BIOSPHERE SOUNDSCAPES MEXICO LAUNCHING IN 2015

We are thrilled to announce a new partnership with Fonoteca Nacional de México to expand Biosphere Soundscapes through Mexico in 2015. Fonoteca is a leading international organisation renowned for protecting the sound heritage through conservation implementing a wide range of innovative projects that promote a culture of listening. Our first major project is hosting a Biosphere Soundscapes Lab launching in May 2015 leading into our first residency program in Mexico in October 2015. 

Mexico currently has over 40 biosphere reserves spanning across the country and includes some of the most critical environmental and cultural sites on earth. The Biosphere Soundscapes team are focussing the first phase of the project around the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. 

In the language of the Mayan peoples who once inhabited this region, Sian Ka'an means 'Origin of the Sky'. Located on the east coast of the Yucatán peninsula, this biosphere reserve contains tropical forests, mangroves and marshes, as well as a large marine section intersected by a barrier reef. It provides a habitat for a remarkably rich flora and a fauna comprising more than 300 species of birds, as well as a large number of the region's characteristic terrestrial vertebrates, which cohabit in the diverse environment formed by its complex hydrological system.

It was established in 1986 and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. With the participation of scientists, technicians, students, fishermen, farmers, rural promotors and administrators, together with regional and international partners, they have successfully carried out more than 200 conservation projects.  The reserve includes some 23 known archaeological sites of the Maya civilization including Muyil. 

We will also be working with Amigos de Sian Ka'an, the local organisation in the biosphere reserve whose objectives are the identification, protection and management of areas with high biodiversity value as well as those critical for maintenance of the life cycles of endangered, threatened and migratory species in the Riviera Maya and providing environmental education through interdisciplinary projects. 

Biosphere Soundscapes Mexico is currently managed by our Associate Producer Emmanuel Galvan Martinez in collaboration with Dr Leah Barclay. We are greatful for the support of Fonoteca Nacional de México to launch this project in 2015. We will be announcing further information about our residency program in May 2015 and you can follow the development of this project via our labs, residences, masterclasses and community.  

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