Even though more and more American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) are attracted to the western shores of Lake Chapala, the little town of Petatán, Michoacán, at the far eastern end, is still the place to see these beautiful birds in flocks of hundreds and sometimes thousands, as they fly in for their daily dinner, supplied by the folks who fillet fish there for several commercial enterprises.

The small towns around Lake Cajititlán are known for their arts and crafts, but locating the artisans is sometimes quite difficult, as they tend to work unobtrusively inside their homes or under a shade tree in the backyard.  In San Juan Evangelista, however, you will actually find a Plaza de los Artesanos, surrounded by workshops where lumps of clay are turned into works of art.

Representatives of Bosque la Primavera joined together with activists from several animal-rescue organizations to liberate deer, raccoons, a lynx and other wild creatures on Monday, March 5, the day before the 32nd anniversary of a federal decree designating the Primavera Forest a Protected Area. The following day, a photo exhibit on the beauty of the forest and its creatures was launched at the Guadalajara Palacio Municipal and the Bosque’s birthday was crowned by a panel discussion on “The Past, Present and Future of the Primavera Forest” at the Guadalajara City Museum.

Jon Lovett is an internationally recognized expert on Natural Resource Management and professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Twente in Holland. Invited to Jalisco by his Ph.D. student, Arturo Balderes Torres, Lovett has spent the last few weeks studying the Primavera Forest and culminated his visit with a talk at the headquarters of the Mexican Association of Forest Professionals in Guadalajara.