancho El Uno, owned by FMCN, located within the Janos Biosphere Reserve, Chihuahua. 19 specimens from this herd were moved to El Carmen, located in Maderas del Carmen Flora and Fauna Protection Area by a team of wildlife management specialists. The plan to reintroduce the American bison in El Carmen Nature Reserve was launched in April of 2019, and it will continue until 2021 with the translocation of additional specimens.