A small group of volunteers has been pushing to achieve a functional and lasting protection of Los Arcos. It is safe to say that every resident and most visitors to the area will have seen, visited, or at least heard of Los Arcos. They truly are the icon of Banderas Bay. You will find them on local websites, postcards, and promotional posters. Hotels and city sights are named after them. Yet, over the past decades and with ever-increasing speed today, these islets are being threatened by a combination of factors well known to all of us involved in ocean conservation. Lack of formal protection results in overuse and illegal fishing of the area, and a general disregard for the fragility of the ecosystem. Pollution, ghost nets, and irresponsible developers and tour operators also have taken their toll.

Yet, we do not give up. So far, we have been able to gather over 3,000 physical citizen signatures to promote the protection of Los Arcos and further collected over 43.000 signatures via the Change.org platform in a petition directed to the governor of the state of Jalisco. We convinced 28 out of the 29 candidates in the last municipal and national chamber of deputies elections to commit to the protection of Los Arcos in writing. We have personally met with local communities, governmental agencies, and academic institutions. A few days ago, with the help of progressive municipal officials, we managed to officially institute July 28th as the Los Arcos de Mismaloya Day.

We hope an annual celebration of this little gem is a step towards raising awareness regarding its beauty, importance, and the need to assure its future conservation. There is so much more to be done, but we trust we are on the right path forward.